The king’s coronation is happening on Monday, May 8, 2023, and the UK government declared it a public holiday. But that doesn’t mean you automatically get the day off work. How your employer handles an extra holiday depends on what’s in your work contract. If it says you get paid time off on “all bank and public holidays,” then your employer has to give you the day off.
In England and Wales, there are eight public holidays, Scotland has nine, and Northern Ireland has ten. These holidays are part of 5.6 weeks of annual leave entitlement under the Working Time Rules of 1998. Public holidays are treated just like any other day. Even though the law requires a certain amount of annual leave in total, some companies may have different policies around public holidays.
Keep an eye out for phrases like “20 days of vacation plus public holidays” in your contract. This could mean you’re getting more or less paid holidays than the law requires. And if a company’s holiday year starts in April and ends in March, that’s a red flag which cause a particular problem in 2024. In that year, Good Friday is on March 29 and Easter Monday is on April 1. So, in the 2023-2024 holiday year, you get ten holidays, but only seven in 2024-2025!
In the UK, working on a holiday doesn’t mean you get more pay. Your contract should say how much you’ll get paid for working on a holiday. Unless your contract says otherwise, you’re not legally entitled to extra pay for working on a public holiday.
If there’s no written agreement, your holiday rights come down to any verbal agreements or customs and practices. So if you usually get more pay on holidays, that might become part of your contract.
Just because it’s a public holiday in the UK doesn’t mean you automatically get the day off with pay. If you refuse to work on a holiday and your contract doesn’t entitle you to paid time off, your boss might take disciplinary action. But if your contract says you can use public holidays as part of your annual leave, your boss can’t make you work on that day or punish you for not doing so.
Employers have to treat requests for time off equally. And you can’t just say no to working on a holiday if it’s in your contract that you have to work. But if your employer says no to your request, they need a good reason for it. And if you feel like they said no because of your age, religion, or ethnicity, you might be able to make a discrimination claim.
By using Employer of Record UK to employ in the UK on their behalf, businesses can feel secure knowing that their employees are treated fairly thanks to our in-depth experience and understanding of all aspects of UK employment law. To learn more, contact us via +44 207 863 2969 or hello@agilityeor.com
Sam Barnes
Sales Director
