Brits will get to enjoy an extra long weekend this summer thanks to an upcoming August bank holiday. In Scotland, the summer bank holiday will fall on Monday, August 4, while in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it will come later in the month on Monday, August 5.
For many people, the bank holiday will mean an extra day off work to be spent relaxing and soaking up the summer sun instead, but not everyone will be so lucky. Employers are not obligated to automatically give you the day off as paid holiday, so it’s worth checking your employment contract to check what you are entitled to. Bank holidays don’t have to be given as paid leave so employers can choose whether or not you have to work them.
By law, all workers are legally entitled to 28 days’ paid holiday per year (equivalent to 5.6 weeks of holiday), which is known as statutory leave entitlement, or annual leave.
Some employers may choose to include bank holidays as part of the statutory paid holiday entitlement, or you might get the day off in addition to your contractual annual leave. But this is dependent on your employment contract which should set out the rules about working on bank holidays.
Citizens Advice says: “Look for wording like ‘holidays’, ‘holiday entitlement’ or ‘annual leave’. You might see something that says, “In addition to bank and public holidays, your annual entitlement to holidays is … days” – this would mean you get bank and public holidays in addition to your annual leave entitlement.
“Or you might see, “Your annual holiday entitlement (inclusive of bank and public holidays) is … days” – this would mean you have to take bank holidays as part of your annual leave entitlement.
“Your employer must follow what’s in your contract. If they don’t, you should raise the issue with them. If your contract doesn’t say anything about bank holidays, ask your employer what their rules are.”
If you are entitled to annual leave then bank holidays will either be deduced from your annual leave allowance, meaning you’ll have to take all bank holidays as paid leave, or they will be counted as additional holiday days, which you may or may not be paid for.