Bank Holiday for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II – Monday 19th September

Bank Holiday for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II – Monday 19^th September

Key Contact: Claire Knowles

Author: Yannick Ramsamy

Additional bank holiday

As you will be aware, the Government has announced that Monday 19^th September will be a national bank holiday to allow individuals, businesses, and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.

Are your employees entitled to time off on 19 September?

There is no automatic legal entitlement for an employee to take leave on 19 September due to it being declared a bank holiday. Employees’ entitlements will depend on the specific wording of your employment contracts and holiday policies. For example:

• These may simply state that employees are entitled to statutory holiday which is already inclusive of public holidays (i.e. 5.6 weeks inclusive of public holidays). In this case, the employer can require the employee to work on 19 September in the usual way.

• Alternatively, your contract or policies may state that the employee is entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday plus the usual 8 public holidays which are recognised in England and Wales. In this case, you can adopt the position that the 19 September holiday is not one of the 8 standard public holidays, in which case the employee can be required to work. However, if the contract states that the employee is entitled to all public holidays which may be announced in addition to 5.6 weeks’ leave, the employee could claim 19 September as an additional holiday.

• If an employee is required to work on a public holiday you will also need to consider based on your contracts/policies:
  • Whether the employee is entitled to receive an additional day’s leave in lieu of working on the public holiday?
  • Whether the employee is entitled to any enhanced pay? For instance, if your contracts provide that working hours on all public holidays will be paid at an enhanced rate, the employee can claim an entitlement to such rates if they are required to work on 19 September.

What should you do?  

As your employees’ entitlements will be determined by your employment contracts and any applicable policies, you should review these first to understand the employee’s eligibility to take 19 September as leave.

If you would like further advice on your options, please contact the Acuity Employment team.