The UAE's 4.5‐Day Workweek: Employee Perceptions, Organizational Redesign and Employee Well‐Being Under a Reduced‐Hours Workweek

ABSTRACT This study examines employee perceptions of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) transition to a nationwide 4.5‐day workweek and perceived changes in productivity, motivation, stress and well‐being. Self‐determination theory and the Job Demands–Resources model guide the interpretation of the balance of recovery and concentrated workload pressure. An exploratory cross‐sectional survey was completed by 155 employees recruited via convenience and snowball sampling. The sample was concentrated in public‐sector education (71.6% public sector; 78.7% education) and is not representative of the wider UAE labour market. Well‐being was assessed using the WHO‐5; other items assessed satisfaction, productivity, work–life balance, stress and motivation. Most respondents reported higher motivation (70.9%) and improved work–life balance (73.6%). The mean WHO‐5 score was 67.5, and 84% scored above 50, the well‐being threshold. However, 36.9% reported increased weekday stress linked to workload compression. The regression model did not identify a consistent demographic or occupational pattern, although statistical power was limited. In a cross‐sectional mediation model, work–life balance accounted for part of the observed association between satisfaction and well‐being. Private‐sector respondents more often reported productivity gains, but this subgroup was small ( n = 22), and the overall model was not significant. Employees thus described the reform as a redistribution of demands: more recovery time but denser weekday work, pointing to the importance of organizational redesign, workload coordination and sector‐specific implementation in evaluating reduced‐hours schedules.