Three major UAE public policy issues,
One solution for all 3

The problems:

1. Severe traffic congestion in the coastal cities where most of the population is concentrated, especially the neighboring cities of Dubai and Sharjah.

2. Employment for nationals in the private sector. A national priority.

3. Government employees who also own businesses. An issue raised by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs about his own agency employees, but the practice is common and questionable (though legal: followup, not).


The solution: Harmonize the working hours of the government sector and the private sector. Eliminate the midday break in the private sector and the halfday on the day of the weekend. Change the closing time of government offices from 1 p.m. to later in the day. Stagger opening and closing times, or employee start and end times in both sectors.

1. Traffic congestion in Dubai now has four peak hours, morning, evening and two midday when many workers use the break to go home for lunch. Eliminating the midday break cuts traffic jams in half, and reduces accidents as well. Staggering smooths out the peaks.

2. National employment. Eliminating the disparity of office hours between the public and private sectors would eliminate a major drawback nationals see to working in the private sector. Private sector job offers would become more attractive for them to accept. Likewise, they would be less likely to quit a private job to take a government job offer -- making them more attractive to private sector employers looking for employees with an interest in staying with the firm.

3. Extending government hours would mean it would be more difficult to run a business on the side, and -- because essentially part time jobs are converted to full time -- would cut down on the drive to supplement income. Note that government jobs would not become more attractive.