United Arab Emirates Cabinet approves public holidays for 2019 and 2020

In an unexpected move, the UAE Cabinet has approved the public holidays for the rest of 2019 and 2020.

There are two notable issues from the announcement. Firstly, the private sector has been granted the same number of holidays as the public sector. Previously, when a holiday lasted for several days or when it was broken by a weekend, then the private sector usually observed less public holidays. Under the new arrangement, both sectors will enjoy 14 days of public holidays.

Secondly, two holidays have disappeared from the government list - Isra Miraj and the Prophet's Birthday. It seems unlikely that both would have been omitted by accident, so we will reflect this by changing the status to show they are no longer public holidays.

National holidays in United Arab Emirates in 2019

Weekday Date Holiday Comments
Tuesday New Year's Day
Wednesday Israa & Miaraj Night
Sunday Eid Al Fitr Holiday Public sector
Monday Eid Al Fitr Holiday
Tuesday Eid Al Fitr End of Ramadan
Wednesday Eid Al Fitr Holiday
Thursday Eid Al Fitr Holiday
Saturday Day of Arafah
Sunday Eid Al Adha Feast of the Sacrifice
Monday Eid Al Adha Holiday
Tuesday Eid Al Adha Holiday
Saturday Hijri New Year Holiday Hijri New Year
Saturday Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
Sunday Commemoration Day
Monday National Day
Tuesday National Day Holiday

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