A holiday fit for a queen

In November 2020, the Government announced an extra bank holiday for June 2022 in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. As such, the late May Bank Holiday will be moved to Thursday 2 June 2022 and an additional bank holiday will be in place for Friday 3 June. This means we’ll all be able to enjoy a four-day weekend as part of the celebration of Her Majesty’s 70th year as monarch.

Although 2022 is still some way away, employees might like to know whether they’ll benefit from this additional day. There’s a common misconception that employees are entitled to take bank holidays as annual leave, but this is not actually the case: employees are allowed 5.6 weeks of annual leave in a year (pro-rata for part-time employees) and it is a matter for the employment contract to decide when this leave can be taken. In many cases this will include bank holidays, but the wording will need to be checked carefully to establish whether it provides for all bank holidays or just the usual eight that occur in an ordinary year.

Of course, managers may decide, as a gesture of goodwill, to grant the additional day regardless of what is stated in the employment contract. If we can help you with any annual leave queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.


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