Is there a Flexible Working Policy? A Guide to Working From Home in the Middle East

A question that was rarely asked 5 years ago, but is now a staple question in conversations: what is this company’s flexible working policy?

For many, this is key for several reasons:

  1. Individuals may have a purpose to be home: family commitments, a difficult commute, medical reasons.

  2. Some people like working from home. It affords extra focus, especially when reviewing those 100 page contracts, and means you can get the washing done between calls.  

  3. It’s an indicator to how the business operates. If they don’t offer a flexible working policy, maybe they’re behind in other areas of modern day working.

Unfortunately, the Middle East is behind the majority of the world when it comes to flexible working.

The general rule of thumb is that locally headquartered companies have minimal (or no) flexible working, maybe allowing Friday afternoons from home at best. However, multinational businesses are usually more flexible and allow employees to work from home 2-4 days per week, with many not having any set policy requiring office attendance.

Additionally, many of the multinational companies allow employees to work remotely for a certain period of time, whereas local and government bodies will maximise this at one or two weeks (if available).

Several businesses have lost employees and future talent because of a lack of flexible working, and are therefore evolving policies; however, this is taking some time and the region still remains behind.

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