An employer's guide to bank holidays

Victoria Templeton, HR Knowledge Manager at HR Solutions, explains what employers need to know about public and bank holidays.

What is the difference between a public holiday and a bank holiday?

A bank holiday is a national public holiday across the UK, where banks and many businesses close for the day.

There are also public holidays in the UK, which work in the same way in terms of business closure. These are associated with cultural traditions, such as Christmas and Easter day, as opposed to bank holidays which were introduced, traditionally, for closing banks.

From an employment law perspective, however, there are not any differences in how the law operates between bank holidays and public holidays. So, while this article refers to bank holidays, the guidance relates to both bank and public holidays.

How many bank holiday days are employees entitled to?

Under The Working Time Regulations 1998, workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid annual leave, which equates to 28 days per year. Bank holidays can be included within this statutory entitlement if the employer wishes to manage them in this way. Alternatively, employees could be given bank holidays on top of their statutory annual leave entitlement of 28 days.

Can employees be required to work on bank holidays?

By law, there is no statutory right to time off on a bank holiday. This often surprises people as it is assumed that because they are part of the UK’s culture, individuals would automatically have a right to time off. However, it is the nature of each business and the contractual terms it sets that dictate whether an employee has time off on a bank holiday or not.

Some businesses can and choose to continue operating on a bank holiday, and so there is a requirement for its workforce to work bank holidays. For other businesses though, whilst they may be able to operate, they may choose to close. In which case, employees take leave.

The contract of employment is therefore a key document for how the business manages bank holidays and should set out whether an employee is required to work or not.

Do employees have a right to extra pay for working on a bank holiday?

Similarly, just as there is no statutory right to time off on a bank holiday, there is also no statutory right to paid leave for it. Whether an employee is to be paid for their absence should be set out in the contract of employment, along with a general statement as to how bank holidays are to be treated.

Are employees required to take bank holidays off?

Employees are only required to take a day’s leave on a bank holiday if the contract of employment requires them to do so.

If the contract requires them to work, then to ensure compliance with The Working Time Regulations, the employee must be able to take the equivalent time off at another point in the year.

Are part-time employees entitled to bank holidays?

All full-time workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid annual leave under The Working Time Regulations, and under The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 those who work part time must not be treated less favourably than a full-time employee. Part-time workers who work regular part-time hours must receive a pro rate equivalent of what a full-time employee receives.

Whereas those who work part-time irregular hours (on an ongoing contract basis) must receive the full 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave and for it not to be prorated. This is following the judgement on the case Harpur Trust v Brazel, which was decided at the Supreme Court earlier this year.

What happens if an extra bank holiday is granted for one year?

In 2023 we saw an additional bank holiday will be awarded in 2023 to mark the coronation of King Charles III.

Firstly, there is no obligation for businesses to close on this day. The rules for how employers manage the day will depend upon the contract of employment.

If contracts are worded based on the entitlement to annual leave is X days including Bank Holidays (minimum 5.6 weeks), then staff could be asked to take the additional bank holiday out of their normal entitlement if the business choses to close on that day.
If the wording is X days including 8 Bank Holidays (which are the eight usual bank holidays in England each year), then there is no automatic entitlement to the ninth and additional bank holiday. If businesses chose to close on this day, they would need to award all staff an additional day (pro rata for part timers). A decision would need to be made whether this additional day is to be paid or not. The decision must be consistent across the workplace and for all employees.
If contracts are worded on the basis of entitlement to annual leave is X days plus Bank Holidays (that is, with no restriction on the number of bank holidays) then employees must be given the additional bank holiday paid.

UK bank holiday dates for 2024

England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland bank holidays for 2024 are as follows:

England and Wales

1 January 2024
29 March 2024
1 April 2024
6 May 2024
27 May 2024
26 August 2024
25 December 2024
26 December 2024

Scotland

1 January 2024
2 January 2024
29 March 2024
6 May 2024
27 May 2024
5 August 2024
2 December 2024
25 December 2024
26 December 2024

Northern Ireland

1 January 2024
18 March 2024
29 March 2024
1 April 2024
6 May 2024
27 May 2024
12 July 2024
26 August 2024
25 December 2024
26 December 2024

About the author

Victoria Templeton is the HR Knowledge Manager at HR Solutions, an outsourced HR services firm, part of the WorkNest group, offering employment law, and health and safety support and advice to businesses across the UK.

Find out more

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (Legislation)

The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (Legislation)

Harpur Trust (Appellants) v Brazel (Respondent) (Supreme Court)

Images

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Publication updated

22 March 2024

Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.