Woodfi nes Solicitors
Additional bank holidays, employment law and annual leave
In November 2021, the Government announced that the UK would enjoy an additional bank holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. T e additional bank holiday would take place on Friday June 3, 2022, and – as the late May Bank Holiday has been moved to Thursday June 2, many in the UK will enjoy a four-day weekend. On April 26, the BBC reported that the CBI, UK
Hospitality and a variety of well-known brands are calling for the additional bank holiday to be made permanent. In similar vein, in the run up to the 2019 General Election, the Labour Party announced that if elected, they would introduce a further four bank holidays a year – St David’s Day on March 1, St Patrick’s Day on March 17 , St George’s Day on April 23 and St Andrew’s Day on November 30. Employers and employees alike may wonder whether all employees are entitled to any additional bank holidays – whether permanent or one off . T e answer: not necessarily. T e law on annual leave is contained in the Working
Time Regulations 1998. Regulations 13 and 13A of the WTR provide that workers (a wider category of people than employees) are entitled to 5.6 weeks of annual leave each year. For people that work fi ve days a week, this means that they are entitled to 28 days of annual leave each year. The law does not entitle employees or
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Andrew Buckley Partner Woodfi nes Solicitors
workers to take leave on bank holidays in addition to their WTR entitlement. Consequently, the question of whether an individual is entitled to leave from work on a bank holiday depends upon what their contract says. Many contracts of employment provide that individuals are entitled
to 20 days of holiday plus bank holidays. In these circumstances, the individuals will be entitled to benefi t from any additional bank holiday that the Government announce.
If the contract of employment
has any further description around bank holidays, then this will aff ect individuals’ entitlements. So – if the contract says the holiday entitlement is ‘20 days plus the usual eight bank holidays’ individuals working under that contract will not be entitled to the additional bank holiday. Similarly, if the contract does not mention bank holidays (ie, providing for 28 days of holiday a year) then individuals working under that contract will not be entitled to the additional bank holiday. Prudent employers will often draft their contracts of employment in
such a way that bank holidays are not part of the contractual entitlement of employees or workers. T ere are good reasons for doing so:- -
and avoids the need for cumbersome pro-rata exercise. -
It avoids problems when employers have people that work part time It keeps the decision about bank holidays in the hands of the
employer. T e only way that individuals working under such a contract of employment will be entitled to additional bank holidays is if the government specifi cally legislates to this eff ect.
Of course, any employer that has a contract of employment that
does not allow employees the benefi t of additional bank holidays would be wise to consider the position carefully before making any decisions. T ey should balance the cost of allowing an additional bank holiday against the damage to goodwill amongst members of staff in refusing it. T is writer, in particular, would have felt unhappy to have to work
on Friday June 3.
For further advice following this article, contact Woodfi nes Solicitors on 0344 967 2505 or visit www.woodfi
nes.co.uk
ALL THINGS BUSINESS
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