Royal wedding bank holiday won’t apply to some staff – Telegraph.
Some staff rejoicing in the news that there will be an extra public bank holiday next year to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton may be disappointed. For many workers, their contracts of employment will simply not entitle them to a paid day off despite what David Cameron said.
Staff will only be entitled to take an extra day’s paid annual leave on the day of the royal wedding provided their contract is worded in the appropriate way, it has emerged.
Contracts that list specific bank holidays that staff are entitled to, such as Christmas Day or Good Friday, will not entitle staff to an extra day next year, according to Croner. Equally, staff whose contracts’ state they are allowed 5.6 weeks’ annual holiday “inclusive of bank holidays” are on dodgy ground, Croner said.
Only contracts which state the worker is entitled to four weeks’ holiday a year “plus bank holidays” are likely to be safe, according to the company.
Carol Smith, senior employment consultant at Croner, said: “If the contract is more specifically drafted and it refers to each bank or public holiday by name, for example, Christmas Day, Good Friday and so on, the extra bank holiday will not be provided for in the contract. Therefore it will be up to the employer to make a decision about that day – whether to trade or not and whether the day off will be paid or unpaid.”
She added: “Alternatively some contracts may simply state that the employee is entitled to 5.6 weeks annual holiday inclusive of bank and public holidays, in which case, if the employee wishes to take leave on the additional bank holiday, it will have to come out of their remaining holiday ‘allowance’.
“Some contracts may simply state that the employee will receive four weeks’ annual holiday per year plus bank and public holidays – or inclusive of bank holidays – sometimes referred to as statutory days. If this is the case, then any newly declared bank holidays, such as the Royal Wedding, may well be included within this clause.“
