UAE residents are set to enjoy a long weekend in the early days of January 2024. The first public holiday of the new year, Monday, January 1, will be a day off for those in the Monday-to-Friday work schedule. This extension means that the usual weekend, starting on Saturday, December 30 and ending on Sunday, December 31, will now include Monday, January 1, giving residents a prolonged break before returning to work on Tuesday, January 2.
This extended weekend arrives shortly after the UAE’s National Day holiday, which, in the previous month, provided a three-day weekend from December 2 to 4 for private sector employees. The start of 2024 marks an exciting time for UAE workers, as the UAE Cabinet has already announced several public holidays for both the public and private sectors. These include significant dates such as New Year’s Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Arafat Day, Eid Al-Adha, Islamic New Year, Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birthday, and the National Day holidays.
While many of these dates are fixed, some Islamic holidays depend on lunar sightings, and their exact dates may be subject to change within a two-to-three-day window. Despite this, scholars often provide estimated dates for these occasions.