Saturday-Sunday weekend? These countries give employees different days off

While Saturday and Sunday mark the weekend for many employees, several countries follow different work schedules. From Friday-Saturday weekends to split breaks and three-day weekends, these arrangements reflect local policies and employment practices. From Friday-Saturday to three-day breaks, these countries do weekends differently (AI-Generated Image)New Delhi,Oct 11, 2026 10:19 ISTFor many employees, Saturday and Sunday mean a break from work. But across the world, the weekly work schedule looks different, with some countries observing Friday and Saturday as their weekend, while others follow a split-weekend arrangement.These differences reflect local workweek policies, religious traditions and government decisions. Here are some countries where the standard working week does not follow the familiar Monday-to-Friday pattern.SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR FOLLOWS A SUNDAY-TO-THURSDAY WORKWEEKIn Saudi Arabia, the official working week runs from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday designated as weekly holidays. According to the Saudi government portal, the country shifted its weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday in June 2013 to improve coordination with regional and international business partners. Qatar also follows a Sunday-to-Thursday working week, with Friday and Saturday serving as the weekly weekend for many employees. As reported by Hindustan Times, Qatar's official working-day arrangement was reaffirmed through an Amiri decision in 2025. However, schedules can vary across sectors and employers.WHAT ABOUT BANGLADESH? In Bangladesh, government offices generally follow a Sunday-to-Thursday working week, leaving Friday and Saturday as weekly holidays.According to the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, private offices and businesses may follow different schedules, with Saturday remaining a working day for some. This means the arrangement is not uniform across every workplace.THE ISRAEL STORYIsrael follows a different system shaped partly by religious traditions. According to an employment guide published by the Israeli government, Shabbat is the legal day of rest for Jewish employees. Non-Jewish employees may take either Friday or Sunday as their weekly day of rest.The arrangement means that weekly rest days can differ between employees, rather than following one uniform Saturday-Sunday weekend.BRUNEI HAS A SPLIT WEEKENDBrunei offers another variation. The Tourism Development Department of Brunei lists Monday to Thursday and Saturday as working days, with Friday and Sunday as holidays.Instead of two consecutive days off, this arrangement splits the weekly break across two separate days.SHARJAH'S WEEKEND STORYIn the United Arab Emirates, the federal government follows a four-and-a-half-day working week, with Saturday and Sunday off and a half-day on Friday. Sharjah has a different arrangement for its government employees.According to the Sharjah Department of Human Resources, the emirate introduced a four-day working week from Monday to Thursday, giving government employees Friday, Saturday and Sunday off from January 2022.These examples show that the traditional Saturday-Sunday weekend is not universal. However, the arrangements largely depend on government policy and local employment practices, and do not necessarily apply to every private-sector employee.- Ends