Bank Holiday Guidance
Published byLiam A Entwistle
King Charles III has officially declared Monday 19 September - the day of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II - a Bank Holiday. Some remain unclear as to what their rights are when it comes to taking the day off work, so here is some guidance.
Whether the Bank Holiday is given to staff is entirely up to individual employers to decide. There is no automatic legal right for workers to take the day off.
If your workplace is opening as normal and an employee wants to take the day off, they have the right to request a holiday and use their own annual leave entitlement, as long as they are complying with their workplace agreement. However, there is no obligation on employers to observe the holiday.
If an employee has already taken their full bank holiday entitlement – bearing in mind we still have Christmas and New Year to account for – they may not be able to take the day off without using other holiday entitlement.
As an employer, if you decide to observe the Bank Holiday and allow some of your employees to take the day off but not others, for example if administrative staff are given the day off but operational staff are asked to work as normal, you should ensure that no discrimination issues could arise and consider things carefully.
There are other options employers could consider as a compromise, such as flexible hours or extended breaks to allow staff members to watch parts of the ceremony, but this is entirely at the employer’s discretion.
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