It’s a bank holiday for the King's coronation!

Last week saw the announcement of an additional bank holiday to the whole of the United Kingdom for the Coronation of King Charles III.

The government confirmed that whilst the actual coronation will take place on Saturday 6th May, the following Monday, will be a bank holiday allowing everyone to celebrate His Majesty taking the throne. 

As always when these announcements are made, there are always two questions both employees and employers ask:

1)     Are we entitled to the bank holiday?

2)     Will we receive the bank holiday?

If you are trying to work out whether your employees are entitled to this additional bank holiday, your employment contracts should be your primary reference. 

Time off for bank holidays will depend on the way your specific contract clause is worded. 

·       If contracts state “20 days holiday plus bank holidays” you must honour the extra bank holiday.

·       If contracts state “20 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays” or “28 days holiday including 8 bank holidays” you are under no obligation to give staff the extra day off. However, you still can grant the bank holiday if you wish.

You also may want to consider the good will of the business and grant the bank holiday anyway as most companies did when dealing with the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s State Funeral back in September. 

If you need any advice or further clarification, please call 01952 288361 or visit Human Results website.