Bank Holiday for King Charles Coronation

An Extra Bank Holiday Has Been Confirmed For 2023 To Mark King Charles’ Coronation

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed the United Kingdom can look forward to an extra bank holiday for King Charles Coronation. The ceremony is scheduled to take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May 2023, eight months after his ascension to the throne following the death of the Queen.

Bank Holiday for King Charles Coronation

It has now been confirmed by Rishi Sunak that Monday 8 May 2023 will be an additional bank holiday for the whole of the UK.

There had been speculation that the Early May Bank Holiday, 1 May 2023, would be moved to coincide with the Coronation. But this announcement confirms the 8 May 2023 will be an additional bank holiday and once again increases the total bank holidays in England for 2023 to 9, with 3 of those falling in May.

Bank and Public Holidays in the UK

There are usually eight annual bank holidays for workers in England and Wales, while those in Scotland normally get nine.

There were two additional bank holidays in 2022 to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Queen’s Funeral.

As with both of those additional bank holidays this announcement does not increase the statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks annual leave.

There is no statutory right for employees to take bank or public holidays off work or to receive pay for bank or public holidays if they do not work them.

However, where the employee’s contract contains clauses outlining a right to time off, payment for time off or extra pay or days off in lieu for bank or public holidays worked then this will override the statutory entitlements.

Working Time Regulations

The Working Time Regulations (WTR) entitles workers to a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks’ holiday each year. This is equivalent to 28 days for a full-time five-day a week worker and the entitlement is pro-rated for part-time workers.

The WTR do not give a right to take specific public holidays as holiday and the amount of statutory leave is inclusive of all public holidays. Under the WTR, therefore, the additional bank holiday on 8 May 2023 could be treated as one of the 28 statutory days.

WTR leave is not additional to an employee’s contractual entitlement and often contracts of employment or collective agreements contain more generous provisions for holiday entitlement than the WTR. Where a worker has a contractual right to annual leave and a corresponding right under the WTR, the worker may take advantage of whichever right is more favourable – usually the contractual entitlement.

Contractual Terms

Contractual Wording	Does this give the employee the right to an extra day off?
20 holidays per year plus bank and public holidays OR four weeks holiday per year plus bank and public holidays	Yes The employee can take the extra bank holiday on the day it falls unless there is another provision somewhere in the contract which allows you to ask the employee to work on some bank holidays which you decide to exercise. The extra day will be added to the employee’s annual entitlement for this holiday year. My advice in this situation is if you close allow the day to be taken as an extra day’s holiday and if you need to open on the day offer a paid day in lieu.
20 holidays per year plus bank and public holidays that are normally observed in England and Wales OR four weeks holiday per year plus bank and public holidays that are normally observed in England and Wales	No the contract only provides for the bank and public holidays that are ‘normally observed’ which amount to eight days in England and Wales. The extra bank holiday on 8 May 2023 isn’t a normal bank holiday and therefore the employee isn’t entitled to take the day unless they use one of their existing 5.6 weeks holiday entitlement. This means if you want to remain open and staff want to take the day off it would come out of their annual leave entitlement.
20 holidays per year plus New Years Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May, Late May, Summer, Christ Day and Boxing Day	No the contract sets out the standard eight bank and public holidays only. This means if you want to remain open and staff want to take the day off it would come out of their annual leave entitlement.
28 days per year OR 5.6 weeks per year	No the number of days holiday per year is fixed and the employee is not entitled to any extra days of paid leave. This means if you want to remain open and staff want to take the day off it would come out of their annual leave entitlement.

Where there is no contractual entitlement to paid time off on the additional bank holiday employees will be able to book annual holiday for the day. You may consider providing the day as an additional day’s holiday as a gesture of goodwill, or providing time off in lieu if employees are required to work on that day.

Where employees are entitled to the additional public holiday and you are concerned that your operations may be adversely affected, you may wish to negotiate with your employees over alternative arrangements such as granting a day’s holiday in lieu to be taken at another time or paying a public holiday premium to employees who are required to work on that day. If you do expect your employees to work on that day you should make sure you have the contractual right to require them to work on a public holiday.

Don’t Forget To Treat Part-time Staff Fairly

If your staff aren’t contractually entitled to the extra day off but you decide to give it to them anyway, make sure you consider the implications for part-time staff. You must make sure that you do not treat part-time staff less favourably than comparable full-time staff, or you could face discrimination claims. This means that if the bank holiday falls on one of a part-time staff member’s usual non-working days, you must make sure their holiday allowance is adjusted on a pro rata basis to ensure they don’t miss out on the extra leave.

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