The Civil Service Commission directed government entities to limit onsite staff to 30 percent with mandatory rotations and cut the official workday to six hours starting the day after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, the Arab Times reported on March 18, 2026. The guidelines permit remote work where feasible while keeping grace periods, flexible arrangements and fingerprint attendance systems unchanged. The directive maintains the suspension of evening shifts but exempts legally mandated shift roles and trims already-reduced schedules further to four hours.
The CSC guidelines require entities to organise daily or weekly rotations tailored to operational demands in order to meet the 30 percent onsite cap. This framework allows continued delivery of public services with reduced physical presence across offices. Central Statistical Bureau data from 2023 places total government sector employment at 476,041, a number that translates to roughly 142,812 workers in offices simultaneously under the new limit.
Official working hours have been set at six per day with all prior grace periods and flexible scheduling retained. Employees already operating under specific reduced-hour regulations will see their workday shortened to four hours. Attendance tracking, leave requests and related administrative procedures will continue without modification.
Suspension of evening shift operations will remain in place until further notice. Legally required shift-based positions are unaffected and will follow established regulations. The CSC issued the instructions to all departments to ensure uniform application of the policy.
The measures take effect immediately after the Eid holiday concludes and will stay in force until a subsequent directive alters them. Government bodies received authority to structure rotations according to their individual service requirements. Remote arrangements will supplement onsite staffing in suitable cases.
Comparable 30 percent staffing thresholds appeared in earlier CSC circulars 4 and 7 of 2026 amid exceptional circumstances, according to a March 24, 2026, assessment published by People Matters Global. Those circulars similarly mandated rotation systems to sustain government functions. The post-Eid update integrates the reduced hours into this ongoing operational model.
