UAE Public Holidays and Your Leave Entitlement

The UAE has seven official public holidays totaling 12 days a year, rising to 13 when Ramadan runs a full 30 days. The list is fixed by Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, in force since 1 January 2025, and it applies to the public and private sectors alike. If a holiday lands on your weekend, you do not get a day back: Article 3 of that resolution states that a public holiday “cannot be transferred to another day in the event it coincides with another public holiday or falls on the weekend.”

This guide sets out the current list from the resolution itself, explains the transfer rule that decides whether you get a long weekend, answers what happens when a public holiday falls inside your annual leave, and covers what you are owed if you have to work through one. The annual leave entitlement itself is covered separately in our guide to annual leave entitlement calculation; this article is about the holidays and how they interact with it.

The Official List, Straight From the Resolution

Article 1 of Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 lists seven holidays for both the public and private sector. Counting the conditional Ramadan day, the maximum is 13 days a year.

Only three of the twelve base days are on fixed calendar dates. Everything else moves roughly eleven days earlier each Gregorian year and is confirmed by moon sighting, which is why a UAE holiday calendar published in advance is always provisional past January and December.

Commemoration Day is no longer on the federal list

Article 5 of Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 repealed Cabinet Resolution 27 of 2019, and the replacement list does not include Commemoration Day. A great deal of published material still lists it, so if you are planning a year, work from the seven entries above rather than from an older calendar.

That said, Article 4 preserves an emirate-level layer: “Local governments may determine any other public holidays, not stipulated in this Resolution, for its own government departments and corporations.” An emirate can therefore give its own government staff a day the federal list does not carry. That power is written to cover government departments and corporations, not private sector employers, so a local announcement does not automatically give a private sector employee a day off.

Why the Government’s own summary says four days for Eid Al Fitr

The resolution says three days, 1 to 3 Shawwal, with the footnote that if Ramadan completes 30 days, day 30 is added to the Eid Al Fitr holiday. The Official Platform of the UAE Government’s holidays page compresses that into “4 days,” and an earlier version of the same page worded the start as 29 Ramadan rather than 30. The resolution text is the operative one. Practically, plan for three days and treat the fourth as likely but unconfirmed until the moon sighting.

When a Holiday Falls on Your Weekend, It Is Gone

Article 3 of Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 states that the public holiday “cannot be transferred to another day in the event it coincides with another public holiday or falls on the weekend.” There is no day in lieu and no automatic Monday substitute.

This is the rule that most surprises people arriving from the UK, Ireland, Australia or Canada, where a bank holiday landing on a Saturday is routinely moved to the following Monday. In the UAE it simply disappears into the weekend, and in a bad year several moon-dependent holidays can land that way.

Article 2 sits alongside it and works in the opposite direction: “With the exception of Eid Holidays, the Cabinet may, pursuant to a resolution it issues, transfer any of the public holidays referred to in Article (1) of this Resolution to the beginning or end of the week.” The two provisions are consistent. The Cabinet can pull a mid-week holiday to a Monday or a Thursday to create a long weekend, but it cannot rescue one that has already fallen on the weekend, and it cannot move the Eid holidays at all.

A Public Holiday Inside Your Annual Leave Is Consumed by It

Article 29(7) of Federal Decree-Law 33/2021 states that “rest days established by law or by agreement shall be included in the annual leave period if the annual leave enjoyed by the Worker is interrupted by, and is considered, part of it, unless the employment contract or the organizational regulations in force in the Establishment stipulate what is more beneficial to the Worker.”

In plain terms, if you book two weeks of annual leave and a public holiday falls inside that window, the default is that the holiday is counted as part of the leave rather than added back to your balance. You do not get the day returned unless your contract or your employer’s HR policy says something better.

That closing clause is the part worth acting on. The law sets a floor, not a ceiling, and many employers in the UAE do credit public holidays back when they fall inside annual leave. It is a policy question with a real cash value, so check the staff handbook before you book, and if the policy is silent, ask for the answer in writing before submitting the request rather than after.

The scheduling rules around your leave

Two related provisions in the same article are worth knowing. Article 29(4) requires the employer to notify the worker of the specified date for taking leave at least one month in advance where the employer is the one setting it. Article 29(8) prevents an employer from blocking a worker from taking accrued annual leave for more than two years, unless the worker chooses to carry it forward or take a cash allowance under the establishment’s regulations.

If You Have to Work on a Public Holiday

Article 28(2) of Federal Decree-Law 33/2021 gives you a choice of two remedies: another rest day for each holiday day worked, or the normal day’s wage plus an increase of at least 50 percent of the basic wage for that day.

Two details decide how much this is actually worth. The uplift is calculated on the basic wage, not the total package, so if allowances make up half your salary the 50 percent is applied to the smaller half. And the article gives the employer the compensation mechanism, so an employer that offers a substitute rest day rather than cash is complying with the law.

The split between basic pay and allowances in your contract therefore drives the value of every uplift you will ever be paid, which is why it is worth reading closely in your UAE employment offer. The same basic-wage base applies to overtime calculation under UAE labour law.

Who the Private Sector Rules Do Not Cover

Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 sets the holiday list for both sectors, but the compensation rules in Articles 28 and 29 come from the Labour Law, and Article 3(2) of that law excludes employees of federal and local government agencies, members of the armed forces, police and security, and domestic workers.

Federal government employees are covered instead by Federal Decree-Law 49/2022 on Human Resources at the Federal Government, which the holidays resolution itself cites in its preamble. Local government staff follow their emirate’s own human resources framework. Domestic workers sit under a separate federal law and a separate MOHRE contract, so a household employer should check that instrument rather than apply Article 28 by analogy.

The DIFC and ADGM operate their own employment legislation. If you work in ADGM under its own employment law and visa regime, confirm the holiday and compensation position there rather than assuming the federal articles apply to your contract.

Planning a Year Around Moon Sighting

Nine of the twelve base holiday days depend on a moon sighting announcement, so the only dates you can book flights against with certainty are 1 January and 2 to 3 December.

The practical approach residents settle into is to treat published Islamic holiday dates as a two-day window rather than a date, and to avoid non-refundable bookings that assume the earlier end of the window. Eid Al Fitr is the hardest case because the Ramadan-day-30 rule means the break can begin a day earlier than the Shawwal dates suggest.

The other planning constraint is that the whole country travels in the same week. Fares out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi rise sharply across both Eids and the National Day block, and school terms are built around the same dates, which is covered in our guide to school terms and mid-year transfers in Dubai. Ramadan itself is not a public holiday but changes the working day for the whole month, as set out in our guide to Ramadan working hours and rules for residents.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many public holidays does the UAE have in a year?

Seven holidays totaling 12 days under Cabinet Resolution 27 of 2024, rising to 13 when Ramadan completes 30 days and day 30 is added to the Eid Al Fitr break. Only 1 January and 2 to 3 December are on fixed calendar dates; the rest move with the Hijri calendar.

Do you get a day off in lieu if a UAE public holiday falls on a weekend?

No. Article 3 of Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 states that a public holiday cannot be transferred to another day if it coincides with another public holiday or falls on the weekend. There is no substitute day and no day in lieu, which is the opposite of the UK and Australian bank holiday convention.

Can the UAE Cabinet move a public holiday to create a long weekend?

Yes, for non-Eid holidays. Article 2 allows the Cabinet, by resolution, to transfer any holiday other than the Eid holidays to the beginning or end of the week. It is a discretion exercised case by case, so a mid-week holiday is not automatically shifted.

If a public holiday falls during my annual leave, do I get the day back?

Not by default. Article 29(7) of Federal Decree-Law 33/2021 provides that rest days established by law or agreement are included in the annual leave period and considered part of it, unless the employment contract or the establishment’s organizational regulations provide something more beneficial. Check your staff handbook, because many employers do credit the day back voluntarily.

What am I paid if I work on a public holiday in the UAE?

Article 28(2) entitles you to another rest day for each holiday day worked, or the wage for that day at the normal business rate plus an increase of at least 50 percent of the basic wage. The choice of mechanism belongs to the employer, and the uplift is calculated on basic wage rather than total salary.

Is Commemoration Day still a UAE public holiday?

It does not appear in Cabinet Resolution 27 of 2024, which repealed the 2019 resolution and took effect on 1 January 2025. Article 4 does let local governments declare additional holidays for their own government departments and corporations, so an emirate-level announcement is possible, but it would not bind private sector employers.

Do UAE public holidays apply to the private sector as well as government?

Yes. Article 1 of the resolution sets the list for “the Public and Private Sector in the State.” The pay and compensation rules differ by sector, because private sector employees rely on Articles 28 and 29 of the Labour Law while federal employees fall under Federal Decree-Law 49/2022.

Are public holidays paid in the UAE?

Yes. Article 28(1) of Federal Decree-Law 33/2021 gives the worker an official leave with full pay on the official holidays determined by Cabinet resolution. There is no qualifying service period attached to that entitlement in the article.

When are UAE public holiday dates confirmed?

Islamic holidays are determined according to moon sighting, so the exact dates are confirmed only shortly before they fall. The safe approach is to treat published Islamic dates as a window of a day or two and avoid non-refundable travel bookings pinned to the earliest possible date.

Do free zone employees get the same public holidays?

Employees of ordinary free zone companies are private sector workers under the federal Labour Law, so the same list and the same Article 28 compensation rules apply. The DIFC and ADGM have their own employment legislation, so confirm the position in the applicable zone regulations.

Official Sources

This article references information from the following UAE government authorities and primary legal texts:

• Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024 Concerning the Public Holidays in the State
• Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 Regulating Labour Relations (consolidated text)
• Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 on the Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021
• The Official Platform of the UAE Government – Public holidays
• The Official Platform of the UAE Government – Official leaves and vacations
• Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE)

Information is current as of August 2026. Three limitations are stated rather than smoothed over. The Official Platform of the UAE Government’s holidays page summarizes Eid Al Fitr as four days while the resolution it implements says three plus a conditional day, and an earlier version of that page worded the start as 29 Ramadan; where the two differ, this article follows the resolution text. Commemoration Day’s absence is established by the fact that it does not appear in Cabinet Resolution 27/2024 and that Article 5 repealed the 2019 resolution, not by an announcement expressly abolishing it, so treat that as the reading of the current instrument. Local governments retain the power under Article 4 to declare additional holidays for their own departments and corporations, so an emirate calendar can differ from the federal one. This article explains published rules and is not legal advice. Verify your position with MOHRE or a licensed legal practitioner before acting.