Royal wedding gives employers a public holiday headache
The Royal wedding between HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton
was announced in November – along with an extra
public holiday in England and Wales on the day of the wedding –
April 29th. The additional day’s holiday brings the total of public
holidays in England and Wales during 2011 to 9 – up from the normal
8.
The position in Scotland has not yet been
announced.
There will also be 9 public holidays the following year, in 2012
as an additional public holiday was declared by the previous
government to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The date of
this holiday is Tuesday June 5th, and Spring bank holiday, which is
normally on the last Monday each May, has also been moved for 2012
only to Monday 4th June.
Employers will already be struggling to take on board these
changes, but the announcement of an additional public holiday,
coupled with a late Easter in 2011, will mean two long weekends in
quick succession with only three working days between
them. This could result in a rush by employees to take an
extended break by bridging the gap between the two long
weekends.
Can employers do anything to offset the costs and potential loss
of business caused by these additional public holidays? Here we’ll
try to answer your questions on the implications of the additional
public holidays and your legal obligations.
What public holidays have been declared for this
Spring?
The public holidays declared for this Spring are:
- Friday 22nd April – Good Friday
- Monday 25th April – Easter Monday
- Friday 29th April – Royal Wedding
- Monday 2nd May – Mayday
- Monday 30th May – Spring Bank holiday
Do I have to give staff additional time off on the extra
public holidays?
Not automatically – and many employers, especially those which
operate on a 7 day week basis, will have no option but to keep
staff working as usual.
The answer to whether staff are entitled to extra public
holidays when they are declared can be found in employees’
contracts of employment. Where the contract of employment names
specific public holidays, then employees have the right to take
these off, but any additional time off for the extra public
holidays will normally be at the discretion of the employer.
If the written contract or employee handbook do not name
specific public holidays, then it is likely to be a matter of
custom and practice which public holidays are recognised by the
employer, and whether any additional public holidays are normally
recognised.
Can I ask staff to take the extra time off from their
normal holiday entitlement?
Yes, you can – and this might be a good way of avoiding
additional costs if your business would struggle to afford to pay
an extra day’s holiday.
If your business will remain open on the public holiday, you
could tell staff that if they want the time off, then they should
request holiday as usual through your holiday request procedures.
This would be subject to your usual rules (such as “first come
first served” and “the operational needs of the business”) and
would bed taken from their annual holiday entitlement.
If you feel you need to close the business on the additional
public holiday, but will not be making payment for the additional
holiday, you should notify all staff that they must take a day’s
holiday from their entitlement on that day. You should do this in
writing as soon as possible, but by law you must give employees at
least two clear days’ notice of your requirement before each public
holiday.
But won’t many employers simply give staff the extra
holiday – I don’t want people thinking I’m mean?
For some businesses, especially small businesses, it will not be
an easy decision whether to ask staff to take holiday from their
entitlement or simply to take the line of least resistance and pay
for the extra time off. However, in tight economic circumstances,
paying an extra day’s holiday for no extra work might mean the
difference between breaking even and making a loss – so you should
not take the decision lightly.
You also need to be aware that if you grant an additional day’s
holiday for the Royal Wedding in 2011, you will be setting a
precedent which implies you will grant an additional day’s holiday
for the Queen’s Jubilee in 2012 as well.
If you don’t intend to give employees the extra time off, make
sure you tell them and the reason why. Also ensure you make
appropriate arrangements for employees who will want to take the
public holidays from their own holiday entitlement. You could, for
example, make a rule that employees who take the Royal Wedding day
off in 2011 will not be able to take Jubilee day off in 2012 as
well.
What about staff who want to take a long holiday by
taking leave between the two bank holiday weekends? How can I
manage this?
You have the right to manage who takes holiday and when and your
employees’ contracts of employment will normally state this quite
clearly. However, it’s best to be prepared for the rush of holiday
requests and to be clear about your staffing requirements and on
how you will handle holiday requests.
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