UAE federal employees offered shorter working day to manage school drop-off and pick-up

Parents can take three hours off on the first day and for other important school events

Hundreds of thousands of pupils across the UAE will begin their new school year on August 29, and traffic congestion is expected during rush hours. Photo: Antonie Robertson / The National

School children catch the bus in Dubai. The National

Traffic along Hessa street in Dubai as parents and drivers pick up school children at the end of the school day last year. Photo: Antonie Robertson / The National

School bus on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Children cross road to get to school. Photo: The National

All employees of UAE ministries and federal departments have been given the option of flexible working to manage drop-off and pick-up on the first day of school.

The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources issued a special back-to-school circular on Friday, outlining the flexible working policy for employees, news agency Wam said.

Parents can come in late after dropping off their children and leave early to pick them up on the first day but the time off should not exceed three hours.

Parents who have children in nurseries and kindergartens have been given more flexibility. They can take three hours off work each day for the first week.

The policy also offers employees the option of flexible working on other occasions, such as parent-teacher conferences, graduation ceremonies and other important school events.

"The policy was approved by the Council of Ministers and launched by the federal government earlier, with the aim to improve the quality of life of employees," Wam said.

Hundreds of thousands of pupils across the UAE will begin their new school year on Monday, when traffic congestion is expected during rush hours.