HR Expert: Bank Holiday FAQs
Although they happen many times a year, each time a bank holiday comes round my clients start wondering about what they can and can’t make their staff work. Do you have any pointers I can give to them?

Bank holidays are often seen as a tricky area for employers, however, they are quite easy to manage. The main point of information for your clients should be each member of staff’s contract of employment as this will usually set out what they are entitled to. Here’s a few pointers on the most frequent areas of concern:

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  • There is no legal right to time off for work for bank holidays. It is a business decision as to whether staff get time off work for these days, and, if time off is given for every bank holiday. This will be stated in the contract of employment or annual leave policy.
  • The wording of the contractual clause is important. If it states “28 days plus bank holidays” this will mean the employee, generally, gets 36 days off in England and Wales. However, “28 days inclusive of bank holidays” means staff have to use up eight days of their annual leave allowance to take time off.
  • Care should be taken where the holiday leave year runs from April to March as, depending on when Easter falls, staff may receive more bank holidays in one year and less the following year. Your client should ensure that staff are still receiving their full 5.6 weeks annual leave entitlement in years with fewer bank holidays.
  • There is no legal right to extra pay when staff work bank holidays. Some employers choose to pay an additional rate to incentivise staff to work these days. Any additional rate payable for these hours should be included in their contract.
  • Part-time staff have the same entitlement to leave for bank holidays as full-time staff working in a comparable role. It would be less favourable treatment to give full-time staff time off on bank holidays but refuse leave for part-time staff. The safest approach is to allow part-time staff a pro-rata allowance of bank holidays, regardless of whether they usually work on the days when a bank holiday falls.

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