Are employees entitled to the extra Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday in 2022.
In November 2020, the Government announced an extra bank holiday for June 2022 to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 70th anniversary as monarch.
The late May Bank Holiday has been moved to Thursday, 2 June 2022 and an additional Platinum Jubilee bank holiday allocated as Friday, 3 June 2022. This will create a four day weekend for some.
Employers will be starting to look to plan their workforce availability and some employees will be booking their holidays in good time – particularly where an employer grants holiday on a “first come first served basis”.
How do I know if employees are entitled to the extra bank holiday?
This all depends on the wording within the particular Contract of Employment. To explain this, we’ve set two scenarios:
Scenario 1: The Contract of Employment states “X days’ holiday, plus public and/or bank holidays”.
In these circumstances, any public and/or bank holidays are awarded in addition to the employee’s annual holiday allowance and, as the Contract of Employment does not stipulate the exact number of bank holidays they are entitled to, the employee will be contractually entitled to take and be paid for the extra bank holiday.
Scenario 2: The Contract of Employment states “X days’ holiday, inclusive of your public and/or bank holiday entitlement”.
In these circumstances, because the public and/or bank holidays are included within the employee’s set holiday entitlement and, because the Contract of Employment has not specified the exact number of public and/or bank holidays but has expressly shown that they are part of the employee’s set holiday entitlement, the employee would not have a contractual right to the extra bank holiday. This means that the employer is not obliged to give an extra day’s paid leave.
If an employee wanted to take the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday as annual leave, they would need to request it in the normal way and take a day from their existing annual leave entitlement.
Some employers may however wish to grant the Jubilee bank holiday as an additional day of paid leave notwithstanding what is specified in their Contracts of Employment.
Where the employer is planning to close the business for the Jubilee bank holiday, then the employees should be made aware of this. Employees should also know whether they are entitled to the extra day’s paid holiday or whether they will be required to use a day from their holiday entitlement. Employers should also ensure that they give their employees the correct notice to take holiday on the Jubilee bank holiday if this falls on one of their normal working days.
Where an employer is planning to remain open on the Jubilee bank holiday and the employee is entitled to the extra paid Jubilee bank holiday, the employer should ensure that the employee understands how the extra bank holiday should be used in accordance with the employer’s Holiday Policy.
Employers should ensure that all employees are aware of whether or not they are entitled to the extra bank holiday in 2022 as paid leave or not as early as possible so that the employee and employer can plan holidays and holiday cover.
Points to note:
- If it is mandatory for employees to work on a public and/or bank holiday, this should be set out within the Contract of Employment, including whether the employee will be entitled to a day off in lieu of the public and/or bank holiday worked.
- The additional Jubilee bank holiday falls on a Friday and part-time employees who do not normally work on a Friday but are entitled (in accordance with their Contract of Employment) to the additional bank holiday are entitled to a pro rata equivalent of the hours they work.
- Employees on maternity leave continue to accrue annual leave during maternity leave and may, depending on the wording of their Contract of employment, be entitled to an extra day’s leave for the extra bank holiday when calculating accrued annual leave due to them.
If you have any queries regarding the Public Bank Holiday or any other employee issue, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team by completing the form here or calling 03332005153
