Two Hours Off the Working Day: Ramadan Hours in the Gulf — Epoche B1
MEMORANDUM To: All staff, Gulf offices From: Human Resources Subject: Working hours during Ramadan During the month of Ramadan our working day in the United Arab Emirates is shortened by two hours. This is not a company benefit; it is required by the UAE labour law, and it applies to everyone in the office, whether or not you are fasting. Why the reduction applies to everyone The reason is practical as well as religious. An employer cannot ask who is fasting: a person's observance is private, and asking would invite unequal treatment. Because the question cannot be asked, the answer must be uniform, and the shorter day is applied across the board. Note that rules differ by country — in Saudi Arabia, for example, the law sets the reduction for Muslim employees — so check the local provision at each site. What changes in practice Start times move earlier and long lunch breaks disappear; most colleagues prefer to finish sooner. The hour before sunset is the heaviest traffic of the day, as the whole city travels home for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast. Do not schedule anything then. Meetings and client calls reappear after dark. Evening is when the city is awake, and a good deal of business is done between iftar and midnight. Requested of managers Publish your team's Ramadan schedule in the first week. Do not treat the shorter day as a reason to expect the same output in less time — the law reduced the hours because the month changes the shape of the day, not because the work shrank. Deadlines falling in this period should be reviewed now. The timing follows the moon, so the dates move each year by roughly eleven days. HR will confirm the exact start once it is announced. References United Arab Emirates (2021). Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations, Article 17. Abu Dhabi: Official Gazette. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2005). Labour Law, Royal Decree No. M/51, Article 98. Riyadh: Umm al-Qura Gazette.