The Jubilee bank holiday is almost upon us! That’s right - a four day weekend and two extra days off work - but are you employees automatically entitled to this additional leave? Here, we explore the potential reasons why not.
The current statutory annual leave entitlement is 28 days for full-time staff, with part time workers having a pro-rata entitlement. Some employers will provide more than 28 days - this is at the practice owner or manager’s discretion.
First off, you should refer to your employees’ employment contracts and note the specific wording used. Whether your employees receive an additional day of holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee depends on your employment contracts.
In the absence of a contract, it may also depend on the precedence you have set with previous additional bank holiday days.
If your employment contracts provide 20 days of annual leave alongside all bank and public holidays, this gives your employees an extra day of paid leave for the Queen’s Jubilee.
However, if the contract permits your employees the ‘usual’ bank holidays, you may not be obliged to give your employees these additional days of leave. 'Usual' bank holiday days do not include the Platinum Jubilee.
If the contract provides for 28 days of annual leave including bank holidays, then there will be no entitlement to the additional day.
Remember, we are still in the midst of the recruitment and retention crisis. Bank holidays can be an excellent way to boost your team's morale, increase their loyalty to you, and improve their productivity when they return to work.
Whether or not you give your employees an extra day off is entirely up to you - within the constraints of your employment contracts. You may not be obliged to give the time off, but it might be worth considering it as an act of good faith.
If you need help understanding your obligations about bank holidays or are looking for robust advice on anything else relating to HR and employment law, please feel free to get in touch.