It has been announced there will be an extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on 4th June 2022. The May Spring Bank Holiday, which usually falls on the last weekend of the month, will be moved to Thursday 2nd June and Friday 3rd June will become the extra bank holiday, therefore potentially creating a four-day weekend for some employees.
Whether the employee is entitled to the extra bank holiday is not as straight forward as it sounds and is in fact dependent upon the terms set out in their contract of employment. Employees will be entitled to the extra bank holiday if their contract of employment states their entitlement is 20 days holiday plus bank holidays. Employees will not be entitled to the extra bank holiday if their contract of employment states their entitlement is 20 days holiday plus 8 days bank holiday or 28 days or 5.6 weeks, which includes bank holidays.
Depending on the contractual terms, whilst there is no automatic right to this extra bank holiday, employers may wish to consider whether it should be given as a gesture of goodwill. This may be a preferable option and may go some way in demonstrating appreciation for employee loyalty, especially where there are difficulties in retaining staff members. This will of course need to be weighed up against the needs of the business. If employees usually have bank holidays off, then they are likely to expect the same to apply for this extra bank holiday on 4th June 2022 and we expect there is likely to be a negative reaction from employees if this extra bank holiday is not acknowledged.
In any event, it is important that staff are kept fully informed of what they are entitled to. In the event the employment contracts do not allow for this extra day and employees are required to take this day as part of their annual entitlement, employers will be able to ask the employee to use one of their holidays for the extra bank holiday as long as they give twice as much notice as the leave, i.e. at least 2 days’ prior notice to take 1 days leave.
Please note, any employees who work part time hours should not be treated less favourably than their full-time or permanent colleagues concerning bank holiday entitlements.
If you would like any further information concerning the issues raised in this article, please feel free to contact the employment department at Berry Smith on 02920 345 511 or at employment@berrysmith.com.