Friday, 21 January 2011 11:21

BANK HOLIDAY (JANUARY 2011)

royal_wedding

The government has declared that Friday April 29 2011 - the day of the Royal Wedding - will be a bank holiday. Are your staff automatically entitled to this particular day off and what is the statutory position on pay?

 

We’re so (un)happy!

Apparently, the government feels that we all need cheering up. To help us, it’s decided that Friday 29 April 2011 will be a bank holiday; this allows “the entire country to celebrate the Royal Wedding” of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

(Not) great!

Whilst this is fantastic news for the happy couple, it’s an unexpected and unnecessary headache for employers, particularly as there’s already an extra bank holiday planned for 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Danger Points

In addition to dealing with demands from employees for this day off, the timing of the event could present you with some major difficulties. Because of where it falls, i.e. the weekend right after the Easter break and next to the first May Bank Holiday, it presents an excellent opportunity for staff to try to take extended leave. So what are employee’s rights and how should you start preparing for the “big day”?

The right time off

Under the Working Time Regulations 1988, all workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave. This equates to 28 days for a full-time worker; part-timers receive an equivalent entitlement calculated on a pro-rata basis. The statutory time off can include bank holidays, although some employers do give them on top.

Note: But the announcement of this “one-off “ bank holiday doesn’t automatically mean that employees can take the day off as paid leave; this will only be possible if their contracts allow for it.

All in the wording

As a general guide, if your contracts say: “You are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday (inclusive of public and bank holidays)”, then they’ll get the day off, but have one less “flexible” day in their overall annual entitlement. But if they state: “You are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday plus public and bank holidays”, then they’ll get an additional day’s paid leave.

Silent point

However, if your contracts just state the minimum holiday entitlement, i.e. employees can be requested to work bank holidays, then they aren’t entitled to take this day off.

Having a long holiday

It’s quite likely that in 2011 many employees will attempt to take holidays around Easter (April 22-25) and the May Bank Holiday weekend (April 29-May2). Some might only need to request three days’ leave, i.e. April 26, 27 and 28, to get eleven days off in a row.  It could be even longer if they add extra leave either side of these dates.

This unexpected event could leave your business short-staffed. Ensure that your holiday’s policy makes it clear you will refuse any requests where the needs of your business can’t be met. There’s no harm in issuing a reminder to all staff.

 

Source and Ref: © 2011 Indicator Limited