# Dubai Work Week



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

Is it me, or is the "actual" work week Sunday - Wednesday? I understand that Fridays and Saturdays are their Saturdays and Sundays but what's up with Thursdays? It always appears that no one works on that day. Please advise.


----------



## Arunbalats (Aug 11, 2013)

Sundays to thursday is the norm, with the weekend falling in Friday and Saturday. Although some companies work on Saturdays as well. I know, it was weird for me too, when I first moved here.


----------



## geekgirl_5 (Sep 19, 2013)

Depends on the type of business. Two of us will have fri and sat off, and the other two will have thurs and fri off. Next time, we change.


----------



## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Apart from what others mentioned, the Thursday thing is also because of quote a few slackers out here. There was a survey done some time back and the level of absenteeism was actually quite shocking.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

There are five-day, six-day and five and a half-day weeks. You will generally find, as mentioned above, Sunday to Thursday and Saturday to Thursday. But you can also find Saturday to half day Thursday and some companies used to work half day Saturday and half day Thursday and four full days Sunday to Wednesday. The minimum number of hours for a full day are eight, but most people here tend to work longer hours. All of this will be outlined in the letter of appointment, which is not a contract even though it will probably need to be signed, it's just a letter that doesn't have any legal/contractual standing.


----------



## Jager (May 26, 2012)

You only have to see the traffic jams on Sheikh Zayed Road at 2pm in the afternoon on Thursdays to see that many people don't work a full day.


----------



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> There are five-day, six-day and five and a half-day weeks. You will generally find, as mentioned above, Sunday to Thursday and Saturday to Thursday. But you can also find Saturday to half day Thursday and some companies used to work half day Saturday and half day Thursday and four full days Sunday to Wednesday. The minimum number of hours for a full day are eight, but most people here tend to work longer hours. All of this will be outlined in the letter of appointment, which is not a contract even though it will probably need to be signed, it's just a letter that doesn't have any legal/contractual standing.


Thank you all for your responses but this is what I was looking for. It seems like no business occurs on Thursday with respect to HR. Wednesday was a holiday in the US so I guess out of courtesy there was no contact. I guess nothing is happening until Sunday.


----------



## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

One remember that one persons observations does not make a trend.

I gave yet to come across a company that staff bunk off from, early. That doesn't mean there are none, but only that I haven't seem any.

The traffic on SZR is highly variable and being 15 minutes early or late can have a huge difference on speeds so personally I would ignore any implication that everyone leaves early on a Thursday. Just because traffic us heavy does not mean people leave early.

It's the difference between correlation and causality. Traffic is heavy in the morning - the cause is that lots of people go to work. At work people drink coffee when they arrive. There is a correlation between drinking coffee and high levels of traffic, however there is no causality.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Bklyn said:


> Thank you all for your responses but this is what I was looking for. It seems like no business occurs on Thursday with respect to HR. Wednesday was a holiday in the US so I guess out of courtesy there was no contact. I guess nothing is happening until Sunday.


A lot of people took yesterday off as it's what the Scandis call a 'squeeze' day and it may happen again next Thursday, but things will get relatively back to normal here on Sunday and, of course, most people will be back the following Thursday. I don't know of anyone finishing early if it's a Thursday. I try to finish at 5 or thereabouts because I work quite long hours the rest of the week.


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

Bklyn said:


> Thank you all for your responses but this is what I was looking for. It seems like no business occurs on Thursday with respect to HR. Wednesday was a holiday in the US so I guess out of courtesy there was no contact. I guess nothing is happening until Sunday.


Are you making a general comment, or one specific to this week? This specific week a lot of businesses here are pretty much shut down. Lots of people have taken vacation. 

Generally, the pace of work is a little slower here than what you might be accustomed to in the US. You can either find that very frustrating, or a bit of a welcome break.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> Are you making a general comment, or one specific to this week? This specific week a lot of businesses here are pretty much shut down. Lots of people have taken vacation. Generally, the pace of work is a little slower here than what you might be accustomed to in the US. You can either find that very frustrating, or a bit of a welcome break.


I don't necessarily agree with the pace of work generally being slower, I think it's the pace of things getting done that's slower. How it works at work is generally down to the company you work for.


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> I don't necessarily agree with the pace of work generally being slower, I think it's the pace of things getting done that's slower. How it works at work is generally down to the company you work for.


You are an American?


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> You are an American?


If you check my profile, you will see I am British.


----------



## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> If you check my profile, you will see I am British.


Don't you love having to be Captain Obvious lol

It varies from comapny to company. In ours, some people work Sun-Thurs, others do 6 day weeks. Some work weekends and have week days off instead.

It also depends whether companies deal mostly locally or ME region with clients of globally where weekends and working timings are different.


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> If you check my profile, you will see I am British.


Yes I know. Which is why your comment that you didn't agree with my comparison between the US and Dubai confused me. While my comparison is pretty conventional wisdom among American expats I have met here, you do actually have to know both sides of the comparison to weigh in.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> Yes I know. Which is why your comment that you didn't agree with my comparison between the US and Dubai confused me. While my comparison is pretty conventional wisdom among American expats I have met here, you do actually have to know both sides of the comparison to weigh in.


But really can you generally state that for every business in the US? I believe OP and/or their partner will be in the hotel field and anyone I know who had worked or is working in that area does very long hours and under very high pressure, even staff who are not particularly senior, many of them over a six-day week.


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> But really can you generally state that for every business in the US? I believe OP and/or their partner will be in the hotel field and anyone I know who had worked or is working in that area does very long hours and under very high pressure, even staff who are not particularly senior, many of them over a six-day week.


She was asking about HR not getting back to her on a Thursday. I asked whether she meant this specific Thursday or Thursdays in general. 

This specific Thursday the people she is talking to could just be on vacation because it was Boxing Day which is a normal working day in the US but which is a day that a lot of people here are taking as a vacation because they are from places that generally get that day off. 

Thursdays in general could just be because they aren't lightning fast with responses - which is something that Americans tend to take for granted but which is something you have to get used to not seeing here. 

As an American, speaking to another American, I was suggesting that is something to get used to when moving to Dubai.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> She was asking about HR not getting back to her on a Thursday. I asked whether she meant this specific Thursday or Thursdays in general. This specific Thursday the people she is talking to could just be on vacation because it was Boxing Day which is a normal working day in the US but which is a day that a lot of people here are taking as a vacation because they are from places that generally get that day off. Thursdays in general could just be because they aren't lightning fast with responses - which is something that Americans tend to take for granted but which is something you have to get used to not seeing here. As an American, speaking to another American, I was suggesting that is something to get used to when moving to Dubai.


I believe I had understood and answered OP's question. My comment was to you regarding your comment on the pace of work, which did not seem to relate to that point. Anyway, it is what it is - as people find out when they come and work here


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> I believe I had understood and answered OP's question. My comment was to you regarding your comment on the pace of work, which did not seem to relate to that point. Anyway, it is what it is - as people find out when they come and work here


Pace of work = efficiency and responsiveness. Yes, I think it is a bit of a shock for most Americans coming here. It's tough to adapt to. 

The flip side is that if you are an American professional (and most US expats here are professionals), then you benefit from things like longer holidays and more uninterrupted weekends than are common in the same kinds of work in the US. For example, I get roughly double the time off as compared to what I got doing the same job in the US. It's just a different culture. So I get more time off which I spend waiting in offices or trying to get others to answer their phones and respond to their emails.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> Pace of work = efficiency and responsiveness. Yes, I think it is a bit of a shock for most Americans coming here. It's tough to adapt to. The flip side is that if you are an American professional (and most US expats here are professionals), then you benefit from things like longer holidays and more uninterrupted weekends than are common in the same kinds of work in the US. For example, I get roughly double the time off as compared to what I got doing the same job in the US. It's just a different culture. So I get more time off which I spend waiting in offices or trying to get others to answer their phones and respond to their emails.


Hahahahahahahahaha! I like that! Having said that, and really not meaning to eke this out, the only friend I have who is rarely interrupted out of office hours/while on leave, etc., works in a school. All the rest of us, who work in various industries, are subject to calls, emails and the like when we are not officially working. I think you may find you are luckier than many, without even realizing it.


----------



## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> Hahahahahahahahaha! I like that! Having said that, and really not meaning to eke this out, the only friend I have who is rarely interrupted out of office hours/while on leave, etc., works in a school. All the rest of us, who work in various industries, are subject to calls, emails and the like when we are not officially working. I think you may find you are luckier than many, without even realizing it.


Who said I'm not subject to being called? I assure you I am, and so are the others whose experiences I am paraphrasing. It's a question of how often it happens.

Listen, if you think people at professional levels work as hard or as long in Dubai as those in the US I invite you to move there and then ask for August off. Short of a death in the family, it's not happening unless you are a teacher (which is a big, but very low paid exception) .

By the way, I'm half British. I lived there 19 years. I've never understood this need to opine on life in the US when it's not a subject you are qualified to speak to.


----------



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

Simey said:


> She was asking about HR not getting back to her on a Thursday. I asked whether she meant this specific Thursday or Thursdays in general.
> .


I meant Thursdays in general.


----------



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

Simey said:


> Pace of work = efficiency and responsiveness. Yes, I think it is a bit of a shock for most Americans coming here. It's tough to adapt to.
> 
> The flip side is that if you are an American professional (and most US expats here are professionals), then you benefit from things like longer holidays and more uninterrupted weekends than are common in the same kinds of work in the US. For example, I get roughly double the time off as compared to what I got doing the same job in the US. It's just a different culture. So I get more time off which I spend waiting in offices or trying to get others to answer their phones and respond to their emails.


You get double the time off! What is your field of work? 
You can PM me if you'd like.


----------



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

Simey said:


> Who said I'm not subject to being called? I assure you I am, and so are the others whose experiences I am paraphrasing. It's a question of how often it happens.
> 
> Listen, if you think people at professional levels work as hard or as long in Dubai as those in the US I invite you to move there and then ask for August off. Short of a death in the family, it's not happening unless you are a teacher (which is a big, but very low paid exception) .
> 
> By the way, I'm half British. I lived there 19 years. I've never understood this need to opine on life in the US when it's not a subject you are qualified to speak to.


Ouch!


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Simey said:


> Who said I'm not subject to being called? I assure you I am, and so are the others whose experiences I am paraphrasing. It's a question of how often it happens. Listen, if you think people at professional levels work as hard or as long in Dubai as those in the US I invite you to move there and then ask for August off. Short of a death in the family, it's not happening unless you are a teacher (which is a big, but very low paid exception) . By the way, I'm half British. I lived there 19 years. I've never understood this need to opine on life in the US when it's not a subject you are qualified to speak to.


If you want to split hairs, technically, 'it's not a subject I am qualified to speak OF', but let's not go there. I am well aware of the type of hours and holidays that are general in the US and I was not intending to undermine anything you have said and, of course, you would know better  being that's where you are basically from. Personally speaking, I have fairly ambivalent feelings about the US, but I still stand by what I said, people here work long hours. I see no point in continuing this discussion as it's not going to lead anywhere constructive, so - as far as I am concerned - let's agree to disagree.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Bklyn said:


> You get double the time off! What is your field of work? You can PM me if you'd like.


It may be done in varying ways but people here get 30 calendar days or so. For example, my company gives 22 working days, which is better because you don't lose days to public holidays when they fall during your leave, which you do if you get calendar days. 

Not sure if you've gotten around to having a look at the labor law here yet, but this is a really easy version to digest http://uaelaborlaw.com


----------



## Bklyn (Dec 11, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> It may be done in varying ways but people here get 30 calendar days or so. For example, my company gives 22 working days, which is better because you don't lose days to public holidays when they fall during your leave, which you do if you get calendar days.
> 
> Not sure if you've gotten around to having a look at the labor law here yet, but this is a really easy version to digest UAE LABOR LAW


Thanks! I glanced at it previously. You just gave me an idea
for another thread.


----------



## abbiesjones (Jul 17, 2013)

Bklyn said:


> Is it me, or is the "actual" work week Sunday - Wednesday? I understand that Fridays and Saturdays are their Saturdays and Sundays but what's up with Thursdays? It always appears that no one works on that day. Please advise.


People go for party that night and thinking of fun  on Thursdays mostly. No offences


----------

