The nation is looking forward to a four-day Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend in June to celebrate the Queen’s 70 year reign.
The additional, jubilee bank holiday in 2022 is on Friday 3rd June and applies in England, Scotla
Who is entitled to the extra leave?
The common misconception is that all employees are allowed time off on all bank holidays. But there is no statutory right to time off work during bank holidays, instead, entitlement is determined by their contract of employment. The move of the Spring bank holiday from a Monday to a Friday will not affect this, nor will the additional day.
What does this mean for my organisation?
The heart of the issue will lie with the wording of existing contracts of employment and organisations should review these carefully in order to determine any impact.
Where your contract sets out that your team:
- receive the statutory entitlement to annual leave, which includes bank holidays and
- are required to work during bank holidays
you may continue to do so, providing you give individuals the additional amount of time off in lieu.
Where contract sets out that your team are :
- entitled to time of on ‘all bank holidays’, without expressing a particular date or
- entitled to ’20 days holiday plus bank holidays’.
then they will have a contractual right to the day off on 2nd and 3rd June 2022.
Where your contract sets out your team are:
- entitled to the day off on the usual date of the bank holiday, eg ‘the first Monday in May’
then you are faced with a more complex problem, particularly if you usually close down on bank holidays. This scenario this creates the possibility of employees being on contractual leave on th
Where your contract sets out your team are entitled to:
- 20 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (9 in Scotland) OR
- 28 days or 5.6 weeks which includes bank holidays.
then they are not entitled to the extra jubilee bank holiday.
If you have a variation of this wording, do reach out so that we can guide you through.
Is there any flexibility?
While your team may not be entitled to the additional jubilee bank holiday, you do have the discretion to allow the extra day’s leave regardless, from a well-being or good-will gesture.
Taking leave is essential for each and every team member, yourself included. That said, we’d advise careful planning to be sure your operation doesn’t suffer as a result.
How does this affect part-time hours staff?
If you have employees working part-time hours, under legislation, they may not be treated less favourably than full-time colleagues over these entitlements.
Also, the two bank holidays fall on a Thursday and Friday. So it is important to make sure any part-time employees for whom those days are not working days are also receiving a fair amount of time off.
We advise you to calculate and apply their entitlement to the extra day on a pro rata basis in both these cases.
How do I tell the team?
It is quite often an expectation that employees automatically take bank holidays off work.
To be sure everyone understands what they are entitled to and how you plan to manage the long weekend, we’d advise you to send out some information as soon as possible. Clear, early communication is key here to avoid grumbles down the line.
Do get in touch if you need support with any of the issues covered in this blog, we’d love to help.
