How Saudi Arabia's Sunday-to-Thursday Workweek Impacts Global Business Relations

Saudi Arabia’s Work Week in 2025: Sunday–Thursday Schedule, Official Weekend (Friday–Saturday), and What It Means for Global Teams

If you do business in or with Saudi Arabia, one question governs everything from email timing to event load-in schedules: what are the official working days? In 2025, the answer is straightforward but strategically significant. Saudi Arabia’s official work week runs from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as the weekend. This calendar may sound familiar if you operate elsewhere in the Gulf, but it diverges from the Monday–Friday rhythm used in Europe and the Americas. Getting these details right isn’t just polite—it prevents missed calls, improves tender submissions, and helps you run smooth activations in Riyadh, Jeddah, and beyond. spa.gov.sa

Below, we outline the current status in Saudi Arabia, compare it to neighbouring GCC countries (UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar), and translate those differences into practical scheduling, finance, and event-delivery guidance. We also cover Ramadan working hours, stock-market trading windows, and the time-zone/DST interplay that regularly trips up international teams—plus clear answers to the most common Google-style questions (“Is Sunday a working day in Saudi Arabia?” “Is Friday a weekend?” and more).

Throughout, we’ve updated the content to reflect changes and clarifications up to September 5, 2025, and we’ve included a few helpful internal resources from our team at Chameleon Interactive for events, AV, and experiential delivery in KSA:

Explore major dates: Riyadh Events Calendar 2025–2026 (Cityscape Global, World Defense Show, LEAP & more)
AV and experience design insight for Western Region: The Future of Audiovisual Solutions in Jeddah’s Growing Market
See what we build: Chameleon Interactive Projects
More thinking like this: Chameleon Interactive Blog

The Official Position in Saudi Arabia (2025)

Saudi Arabia’s official weekend is Friday and Saturday, and working days are Sunday through Thursday. This configuration has been in place since a Royal Order in 2013, which aligned the Kingdom with global markets while respecting Friday’s central religious role. There has been no official announcement to change this setup as of September 2025. spa.gov.sa

For day-to-day business, this means Sunday is a normal working day across the public and private sectors, while Friday is part of the weekend. Expect government entities, banks, and most companies to be closed on Fridays and Saturdays, with many reopening on Sunday mornings—a day when much of the Western world is still in weekend mode.

Quick Answers to the Most Searched Questions

Is Sunday a working day in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Sunday is the first business day of the week in KSA. Teams should treat Sunday like Monday in European or American contexts, from email sends to procurement follow-ups.

Is Friday a weekend day in Saudi Arabia?

Yes. Friday (alongside Saturday) is the official weekend. Many businesses close completely, and Friday midday is set aside for congregational prayers. If you’re scheduling rehearsals, dry runs, or site checks, avoid Fridays unless your scope explicitly includes weekend operations.

What is the official work week in Saudi Arabia?

The work week is Sunday–Thursday (five days). Many offices keep hours roughly comparable to European schedules, with adjustments for prayer times and sector-specific norms.

How KSA Compares with the Rest of the GCC

Understanding the regional picture helps when your supply chain, client stakeholders, or partner agencies span multiple Gulf states:

United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since January 1, 2022, the UAE federal government has followed a Monday–Friday rhythm with a 4.5-day week (Friday half-day) and a Saturday–Sunday weekend. Many private-sector entities aligned for operational consistency. Sharjah, notably, moved the government to a 4-day week (Mon–Thu) with a Friday–Sunday weekend. In Dubai, a 4-day summer option for government entities—“Our Flexible Summer”—ran in 2025 after a 2024 pilot, offering either four 8-hour days (Fri off) or compressed hours. Private-sector adoption remains at employer discretion.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. These GCC states follow the Friday–Saturday weekend pattern (work week Sunday–Thursday)—useful to remember when coordinating multi-market projects.

Bottom line: Saudi Arabia is aligned with most GCC peers (Sun–Thu work week), while the UAE diverged in 2022 to a Mon–Fri orientation at the federal level (with Sharjah and Dubai now adding their own public-sector flex models). If your teams straddle Riyadh and Dubai, you’ll regularly navigate a Sunday workday in KSA that is a weekend day for many in the UAE’s private sector.

Practical Implications for Scheduling and Communications

Email and Meeting Cadence

If you’re based in Europe or the US, it’s easy to forget that Sunday morning in Riyadh is a busy inbox moment. For sales and partnerships, time launch emails for early Sunday (KSA time); for internal collaboration, line up Sunday–Monday as your “Day 1–2” cadence for KSA. Avoid late Thursday afternoon emails that require same-week responses; you may drift into the weekend.

Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time (DST)

KSA operates on UTC+3 year-round (no DST).
Poland/EU (typical for many of our client teams) switches: DST starts the last Sunday of March and ends the last Sunday of October.
In summer, Riyadh–Warsaw is typically 1 hour apart; in winter, 2 hours. Always double-check calendars around the March/October switches.

Finance Windows: Saudi Exchange (Tadawul)

If your deal flow or IR work touches capital markets, note the Saudi Exchange trades Sunday–Thursday, with core sessions around 10:00–15:20 (UTC+3) depending on instrument (equities to 15:20; ETFs and Sukuk/Bonds to 15:00). There are auction/pre-open phases close to the open/close. Align announcements and wires accordingly.

On-Site Work, Logistics, and Government Interactions

Approvals, permits, and utilities coordination will typically follow Sun–Thu government hours. Build your Gantt to anticipate Friday closures—especially if you’re pushing last-mile fit-outs for show opens on Sunday (common in KSA). For a curated view of upcoming anchor events, see our Riyadh Events Calendar 2025–2026; it’s designed to help you reverse-plan freight, staffing, and rehearsals.

Ramadan Working Hours: What Changes and How to Plan for It

During Ramadan, working hours are legally reduced for Muslim employees in the private sector to a maximum of 6 hours per day or 36 hours per week under Saudi Labor Law (Article 98). Public-sector schedules shorten further, and banking hours typically adjust (SAMA announces seasonal schedules). Practically, this reshapes crew rotations, client approvals, and daily throughput—and should be factored into your SLA and risk buffers.

A few pragmatic tips:

Front-load critical path tasks in the mornings.
Extend the delivery window by adding more days rather than longer shifts.
Confirm bank cut-offs and document sign-offs earlier in the week, given lighter afternoon activity.

(For quick policy confirmations, see the MHRSD guidance and recent round-ups of Ramadan hours in KSA.)

Events and Exhibitions: Why Sunday Matters

In Saudi Arabia, major conferences and exhibitions often open on Sundays or run Sunday–Thursday to sync with the national work week. If you’re delivering an immersive booth or multi-screen real-time installation, you’ll often:

Load in on Thursday (day 5 in KSA),
Pause for the Friday–Saturday weekend (crew on standby unless pre-arranged),
Open on Sunday with VIP walk-throughs.

We regularly coordinate dual-screen control, touchscreen totem + LED wall sync, and Pixel Streaming deployments that must be online by Sunday morning—even if external teams are still on Western weekends. For patterns across Cityscape Global, World Defense Show, LEAP, and others, refer to our Riyadh Events Calendar 2025–2026 and our build notes on Projects.

Cross-Border Teams: Where Mistakes Happen (and How to Avoid Them)

Assuming Friday is a business day. It isn’t in KSA (or most GCC states). Move your approvals and PO cut-offs earlier in the week.
Forgetting Sunday is “Monday” in KSA. If you want a same-week action, send it Saturday EOD (Warsaw/London) so it lands Sunday AM (Riyadh). spa.gov.sa
DST mismatches. KSA doesn’t change clocks; Europe does. Mark the March/October weeks in your PMO calendar with alerts.
Trading windows. Investor calls or disclosure timing should respect Tadawul’s Sunday–Thursday trading cycle and session times.
Ramadan throughput. Re-baseline shift lengths and sign-off SLAs; keep Article 98 in your planning notes.

“Sunday-to-Thursday Work Week Countries”: Where Saudi Fits

Across the GCC, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar operate on Sunday–Thursday working weeks with Friday–Saturday weekends. The UAE diverged to a Monday–Friday orientation in 2022 at the federal level, with Sharjah adopting a four-day public-sector week and Dubai adding a summer four-day option for government entities. If your operations touch Riyadh and Abu Dhabi/Dubai simultaneously, bake these differences into your weekly sprint plans, vendor SLAs, and event-day rostering.

Working with Saudi Public and Private Sectors

Although working days align across sectors, rhythms can differ:

Public sector entities often keep slightly shorter days, with stricter adherence to published hours—especially during Ramadan.
Private sector hours vary by industry; retail, hospitality, and production crews may operate extended shifts aligned to customer footfall or event windows.
Banks and government offices follow posted hours, with Friday closures the norm. Plan your transfers, guarantees, and letters for Sun–Thu and watch for seasonal adjustments.

When in doubt, confirm the exact schedule for your counterpart agency or bank—then lock it into your workback plan.

The Finance Lens: Trading, Disclosures, and Investor Relations

Because Tadawul trades Sunday–Thursday, IR teams should flip their “market-open” mindset for KSA. If you’re coordinating multi-listing announcements (e.g., London + Riyadh) or timing earnings releases, build a matrix that respects both calendars. Equities normally trade 10:00–15:20 (UTC+3) with specific auction phases at the open/close; ETFs and Sukuk/Bonds generally close around 15:00. Align press distribution, analyst calls, and data-room updates to land before or after the KSA session as needed.

The Human Layer: Culture, Prayer Times, and Friday

While this article focuses on logistics, it’s worth underscoring that Friday is the weekly day of congregational prayer. Many organizations schedule no internal meetings on Fridays; customer-facing operations in retail and hospitality may run, but back-office functions usually pause. In cross-cultural teams, simply acknowledging this rhythm goes a long way toward relationship-building and smoother execution.

Putting It All Together: A Weekly Template

Here’s a practical blueprint we use when coordinating Poland/Europe ↔ Saudi Arabia workstreams for events and digital installations:

Saturday (EU): Finalize materials and pre-stage messages that must land Sunday AM (KSA).
Sunday (KSA “Monday”): Kick-off calls, approvals, procurement triggers, and any government interactions.
Monday–Tuesday: Core production sprints, vendor confirmations, and technical integration.
Wednesday: Full run-throughs, QA, contingency builds.
Thursday: Light changes only; handover packs; venue checks.
Friday–Saturday: Dark (unless explicitly contracted) or minimal on-call support.

Overlay DST changes (Mar/Oct) and Ramadan reductions as required.

How Saudi Arabia’s Sunday-to-Thursday Workweek Impacts Global Business Relations

Saudi Arabia’s Work Week in 2025: Sunday–Thursday Schedule, Official Weekend (Friday–Saturday), and What It Means for Global Teams

The Official Position in Saudi Arabia (2025)