The differences in the allocation of holidays for both the public and private sectors should come to an end. The variation should not continue as it creates unnecessary discrepancies between workers in the two sectors. The most recent example of such a discrepancy is the one day off given for Prophet Mohammad's (PBUH) birthday.
As in almost all previous cases, the private sector received a holiday different from what the public sector was granted. In fact, this recent decision has created much confusion as it was initially issued only to be revised later. Needless to say that giving the public sector a day off while depriving the private sector of it creates a sense of injustice for its workers.
But there is a more important aspect to this issue as well which is the effect of holiday differentiation on the efforts of Emiratisation within the private sector. It is unquestionable that one reason why many Emiratis shun the private sector is because of the higher number of holidays that the government sector receives on a yearly basis. This, of course, can only be resolved by unifying and conforming holidays across both sectors.
