UAE Eid Al Adha: Can private sector employees take Monday off for a 9-day holiday break?
Many private sector employees in the UAE are wishing Monday will be a day off too, which would transform the official six-day Eid Al Adha break into a nine-day holiday.
Last week, it was announced that private-sector workers would be off from Tuesday 26 May until Sunday 31 May, but that's for six days. Public sector employees will have an even longer nine-day break from Saturday 23 May to Sunday 31 May because Monday 25 May has been designated as an official Eid holiday for government staff too.
For some employees this additional leave equates to more time on the road, time relaxing or just spending with family. But HR specialists and legal experts say approvals will depend on individual company policies and immediate workforce needs — particularly in fields such as health-care, aviation, hospitality and logistics, where service must continue during the holiday periods.
Balancing Leave With Business Needs
As global HR business partner with a major Dutch marine services company in the UAE, Sowmyya Shetty said employees request additional leave to give themselves longer than the public holiday but it is never an automatic approval.
“In the private sector in the UAE, employees are entitled to apply for additional leave to supplement a public holiday but it may always be approved at the discretion of the employer dependent on local business needs and internal policy. It said, “Any absence from duty which is not sanctioned in advance would be treated as unauthorised.
Companies also tend to evaluate coverage, peaks in workload and fairness among teams before granting leave around holidays, she explained.
Companies usually consider:
Staffing coverage
Workload peaks
Fairness across teams
Operational requirements
This becomes more structured in multinational corporations where they operate in both global and local contexts. I can remember working in environments like the UAE/GCC where this was routine when 'not it holiday' in many other nations.
Businesses also typically have staggered approvals and coordinated handovers to keep projects flowing across time zones, she added.
What UAE Labour Law Says
Adv. P. A. Hakkim Ottapalam, Founder & Chief Executive officer — Adv. According to Andriany Hakkim, a senior partner at Dubai-based Hakkim & Associates, although UAE Labour Law gives employees the right to request leave, UAE employers can choose the times as they see fit and operations allow.
In the private sector, employees can receive paid or unpaid leave whenever a Monday is sandwiched between a public holiday and the weekend under the UAE Labour Law. Nonetheless, the law gives employers the ability to determine leave arrangements due to the nature of work, operational needs, emergency circumstances, company policy and employee availability.
He added that employees must also look at the terms of their labour contracts and job descriptions before making any leave plans.
Essential sectors that may require staff during Eid:
Hospitals
Airports
Hotels
Food delivery
Transportation
Media
Hypermarkets and malls
Waste management
Energy and emergency-related services
Ottapalam said, if Monday is approved as more holiday, then employees in Dubai would probably have a nine-day break in one go, while some workers in Sharjah may even get up to 10 days off due to the emirate's weekend arrangement.
Employees Planning Family Time
For numerous residents across the UAE a longer Eid break is about anything to do with heading abroad but huddling up and catching up.
Syed Abbas who works for a real estate developer in the UAE said that the interval comes at an important time for his family after his wife and children had just moved from Pakistan.
‘I have only just been confirmed in my post and my wife and children have only recently arrived from Pakistan. I need to take a break and dedicate time to them, I haven't taken vacation in the past six months.
He said he would be showing his family around the UAE as they adjusted to their new life.
There is a decent balance in our workplace — some non-Muslim colleagues will also be working on Monday as will a few from the Muslim faith. We’re quite accommodating like that. Even my boss has been quite understanding, for which I am grateful.
Likewise, Maria Navarro, a Dubai-based Filipino marketing executive, welcomed the extra day off while hoping to use it to unplug from work completely and spend time with her family as she sits in for her daughter in school work.
"I'm taking this as a chance to unplug correctly & just be with my kids, & at home w/ my husband. I have a grade 9 daughter — so I need to also sit down with her school work too and do some catch-up lessons as well! By taking Monday off, I can enjoy a full nine days of Eid break, which really eases household chores, relaxation and local travel arrangements, she adds.
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