Summary
- Workers have no automatic right to take a bank holiday off, and no automatic right to extra pay for working one.
- Most workers receive 5.6 weeks of paid statutory annual leave each year, and you may count bank holidays towards that entitlement.
- Your contract wording decides whether workers receive an additional or substitute bank holiday that the government announces.
- This article explains bank holiday pay and leave entitlement for employers across the UK.
- LegalVision’s employment lawyers advise UK employers on bank holiday clauses in employment contracts, holiday entitlement for part-time and irregular-hours staff, and calculating final holiday pay when employment ends.
Tips for Businesses
Give at least twice as much notice as the leave you require staff to take during a closure. Never deduct a bank holiday from a part-time worker’s allowance where they do not normally work that day. From 6 April 2026, keep annual leave and holiday pay records for six years. Speak to an employment lawyer at LegalVision about requiring staff to take annual leave during a business closure
UK law gives workers no automatic right to take bank holidays off, and no automatic right to extra pay for working them. The Working Time Regulations 1998 give most workers 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year. The statutory cap sits at 28 days, and you may count bank holidays towards that entitlement. Whether a worker takes the day off depends on their employment contract, any collective agreement and your holiday policy. Unclear or inconsistent bank holiday arrangements produce holiday pay disputes, grievances and tribunal claims. Your employment contracts and your annual leave policy decide your responsibilities, and those documents sit among the most important aspects of employment law for any UK business. This article explains the legal considerations for bank holiday pay and leave in the UK.
What Are Bank Holidays?
UK law sets bank holidays. The law fixes certain dates, and it also allows the government to move a date or announce an extra holiday, for example to mark a royal event.
In England and Wales, the law already recognises Good Friday and Christmas Day as public holidays. In practice, the term “public holidays” in England and Wales covers both bank holidays and traditional holidays such as Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Do Workers Have the Right to Have Paid Bank Holidays Off?
As an employer, you do not have to give workers time off on bank holidays. Workers hold no automatic legal right to take these days off, whether paid or unpaid.
Your employment contracts and workplace policies decide whether a worker can take a bank holiday off. The type of work also affects the answer. In sectors such as retail and hospitality, you may need your staff to work on public holidays.
If you allow a worker to take a bank holiday off, you can count that day towards their statutory annual leave entitlement.
If your business closes on bank holidays, you can also require workers to take annual leave on set dates, including those closure days.
“Most bank holiday disputes start with a contract that says 'plus bank holidays' and nothing else. It never states whether the worker must work them, what you pay if they do, and what happens when the day falls outside their normal working pattern. Fixing that one clause removes most of the argument before it starts.”
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How Many Holidays Do Workers Receive?
You must give most workers at least 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year. The law calls this statutory annual leave.
A full-time worker receives a minimum of 28 days. The entitlement also covers agency workers, workers with irregular hours and certain part-year workers. Our guide on how to calculate holiday leave entitlements walks through the arithmetic for different working patterns, and our overview of leave entitlements in England and Wales sets out how holiday sits alongside other statutory leave.
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How Do Bank Holidays Affect Holiday Entitlement?
As an employer, you must ensure that each worker receives at least 5.6 weeks of paid leave each year. Bank holidays do not create a separate legal right to paid leave, so you decide how to treat them within your workers’ overall holiday entitlement.
What Should Employment Contracts Say?
Your employment contracts must explain clearly how holiday entitlement works. Clear wording avoids confusion and helps staff understand their rights. You must also follow the rules your own contracts set out.
Set out your approach in your contracts and policies. In particular, your contracts should:
- state the holiday year and the worker’s total leave entitlement;
- explain whether that entitlement includes bank holidays or whether you provide them in addition;
- set out how workers request time off from work and how you approve it;
- explain how you calculate holiday pay, including final pay when employment ends; and
- reserve your right to require workers to take holiday on certain dates.
Our guide to the key terms to include in your employment contract covers the wider clauses these provisions sit within. Communicate your rules clearly to workers, particularly when someone joins your business or changes their working pattern.
Holiday Rights and Pay
Holiday entitlement becomes complicated when your business engages a mixed workforce, especially where you employ staff on part-time contracts or individuals working irregular hours. You should tailor each employment contract to the worker’s status and their holiday entitlement.
Take care when you manage holidays in practice, because complex issues arise quickly.
Particularly complex scenarios include:
- how bank holidays and Christmas closures affect your staffing needs;
- how you manage bank holidays that fall on days a worker does not usually work; and
- whether workers can work on bank holidays and take time off in lieu.
An employment solicitor can help you apply the rules correctly and reduce the risk of grievances and disputes. A solicitor can also review your contracts and policies, confirm that they read clearly, and check that they comply with the law.
Key Takeaways
You do not have to give workers time off on bank holidays. However, you must still provide at least 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year. You can include bank holidays within statutory leave entitlement, or offer them as additional leave. Your contracts and policies decide the position.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do employers have to provide time off on bank holidays?
No. UK law gives workers no automatic right to take a bank holiday off. Their employment contract and your holiday policy decide the position. You must still give every eligible worker their full statutory annual leave entitlement.
Are bank holidays included in statutory holiday entitlement?
They can be. You may count bank holidays towards a worker’s statutory 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave, or provide them on top as a contractual benefit. Either way, each eligible worker must receive their full statutory entitlement.
Do employers have to pay extra for working on a bank holiday?
No. No general statutory right to a higher rate applies simply because a worker works a bank holiday. You must pay an enhanced rate only where the contract, a collective agreement or another binding term requires it.
Can you make employees take annual leave on a bank holiday?
Generally, yes. You may require workers to take annual leave on a bank holiday or another business closure day. Give at least twice as much notice as the leave you require, unless the contract sets a different arrangement.
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