On Saturday, following the passing of his mother HRH Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III signed the proclamation and approved the day of the late Queen’s funeral as a national bank holiday for the UK marking the end of the official mourning period across the nation.
The funeral, due to be held at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19th September, is set to be one of the most highly televised events of all time, with schools and many workplaces set to close for the bank holiday.
The bank holiday is set to pay respect to the late Queen Elizabeth, and allow individuals across the United Kingdom to commemorate her reign of over 70 years. This will follow-on from a national minute of silence at 8pm on Sunday 18th September.
Many employees may wonder whether the additional day of national holiday will be taken out of their annual leave, whilst I have already been asked by some employers if they are required to give their staff the day off from work.
Are Employees Entitled to the Paid Bank Holiday?
Many state-run institutions are expected to close including banks, post offices and schools, whilst businesses in the private sector will not automatically be required to do so.
Disputes over bank holiday entitlement therefore largely concerns private sector organisations, particularly those with employees on zero-hour contracts such as in hospitality.
Officially, there is no statutory need for employers to grant their team the day off from work on bank holidays.
The additional bank holiday on September 19th therefore falls under the contract between the employer and employee, as “the government cannot interfere with existing contractual arrangements”, source: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
If the contract of employment states an exact number of Bank Holidays, e.g. 25 days of annual leave + 8 bank holidays, then there is no obligation to grant the employee an additional day of bank holiday on Monday September 19th.
However, if the contract states a non-specific number of bank holiday days, e.g. 25 days plus bank holidays, then the worker is able to claim the day of the funeral as a bank holiday day and will not be required to take annual leave.
Regardless of the nature of the contract of employment, I would encourage employers to be as flexible as possible on the day of the funeral for the benefit of their workers whether that be closing for the day, allowing hybrid working or flexible hours.
At the time of writing this post, it has been confirmed that schools will be closing on the day of the funeral, so employers should take extra consideration that their workers may have additional responsibilities in caring for their families on the day of the funeral.
Can Workers Reclaim Paid Annual Leave?
If, by chance, an employee had already requested to take Monday 19th September as a day of annual leave, they may be wondering whether they can reclaim this back due to the implementation of a national bank holiday.
This will, again, fall under their contract of employment. If the employer is contractually obliged to grant them bank holiday on this day, then the employee is within their rights to cancel their annual leave on the day of the funeral and claim it as a paid bank holiday.
Will King Charles III’s Coronation Also be a Bank Holiday?
This has not yet been confirmed as of today, Monday 12th September. However, the same guidance is likely to be appropriate if this day is also granted as a national bank holiday.
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