For most of us here on planet earth, we work the same regime every week – that’s a Monday to Friday week, consisting of the 9-5 daily working hours. Oh, the joys!
We knuckle down reluctantly for five days, and then suddenly we get a rejoiceful sense of freedom for two days for it all to be suddenly taken away from us when Monday comes back around again. We’re making it sound worse than it actually is, but we certainly wouldn’t say no to an extra day off that’s for sure.
You may think that the whole world pretty much as the same weekly pattern day in-day out, but there are actually a lot of countries out there that have a very different working week with a very different weekend. In fact, some even work on Sundays! Yes, you heard it right – they work hard on the day of rest! Here are some of the countries that unfortunately work over our weekend days. Let’s find out some more about them.
Israel
The working week is Sunday – Thursday. They follow this by the Jewish calendar. On average, the country works 42 hours per week – that’s 8.4 hours per day, which is more than the average. And they have to work Sunday!
Saudi Arabia
Before 2013, Saudi Arabia followed the Christian calendar of working Monday – Friday. However, the country changed this six years ago to bring the working week in line with a lot of other Arab countries that surround. The country now works Sunday – Thursday, with an average of 40 working hours per work.
Nepal
Nepal is one of the very few countries in the world that actually has a six-day working week. Their official working days are Sunday – Friday, meaning Saturday is the only official day of rest. On average, the country works 48 hours per week.
Malaysia
Southeast Asian country Malaysia has some regions that also work the week of Sunday – Thursday. These regions include Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu. On average, the country works 40 hours per week.
United Arab Emirates
UAB is another country that only recently changed to a different working week of Sunday – Thursday. In fact, most Muslim countries in the Middle-Eastern region conform to this working week after Jordan was one of the first Arab countries to do so in 2000. Ever since, most surrounding countries decided to follow suit. On average, UAB works 45 hours per week – that’s 9 hours per day.
Iran
Iran is another country that works a 6 day week. The usual working week is from Saturday – Thursday, meaning Friday is the only official day of rest. On average, the country works 45 hours per week. That’s 8 hours per day, except Thursday in which you only work 5 hours.
Apart from a few, the majority of countries that work on Sundays are located in the middle-eastern area. With Saudi Arabia changing to this working week in 2013, it looks as though this isn’t going to change anytime soon. If you really think about it, it can’t be too different – you still get a two day weekend, just not Sunday. How peculiar.
