The early May bank holiday is coming up and we are getting a lot of questions around bank holiday entitlement. It is important to encourage your staff to take their annual leave to take a well earned rest and avoid burnout. However, your are not automatically required to give them public holidays as paid time off. This depends on their employment contract.
In this article, we will look at holiday entitlement for each contract type, when employees are entitled to bank holidays, and steps employers should take.
Part Time Workers
Like full-time workers, part-time staff are not automatically entitled to bank holidays unless stated this in their contract. It’s important to remember that all employees should be treated equally. This means if full-time staff are getting paid leave, part time workers should receive this too.
Sick Leave
If an employee is absent due to sickness on a bank holiday, their entitlement will depend on how bank holidays are treated under their contract of employment.
Where bank holidays form part of an employee’s statutory annual leave entitlement (for example, 28 days inclusive of bank holidays), the employer must allow the employee to take the bank holiday at a later date if they were off sick on that day.
If bank holidays are provided in addition to statutory annual leave, the employee will typically still be entitled to the bank holiday benefit, even if they are on sick leave.
Employees should follow the normal sickness reporting procedure, and any request to take the bank holiday at a later date should be agreed with their manager.
Maternity Leave
Under UK law, employees on maternity leave are entitled to continue receiving all the terms and conditions of their employment, except for normal pay, throughout their absence.
To determine if they are usually entitled to paid public holidays, you should refer back to the individual’s contract.
If they are, those days should be included within their entitlement. This also applies to other leave including:
- paternity leave
- adoption leave
- shared parental leave
- ordinary parental leave
- neonatal care leave
- parental bereavement leave
- carer’s leave
- bereaved partner’s paternity leave
Closing During Public Holidays
Employers can change when employees take annual leave if there is a genuine business need.
For example, they may decide to close the business over Christmas and require employees to use part of their holiday entitlement. This can still apply even if the business has remained open over Christmas in previous years.
Where an employer requires employees to take holiday on specific dates, they must give notice of at least twice the length of the leave being requested. This is based on calendar days, not working days.
For instance, if employees are required to take two days’ leave, they must be given a minimum of four days’ notice.
If the answer is no, those days should not be counted towards their annual leave entitlement, and employees will not accrue holiday during that period of maternity leave.
Calculating Bank holiday Entitlement for part-time workers
Part-time workers have the same entitlement as full-time employees, calculated on a pro-rata basis.
Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid leave per year. For example:
- Full-time (5 days per week): 28 days
- 2 days per week: 11.2 days (5.6 × 2)
For irregular hours workers, holiday is typically accrued at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period.
Employers should ensure their approach to bank holidays is consistent and clearly communicated, particularly where working patterns vary.
Extra Bank Holiday for Scottish Employees
The King announced that there will be an extra bank holiday entitlement on 15th June 2026 for Scotland football fans. This is to celebrate Scotland competing at the Fifa World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Whether employees are entitled to an additional bank holiday depends on what is set out in their contract of employment.
For example, if the contract states that employees are entitled to their standard annual leave plus bank holidays, you will need to provide the extra day.
However, if the contract does not refer to bank holidays, there is no obligation to grant an additional day’s leave.
How The HR Booth Can Help
Bank holiday entitlement can quickly become complex, particularly when dealing with different contracts, working patterns, and types of leave.
At The HR Booth, we support employers with:
- reviewing and updating employment contracts
- advising on holiday entitlement and compliance
- handling complex absence scenarios
- ensuring fair and consistent application across your workforce
If you’re unsure how bank holiday entitlement should apply in your business, our team is here to help.
