Saudi Arabia mulls two-day weekend for private sector

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has announced that it is still studying the possibility of amending some provisions of the labour law with an aim to increase the weekly off to two days for all private sector employees, local media reported.

“The ministry is keen on taking all the necessary measures that serve the interests of workers and the job market in a manner that contributes to achieving the government’s goals and the labour market strategy in sync with the Saudi Vision 2030,” Saad Al Hammad, spokesman for the ministry, said.

Al Hammad was speaking in reaction to private sector employees’ repeated demands for reviewing the official weekly working hours and applying the two-day weekend, instead of one day off, for workers in the private sector.

Earlier, the ministry had worked on proposed amendments to the Labour Law and already put forward these propositions for feedback through a public opinion poll platform.

As for reducing working hours to attract Saudis to the job market, the spokesman said: “If there is any development in this regard, it will be published on the ministry’s official website as well as on its social media accounts.”