Bahrain lawmakers submit proposal for a three-day weekend

Bahraini lawmakers presented an urgent parliamentary proposal to change the two-day weekend in the kingdom into a three-day weekend.

MP Mohammed Al Alaiwi said that he presented the proposal along with four other lawmakers to extend weekends to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to Bahraini newspaper Al-Watan.

The weekend in Bahrain is currently Friday and Saturday.

“In light of the developments that the world is facing across all fields…there is an urgent need to keep pace with the progress in the world, including global economic systems,” Al Alaiwi said in the explanatory note for the proposal.

“However, Bahrain is a Muslim country that has its customs and traditions on Fridays [and] that makes it difficult to accept working on this day, even if for a few hours.”

Having a three-day weekend, will allow for more work-life balance, where employees can spend more time with their families and strengthen familial bonds, he said, adding that this time of rest will also help boost work performance and productivity among workers and will act as an incentive to produce good quality work.

Al Alaiwi also noted that this system can help boost tourism across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries where people would be more encouraged to travel over the weekend. “This will enhance support for tourism [which is essential] to the economy of the region’s countries.”