Almost the same hours, a different week
The UAE is four hours ahead of GMT, which puts it 1 h 30 min behind India. Our office hours of 10:00–19:00 IST are 08:30–17:30 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The working week is where planning matters. Since 1 January 2022 the federal government has worked Monday to Thursday plus Friday morning, with Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, and most emirates’ governments adopted a similar pattern; Sharjah’s government works Monday to Thursday. Private-sector rest days follow each employment contract or workplace rules, so we ask which days your team works.
We work Monday to Saturday. Friday afternoons and Saturdays can therefore be used for changes while your office is closed, if you want that, and Sunday is our day off.
Data protection: federal law, DIFC and ADGM
The UAE’s federal personal data law is Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, which came into force on 2 January 2022 and deals with matters such as consent, the rights of data owners and transfers of personal data outside the country. The UAE Data Office acts as the federal data regulator.
The Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Market have regimes of their own: DIFC Data Protection Law No. 5 of 2020, supervised by the DIFC Commissioner of Data Protection, and the ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021, overseen by ADGM’s Office of Data Protection. Sector regulators may add requirements too.
Which rules apply to your business is for you and your advisers to decide. We work within your requirements and your own contracts, and keep personal data inside the systems you control.
A UAE project, step by step
- A discovery call at a time that suits both offices, often your morning
- A written proposal with scope, milestones, timeline, contract terms, currency and payment
- Milestone reviews held live in the shared day, with a written note of decisions
- Handover of code, documentation and credentials, followed by removal of our access
Ownership and access
Accounts belong to your company: the domain, hosting, cloud subscription, repositories and business email administration. Our team works through named, least-privilege accounts that you can disable in one step, and we keep a written list of the access we hold so that revoking it at handover is straightforward.
What suits remote delivery in the UAE
Because the hours line up, the UAE suits work that needs frequent conversation: iterative builds with weekly demos, a migration carried out together over a shared screen, or a help desk arrangement for a small office. Anything that needs hands on hardware in the UAE needs a local technician, whom we can guide remotely.
Time zones and meeting windows
India Standard Time is UTC+5:30 all year; India does not change its clocks.
| Time zone | Difference from India | Typical overlap |
|---|---|---|
| Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4 (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah) | India is 1 h 30 min ahead, with no seasonal change | 08:30–17:30 UAE time on every working day we share, which is our full 10:00–19:00 IST day. |
Common questions
Which days can we reach you?
Monday to Saturday, 10:00–19:00 IST, which is 08:30–17:30 UAE time. If your company works Monday to Friday, that covers your whole week plus Saturday; we are closed on Sundays.
Do you write Arabic content?
No. We work in English. Sites and tools can be built to take an Arabic version, with the Arabic text supplied or approved by your team.
We are based in DIFC. Does that change anything?
It can affect which data protection rules apply and where data should be hosted. Tell us in the discovery call and share any requirements from your compliance team, and we will build them into the proposal and the way we work.
Is there a standard package for UAE clients?
No. Each project is quoted in writing after a discovery call. The proposal sets out scope, milestones, currency, payment terms and the contract that will govern the work.
Official sources
Rules and portals change. Always confirm the current position on the official source before you apply.
- UAE fact sheet (opens in a new tab) — The official portal of the UAE Government (u.ae)
- Working hours in the public sector (opens in a new tab) — The official portal of the UAE Government (u.ae)
- Working hours and overtime (private sector) (opens in a new tab) — The official portal of the UAE Government (u.ae)
- Data protection laws (opens in a new tab) — The official portal of the UAE Government (u.ae)
- Commissioner of Data Protection (opens in a new tab) — Dubai International Financial Centre
- ADGM enacts its new Data Protection Regulations 2021 (opens in a new tab) — Abu Dhabi Global Market
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