2012 Bank Holidays affected by Diamond Jubilee

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- In recognition of the Queens 60th Diamond Jubilee, this year the traditional late May bank holiday is being moved  to Monday 4th June.  There is also a special Bank Holiday directly following this, on Tuesday 5th June.

This means that, for both employees and employers, these additional extra bank holidays could greatly reduce your normal working week.

2012 Bank Holidays
•   Monday 2nd January – New Years Day
•   Friday 6th April – Good Friday
•   Monday 9th April – Easter Monday
•   Monday 7th May – Mayday
•   Monday 4th June – Spring Bank Holiday
•   Tuesday 5th June – Diamond Jubilee
•   Monday 27th August – Summer Bank Holiday
•   Tuesday 25th December – Christmas Day
•   Wednesday 26th December – Boxing Day

Employers do not necessarily have to give additional time off for extra public holidays. Employers whose businesses run 7 days a week, for example, will have no option other than to maintain their usual staffing levels for their business.

Employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave - 28 days for someone working five days a week (capped at a statutory maximum of 28 days for all working patterns).  One thing to remember is that bank and public holidays can be included in your minimum entitlement

If the employee’s Contract of Employment names specific public holidays, then employees have the right to take these specific days off. Additional time off for extra public holidays, in this case, is entirely at the discretion of the company. If the Contract of Employment does not name specific public holidays, then the decision is based more on usual practice – are extra public holidays normally recognised?

Of course you have the option to voluntarily give an extra paid day of holiday to your staff, or even ask that those who wish to have the day off deduct it from their normal holiday allowance, but this may not be a viable option. Giving all your staff an additional paid day off may mean the difference, if you are a small business, between breaking even or making a loss. Plus, employers should still follow usual procedure of “first come, first served” when receiving holiday requests for this time, meaning that not all staff requests can be accepted.


If you feel you need to close your business on the additional public holiday, but will not be paying bank holiday pay to your staff, you should write to all employees at the earliest opportunity informing them that you will deduct one days holiday from their annual entitlement to cover for this time. This is ideally done as soon as possible, giving at least two clear days notice of your intention before the Bank Holiday.

Bear in mind that however you decided to treat the bank holiday for the Royal Wedding in 2011, (paid time off, use holiday allowance or requiring them to work,) you  set the precedent for how your employees will expect you to treat the upcoming Jubilee Bank holidays.

A final thing to remember is that if you are processing payroll for your staff, and send payment via BACS, their payments will have to be sent a few days early to allow for bank transfers.

To keep up to date with changes in legislation visit http://www.payepeople.co.uk