So every company in Japan has their own public holiday, and they've written it down _somewhere_. Sounds easy compared to what the middle east has to offer on that account:
- When Dubai was awarded the 2020 World Expo the following day was declared public holiday (yes, less than 24 hours notice)
- In the UAE, the death of a Sheik is often followed by 3 days of mourning where government offices are closed (this can include a lot of office workers one might not think of as "government", as the respective emirates runs a lot of companies)
- When Qatar scored a goal at the world cup, a public holiday was immediately announced for the following day.
- Even planned public holidays, such as Ramadan (not a public holiday as such, but work does grind to a near halt) and Eid are determined by sightings of the moon, and the start and length of these are often announced days in advance.
In my country on a public holiday everyone is free to spend money so all the stores and restaurants are open all day. What are people supposed to do on a holiday if not consume product?
Same here in ME. Every business in retail and hospitality works on weekends and holidays.
For Dubai at least, they have something like 90% foreign workforce, so it is easy to find people who do not observe Eid.
But in the context of the article, we are talking banks and offices and particularly KYC requirements. I’m a bit unclear how banks are affected by these “tomorrow is an advocate holiday!” announcements, particularly the banking software.
- When Dubai was awarded the 2020 World Expo the following day was declared public holiday (yes, less than 24 hours notice)
- In the UAE, the death of a Sheik is often followed by 3 days of mourning where government offices are closed (this can include a lot of office workers one might not think of as "government", as the respective emirates runs a lot of companies)
- When Qatar scored a goal at the world cup, a public holiday was immediately announced for the following day.
- Even planned public holidays, such as Ramadan (not a public holiday as such, but work does grind to a near halt) and Eid are determined by sightings of the moon, and the start and length of these are often announced days in advance.