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The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadl ...
), or workweek (
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...
), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of the world, the workweek is from Monday to
Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
and the weekend is
Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The da ...
and
Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sund ...
. A weekday or workday is any day of the working week. Other institutions often follow this pattern, such as places of
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
. The constituted weekend has varying definitions, based on determined calendar days, designated period of time, and/or regional definition of the working week (e.g., commencing after 5:00 p.m. on Friday and lasting until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday). Sometimes the term "weekend" is expanded to include the time after work hours on the last workday of the week (e.g., Friday evening is often referred to as the start of the weekend). In some Christian traditions, Sunday is the " day of rest and worship". The
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
''
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stori ...
'' or
Biblical Sabbath The Sabbath is a weekly day of rest or time of worship given in the Bible as the seventh day. It is observed differently in Judaism and Christianity and informs a similar occasion in several other faiths. Observation and remembrance of Sabbath ...
lasts from sunset on Friday to the fall of full darkness on Saturday; as a result, the weekend in Israel is observed on Friday–Saturday. Some Muslim-majority countries historically instituted a Thursday–Friday weekend. Today, many of these countries, in the interests of furthering business trade and cooperation, have shifted to Friday–Saturday or Saturday–Sunday as in the case of Saudi Arabia and UAE. The Christian Sabbath is just one day each week, but the preceding day (the Jewish Sabbath) came to be taken as a holiday as well in the 20th century. This shift has been accompanied by a reduction in the total number of hours worked per week. The present-day concept of the "weekend" first arose in the industrial north of Britain in the early 19th century. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America union was the first to successfully demand a five-day work week in 1929. Some countries have adopted a one-day weekend, i.e. either Sunday only (in seven countries), Friday only (in
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
), or Saturday only (in
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
). However, most countries have adopted a two-day weekend, whose days differ according to religious tradition, i.e. either Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday, or Friday and Sunday (in
Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
,
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
province (Indonesia) and state of
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
(Malaysia)), with the previous evening post-work


History

A continuous seven day cycle that runs throughout history, paying no attention whatsoever to the phases of the moon and having a fixed day of rest, was most likely first practised in
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
, dated to the 6th century BC at the latest. In
Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
, every eight days there was a nundinae. It was a market day, during which children were exempted from school and agricultural workers stopped work in the field and came to the city to sell the produce of their labor or to practice religious rites. The French Revolutionary Calendar had ten-day weeks (called ''décades'') and allowed ''décadi'', one out of the ten days, as a leisure day. From 1929 to 1940, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
utilized a calendar with five and six-day work weeks, with a rest day assigned to a worker either with a colour or number. In cultures with a four-day workweek, the three
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as ...
s derive from the culture's main religious tradition: Friday (
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
), Saturday (
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher W ...
), and Sunday (
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
). The present-day concept of the relatively longer 'week-end' first arose in the industrial north of Britain in the early 19th century and was originally a voluntary arrangement between factory owners and workers allowing Saturday afternoon off starting at 2 pm on the basis that staff would be available for work sober and refreshed on Monday morning.Waiting for the Weekend, Witold Rybzinski, 1991 The ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' traces the first use of the term ''weekend'' to the British magazine ''
Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inner ...
'' in 1879. In 1908, the first five-day workweek in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
was instituted by a
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
cotton mill so that
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
workers would not have to work on the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. In 1926,
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
began shutting down his automotive factories for all of Saturday and Sunday, due to pressures stemming from the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
, which witnessed the ruling class persecuted for not giving the laborers dignifying conditions. In 1929, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America was the first union to demand and receive a five-day workweek. The rest of the United States slowly followed, but it was not until 1940, when a provision of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act mandating a maximum 40-hour workweek went into effect, that the two-day weekend was adopted nationwide. Over the succeeding decades, particularly in the 1940s to 1960s, an increasing number of countries adopted either a Friday–Saturday or a Saturday–Sunday weekend to harmonize with international markets. A series of workweek reforms in the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s brought much of the
Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
in synchronization with the majority of countries around the world, in terms of working hours, the length of the workweek, and the days of the weekend. The
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
(ILO) currently defines a workweek exceeding 48 hours as excessive. A 2007 study by the ILO found that at least 614.2 million people around the world were working excessive hours.


Length

Actual workweek lengths have been falling in the developed world. In the United States, the workweek length reduced slowly from before the Civil War to the start of the 20th century. There was a rapid reduction between 1900 and 1920, especially between 1913 and 1919, when weekly hours fell by about eight percent.Hunnicutt, B.K. (1984) The end of shorter hours May 1984Labor History 25(3):373-40

''Labor History'' 25:373–404
In 1926,
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
standardized on a five-day workweek, instead of the prevalent six days, without reducing employees' pay.Lombardo, C.N. (February 4, 2010
"Shorter Workweek in a Tough Economy"
''Wisconsin Employment Law Letter'' (hrhero.com)
Hours worked stabilized at about 49 per week during the 1920s, and during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
fell below 40. During the Depression, President
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...
called for a reduction in work hours in lieu of layoffs. Later, President
Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established a five-day, 40-hour workweek for many workers. The proportion of people working very long weeks has since risen, and the full-time employment of women has increased dramatically.Rones ''et al.'' (1997
"Trends in Hours of Work since the Mid-1970s"
''Monthly Labor Review'' 120(3):3–12
The New Economics Foundation has recommended moving to a 21-hour standard workweek to address problems with unemployment, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, overworking, family care, and the general lack of free time.Stuart, H. (January 7, 2012
"Cut the working week to a maximum of 20 hours, urge top economists"
''The Guardian''
Schachter, H. (February 10, 2012
"Save the world with a 3-day work week"
''Globe and Mail''
Baker, D. (January 27, 2009
"Pass the stimulus – then help shorten the work week"
''New York Daily News''
Abate, T. (July 11, 2010
"Get to Work: Want more jobs? Shorten the workweek"
''San Francisco Chronicle'' page D-3
The
Center for Economic and Policy Research The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is a progressive American think tank that specializes in economic policy. Based in Washington, D.C. CEPR was co-founded by economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot in 1999. Considered a lef ...
states that reducing the length of the work week would slow
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
and have other environmental benefits.


Around the world


Table


Africa


Ethiopia

The official government working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, except Friday which is 7 hours, and 39 hours in total per week. Official work hours run from 08:30 am to 05:30pm with 1 hour for lunch from 12:30pm to 01:30pm. On Friday, lunch hour runs from 11:30am to 01:30pm to allow Muslims attend to Friday prayers. Saturday and Sunday are public holidays. The private sector often follows different schedule with most of them often working on Saturdays.


Morocco

Despite being an
Islamic country An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
does not follow workweek conventions implemented in many
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
ern countries. The standard workweek in Morocco is from Monday to
Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
, with
Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The da ...
and
Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sund ...
being public holidays.


South Africa

In
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
the working week traditionally was Monday to Friday with a half-day on Saturday and Sunday a public holiday. However, since 2013 there have been changes to the working week concept based on more than one variation. The week can be 5 days of work, or more. The maximum number of hours someone can work in a week remains 45.


Americas


Brazil

As a general rule,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
adopts a 44-hour working week, which typically begins on Monday and ends on Friday, with a Saturday–Sunday weekend. Brazilian Law, however, also allows for shorter Monday-to-Friday working hours so employees can work on Saturdays or Sundays, as long as the weekly 44-hour limit is respected and the employee gets at least one weekend day. This is usually the case for malls, supermarkets and shops. The law also grants labor unions the right to negotiate different work weeks, within certain limits, which then become binding for that union's labor category. Overtime is allowed, limited to two extra hours a day, with an increase in pay.


Chile

The working week in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
averages 45 hours, most often worked on a Monday–Friday schedule, but is not uncommon to work on Saturdays. Retail businesses mostly operate Monday through Saturday, with larger establishments being open seven days a week.


Colombia

In general,
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
has a 48-hour working week. Depending on the business, people work five days fo
a maximum of 8 hours per day
typically Monday to Friday, or six days for eight hours a day, Monday to Saturday.


Mexico

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
has a 48-hour work week (8 hours × 6 days), it is a custom in most industries and trades to work half day on Saturday. Most public employees work Monday to Friday as well in some office companies. Shops and retailers open on Saturday and Sunday in most large cities.


United States

The standard working week in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
begins on Monday and ends on Friday, 40 hours per week, with Saturday and Sunday being weekend days. However, in practice, only 42% of employees work 40-hour weeks. The average workweek for full-time employees is 47 hours. Most stores are open for business on Saturday and often on Sunday as well, except in a few places where prohibited by law (see
Blue law Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...
). Increasingly, employers are offering compressed work schedules to employees. Some government and corporate employees now work a 9/80 work schedule (80 hours over 9 days during a two-week period)—commonly 9-hour days Monday to Thursday, 8 hours on one Friday, and off the following Friday. Some government or corporate employees work a 10/40 schedule—10 hours per day over 4 days, usually with Fridays off. Jobs in healthcare, law enforcement, transportation, retail, and other service positions commonly require employees to work on the weekend or to do shift work.


Asia and Australasia


Australia

A five-day, 40-hour week was introduced nationally from 1 January 1948 following a ruling of the
Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was an Australian court that operated from 1904 to 1956 with jurisdiction to hear and arbitrate interstate industrial disputes, and to make awards. It also had the judicial functions of int ...
. A 44-hour week, usually taken as a half-day on Saturday, had been applied for some industries from 1927 following a ruling by the court in a case brought by the
Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of t ...
. The ruling "led to a gradual and more general reduction of hours across industries", culminating in a nationwide 44-hour week in 1939. In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
the working week begins on Monday and terminates on Friday. An eight-hour working day is the norm. Working three weekdays a fortnight, for example, would therefore be approximately twenty-four hours (including or excluding traditional breaks tallying up to two hours). Some people work overtime with extra pay on offer for those that do, especially for weekend work. Shops open seven days a week in most states with opening hours from 9am to 5:30 pm on weekdays, with some states having two "late night trading" nights on Thursday and Friday, when trading ceases at 9pm. Many supermarkets and low-end department stores remain open until midnight and some trade 24/7. Restaurants and cinemas can open at all hours, save for some public holidays. Bars generally trade seven days a week but there are local municipal restrictions concerning trading hours. Banks trade from Monday to Friday, with some branches opening on Saturdays (and in some cases Sundays) in high demand areas. The Post Office (Australia Post) trades Monday to Friday as per retail shops but some retail post offices may trade on Saturdays and Sundays in some shopping centers. A notable exception to the above is South Australia whereby retail establishments are restricted to trading between the hours of 11am-5pm on Sundays.


China

In
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, there is a five-day Monday–Friday working week, prior to which work on Saturday was standard. China began the two-day Saturday–Sunday weekend on May 1, 1995. Most government employees work 5 days a week (including officials and industrial management). Most manufacturing facilities operate on Saturdays as well. However, most shops, museums, cinemas, and commercial establishments open on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Banks are also open throughout the weekend and on most public holidays. During the period of
public holidays A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...
, swapped holidays are common between the actual holiday and weekend, so three-day or seven-day holiday periods are created. The nearby Saturday or Sunday may be changed to a normal working day. For example, on a three-day holiday period, if the actual holiday falls on a Tuesday, Monday will be swapped as a holiday, and citizens are required to work on the previous Saturday. A number of provinces and municipalities across China, including Hebei, Jiangxi and Chongqing, have issued new policies, calling on companies to create 2.5-day weekends. Under the plan, government institutions, state-owned companies, joint-ventures and privately held companies are to be given incentives to allow their workers to take off at noon on Friday before coming back to the office on Monday. ;Hong Kong In
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
, a typical working week for local enterprises begins on 9am on Monday and ends at 1pm on Saturday, although most employees have alternate Saturdays off. After the introduction of the five-day working week for the majority of government departments in 2006, most multinational enterprises and large local companies followed suit, extended the working day from 9am to 5pm so as to adopt a five-day work week. Despite the aforementioned official hours, and many employees still work overtime, and in the case of the financial, service and artist industry in particular, working 12-hour days on a chronic basis is still not uncommon. Most commercial establishments in the retail sector such as restaurants, shops and cinemas, as well as public venues such as museums and libraries are open on Saturdays, Sundays and most public holidays. For schools, lessons are not normally held on Saturdays, but students may be required to go school on Saturdays for extra-curricular activities or make-up classes.


India

The standard working week for most office jobs begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. The work schedule is 48 hours per week, Sunday being a rest day. However, most government offices and the software industry follow a five-day workweek. All major industries along with services like transport, hospitality, healthcare etc. work in shifts. Central government offices follow a five-day week. State governments follow half-day working on the first and third Saturdays of each month and rest on the second and fourth Saturdays, except West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra government which follows a Monday–Friday workweek. There is usually no half working day in the private sector, and people work in two or three shifts of 8 hours each. Most schools follow a six-day workweek from Monday to Saturday


Iran

The standard working week in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
begins on Saturday and ends on Thursday. Thursdays are usually half-day working days. Many private enterprises which operate on an 8 to 5 basis take Thursdays off for a two-day Thursday-Friday weekend. These variations allow employers flexibility in choosing working hours so that the legal requirement of working for 44 hours per week is met. However, shopping places are usually open for business on Friday as well.


Israel

In
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, the standard workweek is 42 hours as prescribed by law. The typical workweek is five days, Sunday to Thursday, with 8.4 hours a day as the standard, with anything beyond that considered overtime. A minority of jobs operate on a partial six-day Sunday–Friday workweek. Many Israelis work overtime hours, with a maximum of 12 overtime hours a week permitted by law. Most offices and businesses run on a five-day week, though many stores, post offices, banks, and schools are open and public transportation runs six days a week. Almost all businesses are closed during Saturday, and most public services except for emergency services, including almost all public transport, are unavailable on Saturdays. However, some shops, restaurants, cafes, places of entertainment, and factories are open on Saturdays, and a few bus and share taxi lines are active. Employees who work Saturdays, particularly service industry workers, public sector workers, and pilots, are compensated with alternative days off. In 2014, the average workweek was 45.8 hours for men and 37.1 hours for women.


Japan

The standard business office working week in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
begins on Monday and ends on Friday, 40 hours per week. This system became common between 1980 and 2000. Before then, most workers in Japan worked full-time from Monday to Friday and a half day on Saturday, 45–48 hours per week. Public schools and facilities (excluding city offices) are generally open on Saturdays for half a day.


Lebanon

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Some institutions, however, also work 4 hours on Saturdays. Large malls are open on Saturday and Sunday; many small shops close on Sunday.


Mongolia

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...
has a Monday to Friday working week, with a normal maximum time of 40 hours. Most shops are also open on weekends, many large retail chains having full opening hours even on Sunday. Private enterprises conduct business from 9:00 to 18:00, and government institutions may have full working hours.


Nepal

Nepal follows Bikram Sambat (BS) calendar, which has the resting day on Saturday and the first day of the working week on Sunday.Vedic Books
The Vedic Week.
Workweek starts on Sunday and ends on Friday. Schools in Nepal are off on Saturdays, so it is common for pupils to go to school from Sunday to Friday. In November 2012, the home ministry proposed a two-day holiday per week plan for all government offices except at those providing essential services like electricity, water, and telecommunications. This proposal followed a previous proposal by the Nepali government, i.e. ''Load-shedding Reduction Work Plan 2069 BS'', for a five working day plan for government offices as part of efforts to address the problem of load-shedding. The proposal has been discussed in the Administration Committee; it is not yet clear whether the plan includes private offices and educational institutions.


New Zealand

In
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
the working week is typically Monday to Friday 8:30 to 17:00, but it is not uncommon for many industries (especially construction) to work a half day on Saturday, normally from 8:00 or 9:00 to about 13:00. Supermarkets, malls, independent retailers, and increasingly, banks, remain open seven days a week.


Philippines

In the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, Article 91 of the Labor Code requires at least one rest day for workers in a week; the choice of selecting the rest day is left to the employer, subject to
collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...
. Most workers avail of Sunday as their mandated rest day. However, government offices, banks, and many non-service industry establishments maintain a five-day (Monday to Friday) work week.


Singapore

In
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
the common working week is 5-day work week, which runs from Monday to Friday beginning 8:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Some companies work a half day on Saturdays. Shops, supermarkets and shopping centres are open seven days a week and on most public holidays. 'Foreign workers', for example domestic helpers and construction workers (typically from the Philippines and India, respectively), usually work 6 days per week, having Sunday as their only day off.


Thailand

In
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
the working week is Monday to Friday for a maximum of 44 to 48 hours per week (Saturday can be a half or full day). However, government offices and some private companies have modernised through enacting the American and European standard of working Monday through Friday. Currently, 50% of the luxury beach resorts in
Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands o ...
have a five-day working week. Of the remaining 50%, 23% have taken steps to reform their 6-day workweek through such measures as reducing the working week from 6 days to 5.5 days.


Vietnam

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
has a standard 48-hour six-day workweek. Monday to Friday are full workdays and Saturday is a partial day. Work typically begins at 8:00 am and lasts until 5:00 pm from Monday to Friday and until 12 noon on Saturdays. This includes a one-hour lunch break. Government offices and banks follow a five-day workweek from Monday to Friday.


Europe

In
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the standard full-time working week begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. Most retail shops are open for business on Saturday. In Ireland, Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the former socialist states of Europe, large shopping centres open on Sunday. In European countries such as Germany, there are laws regulating shop hours. With exceptions, shops must be closed on Sundays and from midnight until the early morning hours of every day.


Austria

The working week is Monday to Friday 8 hours per day. Shops are open on Saturday. By law, almost no shop is open on Sunday. However, exceptions have been made, for example for bakeries, petrol stations and shops at railway stations, especially in the largest cities (Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Linz).


Belarus

The working week is Monday to Friday. Working time must not exceed 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week (on average, annualised).


Belgium

The working week is Monday to Friday. Working time must not exceed 8 hours per day and 38 hours per week (on average, annualised). Very few shops are open on Sunday.


Bulgaria

The working week is Monday to Friday, eight hours per day, forty hours per week. Most pharmacies, shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants will operate on Saturdays and Sundays.


Croatia

The working week is Monday to Friday, seven and a half hours per day (+ 30 minutes lunch break), 37.5 hours per week (or 40 hours per week if lunch breaks are included as working hours). Most pharmacies, shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants are open on Saturday and Sunday.


Czech Republic

Full-time employment is usually Monday to Friday, eight hours per day and forty hours per week. Many shops and restaurants are open on Saturday and Sunday, but employees still usually work forty hours per week.


Denmark

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
has an official 37-hour working week, with primary work hours between 6:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday. In public institutions, a 30-minute lunch break every day is included as per collective agreements, so that the actual required working time is 34.5 hours. In private companies, the 30-minute lunch break is normally not included. The workday is usually 7.5 hours Monday to Thursday and 7 hours on Friday. Some small shops are closed Monday.


Estonia

In
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. Usually a working week is forty hours. Most pharmacies, shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants will operate on Saturdays and Sundays.


Finland

In
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. A full-time job is defined by law as being at least 32 and at most forty hours per week. In retail and restaurant occupations, among others, the weekly hours may be calculated as an average over three to ten weeks, depending on the employment contract. Banks and bureaus are closed on weekends. Most shops are open on Saturdays, while some are closed on Sundays.


France

The standard working week is Monday to Friday. Shops are also open on Saturday. Small shops may close on a weekday (generally Monday) to compensate workers for having worked on Saturday. By law, préfets may authorise a small number of specific shops to open on Sunday such as bars, cafés, restaurants, and bakeries, which are traditionally open every day but only during the morning on Sunday. Workers are not obliged to work on Sunday; on 23 April 1919, the 8-hour-day, 48-hour-workweek rule was established. School children have traditionally taken Wednesday off, or had only a half day, making up the time either with longer days for the rest of the week or sometimes a half day on Saturday. This practice was made much less common under new legislation rolled out over 2013–14.


Germany

The working week is Monday to Friday 8 hours per day; many people leave work at 3:00 on Fridays however. Shops are open on Saturday, and generally closed on Sunday - especially in Catholic-majority Bavaria. In fact, keeping a business open on Sunday could be against the law, barring certain exceptions such as bakeries, florists, restaurants, petrol stations and shops at railway stations, for example.


Greece

The standard working week is Monday to Friday. State jobs are from 07:00 until 15:00. Shops are open generally Mondays to Fridays from 09:00–21:00 and then from Saturdays generally 09:00-20:00. It is very rare for a shop to open on Sunday but from May to October shops at tourist attractions can open from 11:00 to 20:00.


Hungary

In
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. Full-time employment is usually considered forty hours per week. For office workers, the work day usually begins between 8 and 9 o'clock and ends between 16:00 and 18:00, depending on the contract and lunch time agreements. The forty-hour workweek of public servants includes lunch time. Their work schedule typically consists of 8.5 hours between Monday and Thursday (from 8:00 to 16:30) and 6 hours on Fridays (8:00–14:00).


Ireland

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
has a working week from Monday to Friday, with core working hours from 09:00 to 17:30. Retail stores are usually open until 21:00 every Thursday. Many grocery stores, especially in urban areas, are open until 21:00 or later, and some supermarkets and convenience stores may open around the clock. Shops are generally open all day Saturday and a shorter day Sunday (usually 10:00–12:00 to 17:00–19:00).


Italy

In
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
the 40-hour rule applies: Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00, with a one-hour break for lunch. Sunday is always a holiday; Saturday is usually a free day as well, with the common exception of most high schools, where the students' roster covers 6 days a week, albeit limiting to the morning hours. In the past, shops had a break from 13:00 to 16:00 and they were generally open until 19:00/20:00. Working times for shops have been changed recently and now are at the owner's discretion; malls are generally open every day 08.00-09:00 to 20:00.


Latvia

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
has a Monday to Friday working week capped at forty hours. Shops are mostly open on weekends, many large retail chains having full working hours even on Sunday. Private enterprises usually hold hours from 9:00 to 18:00, however government institutions and others may have a shorter working day, ending at 17:00.


Lithuania

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
has a Monday to Friday working week capped at forty hours. Shops are mostly open on weekends, many large retail chains having full working hours even on Sunday and public holidays (however on Christmas or Easter shops usually shortens the work time). Private enterprises usually hold hours from 9:00 to 18:00, however government institutions and others may have a shorter working day, ending at 17:00 or 16:00.


Luxembourg

The standard working week in
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
is 40 hours per week with 8 hours per day. Monday through Friday is the standard working week, though many shops and businesses open on Saturdays (though for somewhat restricted hours). Trading on Sundays is extremely restricted and generally limited to grocery stores opening on Sunday mornings. However, shops are allowed to open in Luxembourg City during the first Sunday of the month, as well as in Luxembourg City and other larger towns on weekends towards the end of the year (Christmas shopping season). A few shopping malls located in the north of the country and in border towns (e.g. KNAUF, MASSEN and Pall Center Pommerloch) are also allowed to open almost every day of the year.


Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the standard working week is Monday to Friday (36–40 hours). Shops are almost always open on Saturdays and often on Sundays, depending on the location. On Monday mornings, shops often do not open until around noon.


Poland

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Large malls are open on Saturdays and Sundays; many small shops are closed on Sundays. The first Sunday in which trading was banned was 11 March 2018. After that date all malls and shops were only allowed to trade on the first and last Sunday of each month. In 2019, additional restrictions limited trading to the last Sunday of every month. Then, in 2020, trading was prohibited on all but Sundays each year, including those leading up to Christmas and Easter. Bakeries, confectioners, petrol stations, florists, post offices, train stations and airports will be exempt from the ban. Owners will be able to open their shops as long as they serve customers themselves. Anyone infringing the new rules faces a fine of up to PLN 100,000 (EUR 23,900; USD 29,250). Repeat offenders may face a prison sentence.


Portugal

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week (7 hours per day, 35 hours in total per week for civil servants). Street shops are almost always open on Saturday mornings but shopping centres are typically open every day (including Saturdays and Sundays).


Romania

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Shops are open on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend begins on Friday, and ends on Monday.


Russia

In
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
the common working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday with 8 hours per day. Federal law defines a working week duration of 5 or 6 days with no more than 40 hours worked. In all cases Sunday is a holiday. With a 5-day working week the employer chooses which day of the week will be the second day off. Usually this is a Saturday, but in some organizations (mostly government), it is Monday. Government offices can thereby offer Saturday service to people with a normal working schedule. There are non-working public holidays in Russia; all of them fall on a fixed date. By law, if such a holiday coincides with an ordinary day off, the next work day becomes a day off. An official public holiday cannot replace a regular day off. Each year the government can modify working weeks near public holidays in order to optimize the labor schedule. For example, if a five-day week has a public holiday on Tuesday or Thursday, the calendar is rearranged to provide a reasonable working week. Exceptions include occupations such as transit workers, shop assistants, and security guards. In many cases independent schemes are used. For example, the service industry often uses the X-through-Y scheme (Russian: ''X через Y'') when every worker uses X days for work and the next Y days for rest. ;Soviet Union In the former
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
the standard working week was 41 hours: 8 hours, 12 minutes, Monday to Friday. Before the mid-1960s there was a 42-hour 6-day standard working week: 7 hours Monday to Friday and 6 hours on Saturday.


Serbia

In
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, the working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day (with 30 minutes break included), 40 hours in total per week. Shops are open on Saturday and Sunday, usually with shorter working hours, although many large shops of shop chains and shopping malls have same weekday and weekend working hours.


Slovakia

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Large malls are open on Saturday and Sunday; many small shops are closed on Sunday. All stores are by law closed on public holidays with the exception granted to gas stations and those where the shop owners decide to open and sell by themselves directly; usually small grocery stores on outskirts or in suburbs.


Spain

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. The traditional opening hours are 9:00 to 13:00–14:00 and then 15:00–16:00 to 18:00 for most offices and workplaces. Most shops are open on Saturday mornings and many of the larger shopping malls are open all day Saturday and in some cities like Madrid, they are open most Sundays. Some restaurants, bars, and shops are closed Mondays, as Mondays are commonly a slow business day.


Sweden

In
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, the standard working week is Monday to Friday, both for offices and industry workers. The standard workday is eight hours, although it may vary greatly between different fields and businesses. Most office workers have flexible working hours and can largely decide themselves on how to divide these over the week. The working week is regulated by ''Arbetstidslagen'' (''Work time law'') to a maximum of 40 hours per week. The 40-hour-week is however easily bypassed by overtime. The law allows a maximum of 200 hours overtime per year. There is however no overseeing government agency; the law is often cited as toothless. Shops are almost always open on Saturdays and often on Sundays, supermarkets and shopping centres, so that employees there have to work. Traditionally, restaurants were closed on Mondays if they were opened during the weekend, but this has in recent years largely fallen out of practice. Many museums do however still remain closed on Mondays.


Ukraine

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Shops are open on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend begins on Friday, and ends on Monday.


United Kingdom

The traditional business working week is from Monday to Friday (35 to 40 hours depending on contract). In retail, and other fields such as healthcare, days off might be taken on any day of the week. Employers can make their employees work every day of a week, although the employer is required to allow each employee breaks of either a continuous period of 24 hours every week or a continuous period of 48 hours every two weeks. Laws for shop opening hours differ between Scotland and the rest of the UK. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, many shops and services are open on Saturdays and increasingly so on Sundays as well. In England and Wales, stores' maximum Sunday opening hours vary according to the total floor space of the store. In Scotland, however, there is no restriction in law on shop opening hours on a Sunday. Under the EU Working Time Directive (which continues to remain UK law), workers cannot be forced to work for more than 48 hours per week on average. However, the UK allows individuals to opt out if they so choose. Individuals can choose to opt in again after opting out, even if opting out was part of their employment contract. It is illegal to dismiss them or treat them unfairly for so doing – but they may be required to give up to 3 months notice to give the employer time to prepare, depending on what their employment contract says. The minimum holiday entitlement is now 28 days per year, but that can include public holidays, depending on the employee's contract. England & Wales have eight, Scotland has nine, and Northern Ireland has ten permanent public holidays each year. The 28 days holiday entitlement means that if the government creates a one-off public holiday in a given year, it is not necessarily a day off and it does not add 1 day to employees' holiday entitlement – unless the employer says otherwise, which some do.


Muslim-majority countries


Thursday–Friday weekend

In
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
, Friday is the weekly day of prayer when
Jumu'ah In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...
prayers take place. For this reason, most of the Middle Eastern countries and some other predominantly Muslim-majority countries used to consider Thursday and Friday as their weekend. However, this weekend arrangement is no longer observed by a significant number of Muslim-majority countries ( see below).


Friday weekend (One day weekend)

Only two Muslim-majority countries have only Friday as the only weekend day and have a six-day working week. * In
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, Thursday is half a day of work for most public offices and all schools are closed, but for most jobs, Thursday is a working day. Private and foreign companies however normally have Friday and Saturday as their weekend. * In
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
, many offices also tend to open early – around 7:00 or 8:00, then closing at 13:00 or 14:00, especially during the summer due to the afternoon heat.


Friday–Saturday weekend

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
was the first Middle Eastern Arab country to shift to a Friday–Saturday weekend arrangement in January 2000. Other Arab states followed in the coming years. Following reforms in a number of Arab states in the Persian Gulf in the 2000s and 2010s, the Thursday–Friday weekend was replaced by the Friday–Saturday weekend. This change provided for the Muslim offering of Friday prayers and afforded more work days to coincide with the working calendars of international financial markets. *
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
(2010) *
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
(2015) *
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...
(2006) *
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
*
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
*
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
*
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
(2005–2006) *
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
(Week of January 8, 2000) *
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...
(2007) *
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
(2005–2006) *
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
(Prior to 1 January 2014, it involves only in the states of Kedah,
Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in t ...
, and
Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith") ...
. Since 1 January 2014, the state of
Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...
, where it was last used in the state until 31 December 1993, implemented the Friday-Saturday weekend. Other states maintain using the Saturday–Sunday weekend. *
Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
(2013) *
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
(2013) * Palestine *
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
*
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
(2014) *
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
(2008) *
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
(2005–2006) *
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
(2013)


Saturday–Sunday weekend

Other countries with Muslim-majority populations or significant Muslim populations follow the Saturday–Sunday weekend, such as
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
,
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
and
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
. While Friday is a working day, a long midday break is given to allow time for worship. *
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
– With the exception of
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
, due to prayer time for Muslims on Friday, the lunch break is extended for 2 hours or more. Shopping malls are always open and very crowded on Saturday and Sunday. Thus, some banks offer weekend banking services, especially for branches located in or near shopping malls. *
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
– The Monday-Friday work week is observed in most of the country especially the capital
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...
. The states of Kedah,
Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in t ...
,
Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith") ...
and
Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...
however observe a Sunday-Thursday work week. Johor had previously followed a Monday-Friday work week between 1994 and 2013. *
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
(2014) *
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
– The working week is Monday to Friday, 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. *
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
follows the standard international 40-hour working week, from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday being the weekend. However, in many schools and enterprises, Friday is usually considered a half-day. The public sector weekend is Sunday only. *
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
– The working week is Monday to Friday, with a large break on Friday afternoon. *
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
– The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. *
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
– Working above 45 hours is considered overtime, and the employer is required to pay 1.5 times the hourly wage per hour. *
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
(2022) – Friday is half working day from 8 am until noon.
Jumu'ah In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...
prayer would be at 1 pm.


Non-contiguous working week

There are some areas that unusually implement a non-contiguous workweek (Monday–Thursday and Saturday) and weekend (Friday and Sunday), as listed below. *
Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
is the only country in the world that has a non-contiguous working week, consisting of Monday to Thursday plus Saturday. The resting days are Friday, that a significant part of the population devotes to
Jumu'ah In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...
prayers, and Sunday. Some non-government companies in Brunei adopt the working week of Monday to Friday. Depending on the company rules, employees may be required to work half-day on Saturday. * The
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n province of
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
is the only province that currently uses the non-contiguous working week, consisting of Monday to Thursday plus Saturday. Resting days are Friday, often used for
Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
prayers, and Sunday. Some private and foreign businesses and companies in Aceh however adopted the Monday-Friday workweek. *
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
– Since 1 January 2020,
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
state government introduced a non-contiguous weekend of Friday and Sunday, replacing the former Saturday–Sunday weekend. This means the East Malaysian states is the only state in Malaysia that has a non-contiguous working week, consisting of Monday–Thursday and Saturday. Unlike
Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
and the
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
province in Indonesia, such implementation is meant to accommodate the Muslim and Christian communities, both very large, that respectively observe Friday and Sunday as a prayer day.


See also

* Business day * Calendar day *
Days of the week A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two ...
* Eight-hour day *
Feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...
* Labour and employment law * Long weekend *
Saint Monday Saint Monday is the tradition of absenteeism on a Monday. Saint Tuesday is the less common extension of this to a Tuesday. The tradition of taking Monday off has been common among craft workers since at least the seventeenth century, when the wor ...
(precursor of modern weekend) *
Shopping hours Customs and regulations for shopping hours (times that shops are open) vary between countries and between cities. Shopping days and impact of holidays Some countries, particularly those with predominantly Christian populations or histories, do ...
* Six-hour day * TGIF * The 11-day weekend * '' Waiting for the Weekend'' * Working time – how much time people spend working in a day, week, or year * Work–life balance


References

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Week A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are of ...
Weeks Labor rights Labor relations Labor history