The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022: Are you entitled to the additional bank holiday?

On 6th February this year Her Majesty the Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, it has been announced that there will be an extra bank holiday which will fall on Friday 3 June 2022 and, as the late May bank holiday has been shifted to Thursday 2 June 2022, this will form a special four-day weekend for many – but not for all!

Whether an employee is legally entitled to this extra bank holiday depends on the wording of their employment contract and their usual work patterns.

• If an employee’s contract says they are entitled to, for example 20 days plus bank holidays, they will be entitled to the additional platinum jubilee bank holiday.
• If an employee’s contract states that they are entitled to, for example 28 days of annual leave inclusive of bank holidays, it will be the employer’s choice whether to allow the extra bank holiday, as it is not explicitly included under the contract.
• If the employment contract refers to “usual” bank holidays, for example “you are entitled to 20 days holiday plus the usual bank holidays in England and Wales”, given the extra bank holiday is not a “usual” bank holiday, the employee would not automatically be entitled to it, but the employer may decide to give it as an extra benefit.
• If entitlement is expressed as a certain number of days “plus eight bank holidays”, or if the contract specifies which bank holidays are included, the employee will not be entitled to an extra day.

Employers will also need to consider part-time workers. The position is the same as above, their entitlement to the bank holiday depends on the wording of their contract. If they are entitled to the additional bank holiday given the wording of their contract, but they do not work on a Friday their holiday entitlement should be adjusted on a pro-rata basis to avoid claims for less favourable treatment of part-time workers.

Employers should closely examine the wording of the employment contract to work out if employees are legally entitled to the extra bank holiday and seek specialist advice if unsure about the position.       

Taking into account employee morale, even if not legally entitled to it, depriving employees of the extra bank holiday could result in them being disgruntled. Employers offering this additional day even in circumstances where they are not legally required to do so, may want to make it clear in messaging to their employees that this is an extra benefit they are receiving. Providing such an additional benefit may help boost employee morale. 

Employment law is often subject to changes and therefore it is vital that employment contracts are reviewed periodically to remain up to date and legally compliant.

For further advice and assistance please contact our Employment Law Team on 01604 828282 / 01908 660966 or email info@franklins-sols.co.uk