Written by Cathy McCosker | 27th January 2023
To mark the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023, we are being given an extra Bank Holiday on Monday, May 8. Like many businesses, we will be observing this date, to allow our employees to celebrate the occasion.
However, giving an extra bank holiday may not be possible for all businesses, and as an employer you may be unsure of whether you are obliged to give staff time off.
January often means the start of a new holiday year and people may be trying to plan their annual leave now, so it’s important you think about this sooner rather than later.
Gifting the day off
For some business the decision will be simple, and they will manage this day as they do for any other Bank Holiday and they will take the decision to close.
Closing your business will have an obvious impact on your operations, but for many people the Coronation is a significant occasion which they will want to celebrate with family and friends.
Not all employees will be automatically entitled to the extra Bank Holiday, and it will ultimately be your decision as an employer whether you decide to give the extra day as a gesture of goodwill or not.
Check contracts of employment
There is no automatic right for employees to have the extra day off – Bank Holiday entitlements depend on the wording in your employment contracts. Please refer to the table below:
Part-time employees
It is important to ensure that part-time employees do not get treated less favourably than full-time employees.
Some part-time employees may have different terms in their contract regarding Bank Holidays or pay and benefits, depending on the days they work. If the holiday falls on one of their non-working days, depending on their contract terms, you may be required to allocate them another day that they can take in lieu.
Alternatively, they may have a contract that states their Bank Holiday entitlement is on a pro-rated basis, as well as their annual leave. In this case it would be worth considering how Bank Holidays are referenced in their contract (as outlined above) and making sure that part-time employees are not treated less favourably.
If I grant the day off, does it have to be paid leave?
This will again, be guided by your contracts as to whether it is a paid day of leave. It is important to consider the cost to your business of paid time off against the cost of losing goodwill and morale within your employees.
This Bank Holiday will be a chance for people to celebrate a significant national occasion , and therefore, you may feel it appropriate to gift the day off to your employees.
Communicating with your employees
We recommend communicating with your employees as early as possible, about whether your business will remain open and their entitlements surrounding their contract. This will avoid any assumptions being made and potential disappointment.
If you decide to grant the Bank Holiday as a gesture of goodwill, you should manage expectations and make it clear that this may not be the case for future Bank Holidays.
Please get in touch with our team if you have any questions or need support with communicating your employees’ bank holiday entitlements. Unlike previous bank holidays, you may not be able to allow the day off on this occasion, so it’s important that you communicate this correctly – we can help with this.
If you have any questions about the extra Bank Holiday and what this means for your business, please get in touch with our team at info@realityhr.co.uk.