The United Arab Emirates is changing its weekend to Saturday and Sunday

A man walks in Dubai.
(Image credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images)

The United Arab Emirates is switching things up in 2022.

The government announced on Tuesday that beginning Jan. 1, weekends will run from Friday afternoon to Sunday. Currently, the UAE has a Friday to Saturday weekend. The change is being enacted to "boost productivity and improve work-life balance," the government said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.