As Ramadan began on Monday, private companies across the UAE introduced new working hours for employees.
Last week, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation confirmed a reduction of two hours a day across all industries in the private sector is mandatory throughout the holy month.
This followed confirmation that public-sector working hours will also be shorter, with ministries and federal agencies working from 9am to 2.30pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9am to noon on Fridays.
How private companies put their hours in place can vary business to business. The authority said: “In accordance with the requirements and nature of their work, companies may apply flexible or remote work patterns within the limits of the daily working hours during Ramadan.”
This flexibility has been key when introducing the new working hours, several human resources teams told The National.
Technology company Acer Middle East & Africa, which has 25 employees in its Jebel Ali offices, is introducing six-hour working days without exception and those fasting can schedule these hours as per their requirements.
“This flexibility allows fasting employees to manage their workload and schedule their tasks in a way that accommodates their fasting requirements and ensures they can observe Ramadan rituals without undue stress or difficulty,” said HR manager Darshika Lewis.
This element of flexibility extends to non-fasting workers, Ms Lewis adds, as Acer allows for the adjustment of work hours to accommodate tea, coffee and lunch breaks without disturbing Muslim colleagues.
Maintaining a balance
TishTash, a specialist marketing and public relations agency in Dubai with 64 employees, has a similar policy this year, with two shift options to accommodate differing lifestyles and school hours.
Founder and chief executive Natasha Hatherall says employees can choose to work 8am to 2.30pm or 9am to 3.30pm across the company’s four-and-a-half-day week, but other hours can be accommodated if necessary.
“A lot of our team are working mums and many schools have different hours, so we want to ensure they have flexibility around this as they need, as no one solution suits all,” says Ms Hatherall. “The key thing for us is that all work is delivered and clients are happy.”
As a policy, TishTash encourages employees not to work outside of core hours, “and to have life balance”, but for some industries this is not possible.
At SLS Dubai, a five-star, 75-storey hotel in Downtown Dubai, several adjustments have been made to accommodate the new working hours.
While non-fasting employees have hours reduced by two across the board, it varies for anyone who is fasting.
“For fasting colleagues working morning shifts prior to iftar, we reduce working hours by three, inclusive of their break time,” a representative told The National.
“After iftar, the reduction is by two hours for fasting colleagues.”
Service at the hotel runs 24 hours a day, so there are some instances in which employees may need to work overtime, they added.
“We do our best to accommodate our employees’ religious practices during Ramadan, however in instances where employees need to work regular hours, we ensure fair compensation for any extra hours worked, said the representative.
"This typically involves compensating them with reduced work hours the following day or within the same week, allowing them to maintain a healthy work-life balance during Ramadan.”
For classifieds website Dubizzle, which falls under the same banner as online real estate portal Bayut, Ramadan is one of the busiest months.
This is especially the case for Dubizzle Cars, due to the increased buying and selling of vehicles during this time.
Ramadan can be peak time for many firms
“We have to ensure we balance covering core hours of customer interactions as teams on a shift system to capitalise on the business opportunity while ensuring our employees fulfil their religious obligations,” said director of HR Suzanne Gandy, whose department oversees more than 760 employees in the UAE.
This is done by non-fasting employees covering office business hours by one extra hour to support anyone who is fasting.
“Our culture ensures that we are considerate with workload and meeting timings to ensure we can balance our Muslim employees’ spiritual journey with business productivity during the holy month," she said.
It is legal for employees to be compensated for extra time worked but none should ever be forced to work full hours during Ramadan, said financial adviser Keren Bobker, a columnist for The National with experience addressing common employment concerns in the UAE.
“Sadly, I have come across too many companies who ignore this law and tell their staff that it doesn’t apply to them. That is unfair.”
If staff are happy to work full hours in companies that require extra manpower, time worked should be offered in lieu “at the very least”, she added.
“Or they be paid for overtime in accordance with the provisions of labour law.”
Ms Bobker said if a company is not respecting the two-hour reduction, employees should take the first step of reminding their employer of the law.
“It can be useful to explain that you are aware of your rights," she said.
“If the employer still fails to adhere to the law, any individual can report them to the Ministry for Human Resources and Emiratisation and companies can be fined for rule breaches.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
PRIMERA LIGA FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
SPECS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
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