Another Bank Holiday in 2012

The legal position is that there is no obligation on employers to give this (or any other) bank holiday and employers have a number of options:

• Do not give the bank holiday and continue to operate the business on that day.
• Close the business on that day and give employees the additional day as a paid holiday on a one-off basis.
• Close the business on that day and give notice to employees that they will need to reserve one of their holiday days to cover this closure.

However, if you have previously given additional one-off bank holidays, e.g. the Royal Wedding in April 2011, but do not intend to give the additional holiday on this occasion, your employees might claim that taking additional one-off bank holidays is ‘custom and practice’ within the business, and that not giving the additional day would be a breach of an implied term of their contract.

Andrea O’Hare, commented “Many businesses decided to give the Royal Wedding as an additional bank holiday to employees and many businesses may choose to do the same with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The legal position is that there is no obligation on employers to give this bank holiday.”

Citation’s Employment Law Consultants and 24/7 Helpline advisors support clients throughout any Employment Law process, providing advice and guidance at all stages. If you are worried that your business is not properly conforming to current employment law, then a Citation employment law Consultant can help.