Bank Holiday Rules for the Queen’s Funeral
The Queen's funeral is set to take place on Monday prompting many to ask whether they will have to go to school or work. King Charles III agreed that the historic event will become a national holiday in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
As an employer, you’re likely wondering whether your staff are entitled to take the day off… Well, we’ve got you covered!
Legalities
The first thing you need to do is check the contracts of each employee. As an employer of private staff, it is likely that the contract you curated states one of the following pieces of information:
“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. – You must follow what’s in the contract. If you don’t, the employee will likely raise an issue.
“In addition to bank and public holidays, your annual entitlement to holidays is … days” – This would mean the employee gets bank and public holidays in addition to their annual leave entitlement.
Bank Holidays and Annual Leave
If a member of staff is entitled to annual leave, then bank holidays will either be:
deducted from their annual leave allowance (so they will have to take all bank holidays as paid holiday)
counted as additional holiday days - they may or may not be paid for them
The employee contract should say which situation applies. If it doesn’t, bank holidays will automatically be deducted from the employees annual leave entitlement.
Part Time Staff
If you usually don’t allow your staff to work on bank holidays but they normally work on Monday’s, the staff will have to take them as paid holiday. Because they work part-time, they will be entitled to fewer statutory holiday days each year than compared to full-time. This will leave fewer holiday days to take at a time of their choice.
Up to the Employer
As per the Government’s Website the decision as to whether staff are given the bank holiday off of work is generally down to the employer but they do encourage employers to be sensitive to the occasion and also take into account that Schools and many childcare settings are also going to be closed for the day.
If you have any questions ACAS is a good place to go for advice.
If you’re looking for housekeeper jobs or nanny jobs, then look no further than Beauchamp Partners.
To talk to one of our team about hiring a member of private or domestic staff for your home contact us on +44 (0) 20 7259 6999 or email info@beauchamppartners.co.uk