Are the weekends included in the calculation of leave days if the company is using calendar days?

Yes, if the company uses calendar days to calculate vacations, weekend days (Saturday and Sunday) will be counted as vacation days, since vacation extends from Monday to Sunday, making the total vacation days 8 calendar days instead of 5 working days.

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Hello,

According to the UAE Labour Law, public holidays that fall within the period of annual leave are counted as part of the leave, but the days before or after are not.

The law states this explicitly. Article (29) of Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations provides:

"Article (29) Annual Leave

1. Without prejudice to the Worker's rights acquired for the period preceding the date of enforcement of the provisions of this Decree by law, the Worker shall be entitled to an annual leave with full pay of not less than:

a. Thirty days for each year of his extended service.

b. Two days for each month if his service period is more than six months and less than one year.

c. A leave for parts of the last year he spent at work, in the event that his service ends before using his annual leave balance.

.......

7. 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 organisational regulations in force in the Establishment stipulate what is more beneficial to the Worker.

This means that weekends or weekly rest days before and after the leave are not included, but if public holidays fall during the leave period, they are counted within the annual leave days.

If the company policy states that leave is calculated on calendar days, then weekends falling within the leave period are counted.

In your example, leave from Monday to Friday with return on Monday means the weekend Saturday–Sunday is also included, so the total leave counted will be 7 calendar days.

If your company counts leave in calendar days, then weekends are included in the calculation, regardless of whether the employee is scheduled to work on those days or not.

Example:

Leave filed Monday to Friday = 5 days.

If returning the following Monday, then the leave is considered Monday to Sunday = 7 calendar days (because Saturday and Sunday are counted).

Key point:

Calendar days = every day in sequence (including weekends and public holidays).

Working days = only the actual working days (excluding weekends/holidays).

So in your case, if the company policy is calendar days, the weekends will be included.

Under the UAE Labor Law, the calculation of annual leave is based on calendar days, not working days. This is a crucial distinction that directly impacts the number of leave days an employee uses.

Since the leave starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday, and you are not returning until the following Monday, the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) will be included in the count of your annual leave days.

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