Bank Holiday For The Queen’s Funeral
State Funeral Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday For The Queen’s Funeral approved by King Charles III. The Palace have now confirmed that the funeral will take place at 11am on Monday 19 September 2022, this is the last day of the 10-day period of mourning. The service will be televised, and a national two minutes’ silence is expected to be held.
The Queen’s Funeral
The Palace have now confirmed that the funeral will take place at 11am on Monday 19 September 2022, this is the last day of the 10-day period of mourning. The service will be televised, and a national two minutes’ silence is expected to be held.
State Funeral Bank Holiday
It was previously unclear whether or not there would be a bank holiday for the funeral, which will be the first state funeral held in the UK for 50 years. But King Charles made an order for one during his first meeting with the privy council in St James Palace on Saturday 10 September 2022.
Acting Lord President of the Council Penny Mordaunt read out two draft proclamations appointing the day as a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in Scotland. Charles responded with the single word “Approved” before signing the proclamations.
Acting Lord President of the Council Penny Mordaunt read out two draft proclamations appointing the day as a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in Scotland. Charles responded with the single word “Approved” before signing the proclamations.
The day will be known as the State Funeral Bank Holiday
The move means that schools, businesses, government offices and many shops will close for the day, allowing the maximum possible people to watch the funeral.
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 was an additional bank holiday earlier this year on Friday 3 June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
As with the additional bank holiday for the Platinum Jubilee the 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.
Therefore, it all depends on how the holiday clause within the contract of employment is written.
Working Time Regulations
The WTR entitles workers (a broader group of individuals than employees) 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 19 September 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 days 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 19 September 2022 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 also consider providing the day as an additional day’s holiday as a gesture of goodwill, where possible, or providing time off in lieu if employees are required to work on that day.
Where employees are entitled to the additional public holiday, or you are considering offering the day as a gesture of goodwill, 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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