Extra Holiday Entitlement For The Coronation

Are you looking forward to the Coronation? Apart from the pageantry and historical significance (Royalist or not); the extra Bank Holiday may be welcome, and if we’re lucky the sun will be out. We have covered the topic of extra bank holidays in the past, but we thought it would be worth covering it again. 

How extra national holidays affect your organisation depends on the wording of your employment contracts.

If your employment contract does not specify the number of Bank Holidays (e.g., “20 days plus all Bank Holidays”) then as an employer you have a legal obligation to pay all Bank Holidays including ones for Jubilees, State Funerals and Coronations, – who would have thought that would have all been in one year? 

If your contract does specify the details (e.g., “20 days plus 8 Bank Holidays” or “28 days including all Bank Holidays”) than you have a decision to make:

Option 1 – Acknowledge the anomaly and close, giving employees an additional day’s holiday this year.

Option 2 – Give employees the option to take 8th May as unpaid leave, use up some of their holiday, or work it. 

Option 2 could have some impact in terms of morale and/or goodwill, particularly if you have not already given employees notice of your plans, and they might have assumed they’re getting an extra day off. You will need to start the discussion with employees soon.

Our advice is to look at your employment contracts and ensure that you understand the situation and communicate your plans to your employees well in advance. 

Looking ahead, the next time this may be an issue is Easter 2024 when that holiday falls over the March/April month change and, in some organisations, bridges an employee’s entitlement year. This may be worth checking now. 

If you’re not sure what to do and would like to talk it over, please give the team at New Dawn Resources a call and we will be happy to help.

Whatever you are doing over the Coronation weekend enjoy it and the extra day it may bring.