| This year the Spring bank holiday, which normally falls on the last Monday of May, has been moved to Thursday, 2nd June, and there is an extra bank holiday on Friday, 3rd June to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee. The result is that we have 9 bank holidays in 2022 rather than the usual 8.
Employees do not have a statutory entitlement to bank holidays. As we know, many people work on bank holidays (e.g. in care and retail). So, any entitlement to bank holidays is a contractual matter. If you are not sure whether you need to grant this extra holiday you need to check what the contract of employment says:
- If staff are not entitled to bank holidays under the contract, then there is no change in 2022. It is up to the employer, therefore, to decide whether or not they want to give them an extra day off.
- If the contract states, for example, that staff are entitled to 20 days plus bank holidays, then they will be entitled to all the bank holidays, including this extra one.
- If it states that they are entitled to 20 days plus the standard 8 bank holidays, they have no contractual entitlement to the extra day, so it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to grant it.
- If it states, for example, that staff are entitled to 28 days including bank holidays, then the entitlement is to the 9 bank holidays in 2022 plus an additional 19 days. So again, it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to grant an extra day.
If you do decide to grant an extra day off when you are not contractually obliged to do so, then it is best to ensure you grant it across the board and grant part-timers the time off as well on a pro rata basis. To apply it on a discretionary basis to certain staff, could cause resentment, and could possibly lead to claims of discrimination. |
