UAE public holidays: what they mean for work, banks and travel

The short version

Most UAE public holidays are not fixed calendar dates. The UAE Government Portal's own public holidays page confirms only two with a set Gregorian date announced well ahead of time: New Year's Day and National Day. Every Islamic holiday, including both Eids, the Islamic New Year and the Prophet's Birthday, depends on the sighting of a new crescent moon for the relevant Hijri month, so the exact date is only confirmed a day or two before it happens.

Why some dates move

Islamic holidays follow the Hijri lunar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar. Crescent-sighting committees meet on the 29th day of the relevant Hijri month to confirm whether the new month has begun. If it has, the holiday falls the next day; if not, the current month runs one more day and the holiday shifts accordingly. This is why a holiday that looks "confirmed" months in advance in a planning calendar is really an estimate until the authorities announce it, typically only a day or two beforehand. Two secondary sources, Gulf News and Arabian Business, both describe a dedicated moon-sighting committee that convenes for this purpose, but neither links to an official UAE Cabinet or General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments page describing the committee's own process, which this guide could not locate or read directly.

Per Gulf News reporting on the 2027 calendar, this affects:

• Eid Al Fitr: expected around a specific date, running three or four days depending on whether Ramadan completes 29 or 30 days.
• Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha: expected around a specific date, again depending on the crescent sighting for the following lunar month.
• Islamic New Year and the Prophet's Birthday: each depends on sighting the crescent for its own specific Hijri month.

What the law actually entitles an employee to

The UAE's own government portal states plainly that private-sector employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. If an employee is required to work on a holiday or rest day instead, the law entitles them to either another day of rest or pay for that day, calculated as the normal daily wage plus at least 50 percent of the basic wage.

That entitlement page does not itself name the holidays or set their dates; for that, the government portal's separate public holidays page lists the holiday names (as reflected in the glance box above), while the exact date for each Islamic holiday still depends on the UAE Cabinet's own periodic crescent-sighting announcements, reported each year through the national press.

Banks, free zones and the public sector

This guide could not confirm, from an official source checked this round, whether every bank, free zone authority or private employer necessarily follows the exact same holiday calendar as the federal government and wider private sector. In practice, UAE banks and businesses commonly observe the same nationally announced holidays, but a reader with a specific transaction, appointment or deadline that depends on a particular day should confirm directly with the bank or authority involved, rather than assuming.