Public Holidays at short notice: effects on Human resource

The year was 2007, President Mwanawasa said in his address to the nation on Tv and radio ‘ effective that year International women’s day would be commemorated as a public holiday’, On the 7th of March, during the 19:00hrs news, A communique from the cabinet secretary said the observance of the holiday would only start the proceeding year. The news came in late and we were already in the weekend mood and we could not go to work on the 8th of March; which landed me and my friend in trouble with my then employers after reminding them that we were told it would be a public holiday by BA KATEKA “ My friend you not working for Mwanawasa you working for us “.
The moral of the story, the people in the public sector and those in the essential services this does not affect them in a way even it’s done at short notice; the problem comes with employees in the private sector like shop keepers and the likes who must be paid as per Section 35 (2) of the employment code act of 2019, for working on that particular day (as shops and malls must open for business).