Parents working in federal government get 3 hours off on first day of school

Dubai: The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) in UAE tweeted on Sunday that ministers, government departments should give employees who are parents a bit of leeway on the first day of school.

FAHR had issued a circular in 2018, calling on ministries and federal bodies to implement the ‘Back to School’ Policy.

What is it?

The policy allows for  a provison of a maximum of three hours of leave on the first day of school to parents working for the federal government and having school-going children. This is aimed to give them enough flexibility to take their children to and from schools, on the first day of school. The move will allow parents to start work late and/or leave early on the same day.

As per the policy, the three hours can either be taken in the morning or evening, or it can be divided between both timings.

For younger kids

As for federal government employees who have children in preschools and kindergartens, they may be given a morning or afternoon leave during the first week of preschool, so that they can take their children to and from nurseries and for a maximum of three hours per day.

The policy is set to benefit more than 28,000 parents working in the government, with more than 90,000 children in schools, and more than 4,000 children under the age of five.

The Back to School Policy was launched last year by the federal government, upon the recommendation of the National Programme for Happiness and Well-being, in coordination with FAHR.