The UK will celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 70th anniversary as monarch with a blockbuster weekend of celebrations. The May Bank Holiday Weekend will be moved to Thursday 2 June and an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June will see a four-day weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – the first time any British monarch has reached this historic milestone.
This historic event will reflect on Her Majesty’s reign, and her impact on the UK and the world since 1952. Activity will build across 2022 in the run up to the four day weekend, when the eyes of the world will turn to the UK.
Since the announcement of the extra bank holiday, which celebrates the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, employees have been planning how to spend their bonus extra-long weekend. However, the legal position is not that straightforward. Some employees may find that they will not be getting an extra day off at all.
Contrary to the former culture secretary’s comment that “we can all look forward to a special four-day Jubilee weekend”, whether an employee is actually entitled to the extra bank holiday is dependent on the wording of their terms and conditions of employment and the timing of work patterns.
Technically, employees will only be entitled to the extra bank holiday if their employment contract says that they are entitled to X days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays. If their employment contract says that they are entitled to X days of annual leave inclusive of bank holidays or X days of annual leave in addition to the usual eight UK bank holidays (in England and Wales) it will be at the employer’s discretion whether to give employees the additional bank holiday.
Some employees, such as shift workers, will not necessarily expect to get the extra day as a holiday but they might expect to be paid a “bank holiday” rate of pay. Again, whether employers have to pay this will depend on the precise wording of the employees’ contracts of employment. If the contract provides for a higher rate of pay for any bank holidays worked, this would include the additional bank holiday.
It is important to consider employee relations in this scenario. There are reputational risks associated with having disgruntled employees who feel they are being treated unfairly.
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