Private Sector Loses Out on Holiday

Holiday change angers workers

03/04/2009 11:59 AM | By Wafa Issa Staff Reporter

Dubai: Residents working in the private sector feel that the shift of the holiday marking the Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) birthday from Monday to Saturday is “discriminatory” as it strips them of a holiday that those in the public sector will enjoy.

Malcolm Kemp, a manager at an Abu Dhabi-based telecommunications company who has his weekends on Fridays and Saturdays, said: “Again, the poor private sector is stitched up regarding the forthcoming public holiday. The decision discriminates between the public and private sector. The Ministry of Labour is sadly out of touch if it assumes that most people in the private sector only have Friday off.”

While the public sector will celebrate the holiday on Sunday, the ministry had announced that, for the private sector, the holiday would fall on Monday. But a circular issued by Minister of Labour Saqr Gobash on Sunday shifted the holiday to Saturday…

Why can’t they just follow the religious holiday?  Isn’t that the halal solution?

Al Hijri, New Year Holiday Slated For December, 28, 2009 in the UAE

The public and private sectors will get a day off on Sunday, December 28, to mark the Hijri New Year and another holiday on Thursday, January 1, to mark the Gregorian New Year.

According to a circular issued by Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, Minister of Health and Chairman of the Civil Service Council, the public sector will remain closed on December 28 and January 1.