Written by Nicola Gater | 12th September 2022
The team at Reality HR are saddened by the passing of Her Majesty The Queen, whose leadership served as an example to us all.
Like many businesses across the UK, we will be observing the bank holiday on Monday 19th September, the day of the State Funeral.
As an employer, you may be unsure how to respond when an extra bank holiday is given. Here are some considerations as you decide how to manage it:
Should we give all our employees the day off?
As for any other bank holiday, businesses such as banks and postal services are expected to be closed. Shops and other organisations in the private sector are not automatically required to close, and so as a business leader you will need to decide whether or not you will remain open.
Closing your business will have an obvious impact on your operations and your finances, but for many people in your business, the funeral will be a significant occasion and they will want time away from work to watch it and to pay their respects. Gifting this day as additional time off without any impact on pay or holiday entitlement is seen by many employers as the right thing to do.
Many people will have an expectation that as it has been announced as a bank holiday, they will automatically be given the day off and by refusing this, you may risk damaging morale and goodwill.
Just as for all other Bank Holidays, there is no statutory right to time off and it is ultimately your choice as an employer whether to grant it. Your contracts of employment may say otherwise, and you should check these as you consider your response. If it’s not possible for you to close your business on this day, you should respond sensitively to requests from employees who wish to take time off.
Checking your contracts of employment
If your employment contracts state that employee entitlement for time off is expressed as a certain number of days “plus eight bank holidays”, or if the contract specifies which bank holidays are included, you are not contractually obliged to give the 19th September as additional paid leave.
If the contract states that employee entitlement is for a certain number of days “inclusive of bank holidays”, then bank holidays are usually deducted from total holiday entitlement and so this day could also be deducted, rather than being given as additional entitlement.
If the contract states a certain number of days “plus UK bank holidays”, then there is the argument that your employees are contractually entitled to have this additional day as paid leave.
Even where employees do not have a contractual entitlement to paid time off on the additional bank holiday, you should strongly consider providing this as a gesture of goodwill.
If we grant the day off, does it have to be paid leave?
Again, be guided by your contracts in the first instance. Secondly, consider the costs of paid time off against the very real costs of losing goodwill if this is expected by your employees but not granted. As the bank holiday will be a chance for individuals to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate her reign, we would encourage employers to gift their people the day off.
Even if you remain open, but commit to granting days off for all those that request it, there could be a significant impact on your business operations anyway with high levels of absence.
How do we treat those who are not due to work on Monday 19th September
Whether because of part time hours or other absence reasons, some may already be away from work on Monday. For the eight standard bank holidays, they would be given time in lieu to be used at another date if they were not working on the day the bank holiday falls. However this bank holiday is given specifically to enable people to watch the funeral and mark the occasion, and so giving time in lieu to be used as normal holiday on another date is not necessarily appropriate. Whatever your decision here, communicate it to anyone affected well in advance so you manage expectations.
Remember there are no statutory rules regarding extra pay
If individuals choose to work or are asked to work on the day of the funeral, there is no statutory entitlement for employees to receive extra pay over and above a normal day’s pay.
Again, we suggest you check your employment contracts to check whether it outlines any extra pay your employees might receive if they work on a bank holiday.
If there is no mention of this in your employment contracts, it’s a matter of discussion between you and them and giving them extra pay is at your discretion.
If you decide to stay open…
The Government has encouraged businesses to give employees who request the day off to grant it, but this is at your discretion. Some employees may be emotional on the day or want to watch to some of the coverage of the funeral, so you should be sympathetic here.
If you choose not to gift employees the day off, anyone who wishes to take leave should follow your normal holiday request procedure and time off will be deducted from their annual leave entitlement. Do keep in mind that for some, childcare may be an issue on the day as schools are closed, and so working parents and carers may require leave to manage this.
This is an unusual situation for all and clearly the rules around how to treat this bank holiday are a little ambiguous. Whatever your approach, we recommend you communicate well, explaining your reasons for any decision and listening to your employees, so that expectations can be managed on all sides and any issues addressed as early as possible.
There are no easy answers to some of these considerations so if you have any questions about pay and time off on bank holidays, or wish to discuss your specific circumstances, please get in touch with our team at info@realityhr.co.uk.