Many Countries Require Paid Leave for Eid al-Adha in 2019

Numerous countries recognize the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha by requiring paid leave for employees. Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, celebrates the religious figure Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.

Among the countries that require paid leave for Eid al-Adha are Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.

Each country that requires paid leave for Eid al-Adha recognizes its principal day as the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, which is the 12th month of the lunar Islamic Calendar, but the Gregorian Calendar equivalent of this principal day may differ among countries based on variances in lunar observations.

For 2019, the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia designated the holiday’s principal day as Aug. 11, the Saudi Press Agency said Aug. 1 in a news release (Arabic). Many countries use Saudi Arabia’s designated principal day for the holiday as their own. Saudi Arabia’s period of paid leave for Eid al-Adha is the longest such period in the world and spans from the fifth to 15th days of Dhu al-Hijjah, which for 2019 corresponds to the period from Aug. 6, to Aug. 16, 2019.

Each Islamic holiday starts at sundown of the day before the communicated start date. This dynamic causes paid leave to generally be required for employees in Saudi Arabia who otherwise would be required to work after sundown Aug. 5.

As with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which together with Eid al-Adha are the two most prominent Islamic holidays for which countries require paid leave, countries vary regarding whether the date when the paid leave must start for Eid al-Adha is before, on, or after the principal day of the holiday; the number of days for which paid leave must be provided for the holiday; and whether the days of paid leave must be granted to all employees or only to Muslim employees.

Some governments designate the dates for which paid leave must be provided for Eid al-Adha only a few days before the start date.

The name Eid al-Adha is not universally used among the aforementioned countries as the predominant name for the holiday. Among the variants are Eid-ul-Azha, which is used in some South Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan; Hari Raya Haji, which is used in some Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore; Bajrami i Vogël, which is used in Albania; Kurban Bayram, which is used in Turkey and some Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan; and Kurban Hayit, which is used in some Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan.