Bank and Public Holidays - A Summary for Employers and Employees

With Christmas soon to be upon us and the government having announced an additional holiday for the Coronation of King Charles III in May 2023, Andrea Corr, senior solicitor in our Employment Law team, writes about the law surrounding bank and public holidays for employees.

Bank and Public Holidays

In England and Wales there are generally 8 bank and public holidays per year. These are:-

• New Year’s Day (or a statutory holiday on another day if it falls at the weekend)
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• The first Monday in May (“May Day”)
• The last Monday in May (“Spring Bank Holiday”)
• The last Monday in August (“Summer Bank Holiday”)
• Christmas Day (or a statutory holiday on another day if it falls at the weekend)
• Boxing Day (or a statutory holiday on another day if it falls at the weekend)

In Scotland there are generally nine bank and public holidays per year and in Northern Ireland there are normally 10 bank, public and regional holidays per year.

Bank and public holidays may be established in a number of ways. These include an Act of Parliament, by Royal Proclamation or by the common law.

The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (the Act) gives us the term “bank” holiday, as banking and financial dealings are suspended on those days. The four bank holidays provided for by the Act are Easter Monday, the last Monday in May, the last Monday in August, and Boxing Day. The Act also  provides for a statutory day to be given where either Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls at the weekend. This year, as Christmas falls on a Sunday, there will also be a statutory holiday on Tuesday 27 December 2022. The Act also provides that any day proclaimed as a holiday shall be one.  

New Year’s Day and the first Monday in May are proclaimed holidays. Each year, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II issued a Royal Proclamation granting them and it is expected that His Majesty The King will also do so.  

Christmas Day and Good Friday are neither proclaimed bank holidays nor statutory ones provided for by law. As Christian “holy days” they have been recognised as holidays for so long that they are regarded as common law holidays.

Time off/Time Off in Lieu

Contrary to popular belief there is no absolute entitlement to time off on a bank or public holiday. That is a matter for the employee’s contract. However, all employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks/28 days leave per year under the Working Time Regulations 1999 (as amended), which may include bank and public holidays.  

There is also no automatic entitlement to a day off in lieu where an employee works on a bank or public holiday. Again, that is a matter for the employee’s contract but many do grant such a right.

Pay on Bank Holidays  

Even if an employee is entitled to take time off on a public or bank holiday this is not necessarily a right to paid time off. Whether or not paid time off is given for a bank or public holiday is again a question determined by reference to the employee’s contract of employment. However, all employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks/28 days paid leave per year under the Working Time Regulations 1999 (as amended), which may include bank and public holidays. 

Additional Statutory Holidays

Additional statutory holidays may be proclaimed by the Sovereign, acting on advice from the Government. In 2020 in anticipation of the Platinum Jubilee representatives of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II issued the following wording in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes:-

Whereas, to mark the Seventieth Anniversary of Our Accession to the Throne, it appears to Us that it is inexpedient that Monday the thirtieth day of May in the year 2022 should be a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and We consider it desirable that Thursday the second day of June in the year 2022 should be appointed a bank holiday in place of it, and that Friday the third day of June in the year 2022 should be appointed a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:

Now, therefore, We in pursuance of sections 1(2) and 1(3) of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, do hereby appoint Thursday the second day of June in the year 2022, in place of Monday the thirtieth day of May in the year 2022, and Friday the third day of June in the year 2022 to be bank holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Given at Our Court at Windsor Castle the eleventh day of November in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty in the sixty-ninth year of Our Reign.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Earlier this month Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that there will be an additional statutory holiday in 2023, to celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty The King. This additional statutory holiday will be on Monday 8 May 2023, following the Coronation on Saturday 6 May 2023. It is expected therefore that a similar announcement will be published shortly by representatives of His Majesty.

Technically, when an additional holiday is created, even by Royal Proclamation, there is no absolute entitlement for employees to be able to take it or to be paid for it. Again, this is a matter for the employee’s contract. In some cases employee contracts may state that the number of bank and public holidays is eight per year (in England and Wales), or they may simply make reference to “the usual bank and public holidays”.

When an additional holiday is created some employers may therefore have to decide whether or not to grant a further paid day off to employees. However, in practice many employers agree to do so.

And, finally, the use of the Royal Prerogative to declare a holiday has been used since medieval times. In 1537 Henry VIII declared St Valentine’s Day a holiday by Royal Charter. These days, however, holidays are proclaimed by a notice in The Gazette. 

So, as we enjoy the common law holiday of Christmas, the bank holiday of Boxing Day and look forward to the creation of the statutory holiday for the Coronation next June that gives a flavour of bank and public holidays and rights to annual leave in the UK. Who would have thought that the use of the Royal Prerogative would affect an employee’s right to time off in the 21^st century?

Happy Christmas from all at Blandy & Blandy.

For more information, please contact our Employment Law team.

For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.