The World Bank has announced that the United Arab Emirates stands out as the only nation in the Middle East and North Africa with legislation governing remote work. Currently, no other country in the region has established frameworks for regulating flexibility in working hours.
A study published on the World Bank’s blog highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the significance of such arrangements, prompting a global reassessment of traditional work models. The report on women, business, and the law has responded to the evolving landscape by examining existing laws and policies that allow employees to request flexible working arrangements, such as flexible hours and remote work.
In a detailed analysis conducted by five researchers affiliated with the global institution—Aileen Rodriguez Ferrari, Martha Werner, Natalia Mazzoni Silva Martínez, Haruna Kashiwas, and Emilia Galeano—the findings from their study titled “Work Flexibility: Insights and Ideas from 50 Years of Data” illustrated that remote work (particularly from home) and flexible working hours represent more than just comfortable conditions for employees. They are crucial elements that drive economic inclusion, enhance productivity, improve work-life balance, and enable economies to fully leverage their workforce potential.
The data from the report on women, business, and the law reveal disparities in the adoption of flexible work regulations. Laws regarding “flexible time” gained momentum in the mid-1990s, while remote work began to gain traction in the early 2000s.
The report emphasized that countries supporting flexible working legally create conditions conducive for women to enter and remain in the workforce. The potential economic benefits are substantial; according to World Bank estimates, if women’s labor force participation matched that of men, per capita income in the long term could increase by approximately 20%. Therefore, flexible work arrangements are essential for promoting economic growth.
Additionally, the data revealed regional disparities. Up until the second decade of the 21st century, most flexible work regulations were concentrated in high-income countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as in Europe and Central Asia. Such regulations were largely absent in regions like East Asia and the Pacific until recently.
The report on women and business compiled historical legal data regarding flexible work across 190 economies from 1971 to 2024. It outlined the countries that were early adopters of such initiatives and those that have only recently begun to legalize flexibility in work arrangements. This analysis also helped to identify regional trends and global legal shifts since the pandemic outbreak.
According to the report, flexible work refers to the ability to choose when to work—like specifying starting and ending times—known as “flex-time.” It also pertains to the choice of workplace, whether entirely or partially executed outside the designated workplace, which is referred to as “remote work.”
42 Economies Out of 190
The report indicates that among the 190 economies surveyed, only 42 (22%) have legislation allowing employees to access flexible time arrangements, while 61 (32%) have legal provisions permitting requests for remote work. However, only 12% of countries (23 out of 190) offer both options, illustrating a significant gap regarding work flexibility.
This suggests that despite a rising trend towards widespread remote work, the integration of both flexible time and remote work remains limited. Specifically, 16 economies have enacted new laws granting the right to flexible work hours during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In parallel, the isolation measures adopted during the pandemic have highlighted the importance and necessity of remote work. Subsequently, 38 out of 190 economies have legislated arrangements for remote work.
Within the data from the report on women, business, and the law, flexible work refers to the flexibility in choosing work hours, which includes defining starting and ending times, labeled as “flex-time.” It also denotes the flexibility in selecting the workplace, being executed in whole or in part at a location other than the usual workplace, termed as “remote work.”
The categorized data from the report shows that France became the first country in the world to adopt laws on flexible working hours in 1974, marking a significant milestone 50 years ago. Notably, France did not recognize the right to remote work until the 2013 report cycle of women, business, and the law.