Jordan’s private sector is set for a six-day Eid Al-Adha break from Monday 25 May through Saturday 30 May 2026, after Prime Minister Jafar Hassan issued circulars on 27 April marking the holiday period and Independence Day.
The holiday runs from the morning of 26 May through the evening of 30 May, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, which said Hassan set the Eid period after the official Dhul Hijjah moon sighting. Arafat Day on 26 May is included in the break and is a paid day off for both public and private sector employees, while most private sector workers are due back on Sunday 31 May.
The timing gives workers a stretch of holiday that starts with Independence Day on 25 May and moves directly into the Eid al-Adha period, which in Jordan lasts four days through 12 Dhul Hijjah. Most private companies in the kingdom follow a Sunday-to-Thursday workweek, so the calendar creates a full run of time off across the weekend and the midweek holiday days.
Jordan’s Labour Law No. 8 of 1996 protects private sector employees during official holidays. If an employer asks someone to work during the Eid break, the worker can receive overtime pay of at least 150% of normal wages for each holiday worked or take a compensatory day off instead. Official and religious holidays also cannot be counted against annual leave entitlement, which limits how employers can treat the break on paper or in payroll calculations.
The public sector is not fully bound by the same schedule. Ministries and institutions whose operational needs require continued service are exempted from the circulars, a reminder that not every government office will shut down even as the broader holiday period begins. For workers in the private sector, though, the break is already fixed: six days, one paid religious holiday, and a return to work on 31 May.
Eid al-Adha holiday schedules have drawn wider attention across the region this year, including the moon-sighting update reported in the piece on Eid al-Adha set for Wednesday May 27 after moon sighting in Riyadh. In Jordan, the practical result is simpler: a long holiday, protected pay rules, and a Monday-to-Saturday pause before normal work resumes.
