Jubilee– leave or not to leave?

22 Dec 2010     Last updated: 20 Jun 2014

The Government has agreed to mark Tuesday 5 June 2012 as a new public holiday date in the 2012 calendar.

The Government has agreed to mark Tuesday 5 June 2012 as a new public holiday date in the 2012 calendar.

However, whilst the extra public holiday does not increase the holiday entitlement under the Working Time Directive, the question is whether employers have to provide paid leave for it?

That depends on the wording of the contract of employment. There is no statutory entitlement to paid leave for public holidays; however, staff are entitled to 5.6 weeks (28 days) paid leave per year, (pro rata).  This can be made up of annual leave, public or bank holidays. Bearing this in mind, there are different outcomes depending on the wording in the terms and conditions of employment:

For example:

If the contract of employment lists (or specifies) all the bank holidays the employer recognises (10 in Northern Ireland), such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day etc, this will NOT entitle staff to an extra day next year.  

However, if the contract of employment states that the employee is entitled to 4 weeks (or 20 days) ‘plus bank holidays’, then as the holiday is an additional bank holiday in 2012, the bank holiday may have to be granted as an additional paid day off.

In absence of any contractual agreement on holidays, the employer should seek advice from the Labour Relations Agency advice line on 028 9032 1442.

The late May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will take place on Tuesday 5 June 2012.

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