Free tools/Campaigns
GCC working days and deadline calculator
Count the working days between two dates, or find the date a set number of working days away, with the weekend and public holidays of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain or Oman removed and the Hijri date shown alongside.
Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser
Choose a start date and a number of working days.
UAE holidays are the same for the private and public sectors, except Eid al-Adha, where these are the private sector's days. The Cabinet can move a holiday to the start or end of the week.
Islamic holidays follow the moon: their dates are confirmed by moon sighting shortly before, and the length of each holiday is announced by the government. Check a deadline that falls near Eid again once the dates are announced.
What it does
The Gulf does not share one working week. The UAE federal government has worked Monday to Thursday plus a Friday morning since January 2022, with Saturday and Sunday off, while private companies choose their own weekend. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman keep Friday and Saturday for government. So a Dubai business working with a partner in Riyadh shares only four working days a week, Monday to Thursday, and reviews and approvals need to fit inside them.
The calculator removes the weekend and public holidays for the country you choose, and for the UAE lets you pick Saturday and Sunday, Friday and Saturday, or Friday only. Islamic holidays follow the moon, so they are shown as expected until announced, and holidays already confirmed are marked. Where government and private sector holidays differ, it uses the days a private company is most likely to get, and says which under each result.
How to use it
- Choose the country, and for the UAE, the weekend your company keeps.
- To count, enter a start date and an end date. To find a deadline, enter a start date and the number of working days.
- Read the result with the holidays it skipped and the Hijri date.
- Check again close to Eid, once the official dates are announced.
Questions, answered
How are working days counted?
When counting between two dates, both ends are included, just as on a timeline, so Monday to Friday of one week is five working days. When finding a date, the starting day is not counted, so five working days on from a Monday is the next Monday.
What is the weekend in the UAE?
Since January 2022 the federal government has taken Saturday and Sunday off, working Monday to Thursday plus Friday morning. Private companies can set their own weekend, which is why the calculator also offers Friday and Saturday, or Friday alone.
What is the weekend in Saudi Arabia?
For government, Friday and Saturday. Under the labour law Friday is the weekly rest day, but an employer may pick a different one, so confirm your company's own week. Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman also keep a Friday and Saturday weekend.
Are the Eid dates certain?
Not until they are officially announced. Islamic dates depend on the moon, so the dates shown are expected ones, confirmed by moon sighting a short time before, and each government decides how long the break lasts. Once dates are announced they are marked as such, and any deadline close to Eid deserves a second look at that point.
Are these government or private sector holidays?
Those a private company is most likely to receive. For Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that means the private sector's shorter Eid break; for Kuwait and Bahrain, the government dates are used with a note about the private sector; in the UAE and Oman, the two barely differ. Every result says which one it has used.
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