Are employees entitled to the additional bank holiday for the King’s Coronation?
Are employees entitled to the additional bank holiday for the King’s Coronation?
Some of us have just had the luxury of enjoying a lovely bank holiday Monday on the 1 May 2023, but with an additional bank holiday being declared to celebrate the Kings Coronation Bank Holiday on 08 May 2023 Nazia Kausar, solicitor in Wake Smith’s employment law team, answers some frequently asked questions.
- Are employees entitled to the day off ?
This is dependent upon the contractual terms and conditions, verbal agreements or custom and practice within your business.
If your contracts state that your employees are entitled to x days holiday in addition to all bank/public holidays, without listing those public holidays or referencing how many those are then it’s likely that your employees will be entitled to this additional day off.
Many contracts detail the annual holiday entitlement inclusive of the bank holidays or without specifying the particular bank holidays. In this case, there is no requirement to provide the additional day off. However, employee’s may decide to request the day off and subtract this from their entitlement.
Alternatively, you may decide to allow your employees to take Monday 8 May 2023 as additional holiday at your discretion as a benefit to staff.
- Do I have to pay employees for the day off?
It is highly likely that if the employee has an entitlement to the day off on Monday, then they will also have a right to the time off paid, unless time off in lieu is agreed.
- What if my employee normally works on a public holiday do I have to pay them overtime to work this one?
If your employees normally work on a public bank holiday, then there is no legal requirement to provide additional pay for working on the 8 May 2023, unless your contracts provide for additional pay on public holidays, or unless this is something you have always done .
- Is there any way we can limit the number of additional days bank holiday an employee gets?
If your contracts do not currently specify the public holidays employees are entitled to then we would recommend that you review your contracts and consider amending them. This is something our employment team can help with.
- What to do next?
If you require advice on any of the information raised in this article, our friendly employment team at Wake Smith Solicitors is happy to help.
Please contact Nazia Kausar on 0114 224 2027 or email [email protected]
Published 05/05/23
