A member of the Federal National Council, the UAE’s advisory parliament, has suggested that everyone in the public sector should get another 10 days off, per year — the final 10 days of Ramadan, the fasting month.

When that story was mentioned at the news meeting at The National, everyone who has ever been responsible for staffing a department did a collective, “Are you kidding me?”

Holiday and vacation are major topics here. Whether you are giving it or taking it, the numbers are big, and will get bigger if the FNC member’s idea becomes policy.

How big?

In 2014, the public sector, which includes nearly all of the working Emirati population, counted 15 days of legal holiday, most of it stemming from the two eids and National Day. In one case this year, no one in the public sector worked for nine consecutive days.

Among the reasons broached for the additional paid holiday was that working while fasting, is difficult, especially the final 10 days of the month. The time off would also allow more time with family.

Also, some of the neighbors get more days. Saudi Arabia had 23 days of public holiday this year, and Qatar had 12 days off for Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr (which follows the end of Ramadan).

What we don’t know is how much regular ol’ vacation they got there.

At The National, everyone gets at least six weeks of paid vacation per year, and Emiratis and some managers get seven weeks.

Plus the 15 paid holidays — which we can’t all take, at the time, because it’s a daily newspaper — and now we are going to possibly add another 10 days? Two weeks, essentially, counting weekends.

Yes, we would be talking about at least 11 weeks of paid time off. Compared to nine paid holidays in the U.S. and a basic vacation total of something like two weeks.

Anyway, staffing a newspaper is difficult when everyone has so much time to burn. And when no one can carry over more than 15 days of vacation.

At the moment, if you have a public sector staff of 10 (and The National is owned by the government), they get essentially nine weeks off. Or collectively, 90 weeks. Meaning two people need to be off all but 14 weeks a year (when one person off would be sufficient) to use up all the time off.

If the FNC member gets his way, those 10 people will have 11 weeks off per year, generating 110 weeks of off time annually — which means at least two people should be off every week, or as a manager you are digging yourself a staffing hole.

I’m guessing the FNC member has never run an every-day operation, like a police department or fire department — or a newspaper.

But I’m thinking you can have too much of a good thing.

The matter will be reconsidered by the FNC next month.