If you are working in the UK then this article will surely help you. Being an employee you plan many things according to your holiday schedule. Depending on your holiday, you schedule your trips or other important work. This article will give you information about the extra bank holiday that you will get this year and the real reason behind it.
What is the bank holidays 2022 schedule?
If you live in England and Wales, you know that you get in a total of eight bank holidays in a year which includes big days like- New Year, Good Friday, Easter, Early May, Christmas holidays, summer holidays, and spring season holidays, etc. But, you get a total of 9&10 bank holidays if you work in Scotland and Poland respectively. But this year, you will get extra bank holidays on the occasion of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebration. It is a matter of great pride and joy that this year (2022) Queen Elizabeth 2 will become the very first British monarch to complete 70 years on the throne. This is a matter of immense pride that will be celebrated across the country.
Employers will get a bank holiday of four days starting from June 2nd to June 5th to celebrate this victory. According to the reports, the whole country is going to have huge celebrations. Here’s a complete guide on bank holidays that will take place this year. Let’s have a look at them-
Bank Holiday List
| Day/ Date | Bank Holiday |
| Saturday 1 January 2022 | New Year’s day (nationwide) |
| Sunday 2 January 2022 | Last day of Hogmanay (Scotland only) |
| Monday 3 January 2022 | Substitute day for New Year’s day (nationwide) |
| Tuesday 4 January 2022 | Substitute day for 2 January (Scotland only) |
| Thursday 17 March 2022 | St Patrick’s day (Northern Ireland only) |
| Friday 15 April 2022 | Good Friday (nationwide) |
| Monday 18 April 2022 | Easter Monday (England, Wales & Northern Ireland) |
| Monday 2 May 2022 | Early May bank holiday/May Day (nationwide) |
| Thursday 2 June 2022 | Spring bank holiday (nationwide) |
| Friday 3 June 2022 | Platinum Jubilee bank holiday (nationwide) |
| Tuesday 12 July 2022 | Battle of the Boyne (Northern Ireland only) |
| Monday 1 August 2022 | Summer bank holiday (Scotland only) |
| Monday 29 August 2022 | Summer bank holiday (England, Wales & Northern Ireland) |
| Wednesday 30 November 2022 | St. Andrew’s day (Scotland only) |
| Sunday 25 December 2022 | Christmas day (nationwide) |
| Monday 26 December 2022 | Boxing day (nationwide) |
| Tuesday 27 December 2022 | Substitute day for Christmas day (nationwide) |
Employee entitlement to bank holidays
As an employee, there is a set holiday provided to you by the government for which no amount will be deducted from your salary. If you are working in the UK, the minimum permitted leave is 5.6 weeks in a whole year for which you will be paid by your employer. It could be increased on the choice of your employer as per the extended rights given to them. Not to forget that according to the British rules and regulations, the additional holidays provided by the employer do not include holidays like- bank or public holidays until an employer chooses to do so. This means that, if an employer wants, they can count bank holidays as a part of your extended holiday.
The same goes with a business too. If your business is running properly on a bank holiday, so being an employer it’s up to you to decide whether to provide leave to your workers or not. It depends on the contract which the employer signs at the time of getting a job whether they will work on bank holidays or whether bank holidays are included in their overall annual leave or not. Taking into account England and Wales, the employee is allowed to take a leave of 36 days in a year for which the employee is paid.
In case, the contract of an employee does not contain any details regarding the number of holidays, bank holidays, etc, still, the employee is eligible to get a fixed paid holiday excluding the bank holidays from yearly entitlement.
Are employees entitled to the extra bank holiday in 2022?
When you are working it is possible to get additional bank holidays but getting an extra bank holiday does not mean that being an employee you will be off from your work or you will be paid for that. Like I said earlier it will all depend on your contract whether the bank holidays are included in your annual leave entitlement or not. If it is written that you will be paid for an additional holiday then surely you will get your money but if bank holidays are a part of or are added to your paid leave then taking a day off might lead to the money deduction.
Consider the first scenario that every full-time employee will get a total paid leave of 37 days in the year 2022 but in the second case, the employee will get a holiday of only 19 days. However, it is not at all necessary for an employee whose contracts include additional bank holidays along with normal annual leaves to get paid by the employer on additional holidays like Queen’s Platinum Jubilee as it might turn out the contract into a questionable one.
How should requests for time off work be handled?
Even though the employees in the UK get paid for the holidays they get in a year, one cannot forget that choosing the date or day to take this paid leave is not in their hands. The reason behind it is very simple and justified. As you know, to run the company, continuity in productivity is very important. So! Taking sudden leave by the employee could hamper the company’s productivity. Also, the employer has to manage everything and look for an alternative if the employee needs a day off.
But! Being an employer it is very important to have a good relationship with their employees. Therefore they should always try to support and accept the leave request given by the employee. A good employer is one who is always ready to tackle all the adverse conditions and grant leave to their employees. Also, is the fact that if one employee takes a leave other employees may want to copy them which may create a problematic situation. Therefore to avoid such situations the strategy of not choosing a day off on one’s own has been made.
Although there are some strategies that are effective in maintaining a healthy work-life balance and also minimizes disputes. Let’s have a look at them-
Strategies
- Communicate your time off work policy clearly from the outset- This is a very important tip for an employer. Whenever any employer hires a new employee they need to give every single detail about the annual leave, bank holiday entitlement, etc in the starting just to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.
- Ensure your time off work policy is easily accessible- Employers should not play any hide and seek game with the employees. Instead, it is very important to mention the rules and policies of a company in an employee handbook. This will help the employee to keep a check on the rules and regulations and keep reminding themselves about them.
- Set a start date and deadline for time off work requests- As you know very well that each company has its peak time in the year when its profits and productivity rate are high. So! Taking a day off might affect the company’s productivity and might take the company toward loss. Therefore it is important for the employer to ask their employees to not take any sudden leave and if it’s important ask them to submit their request before time.
Extra Bank Holiday 2022 FAQs
Is there an additional bank holiday in 2022?
Yes, if you are working in the UK, you might witness an additional bank holiday this year on the occasion to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
What is the date for additional holidays?
Being an employee, it is said that the additional holidays to celebrate Platinum Jubilee will start from June 2 to June 5.
What is the holiday list for this year?
Have a look at the above paragraph to know about the upcoming holidays in the year 2022 in detail.
Final Verdict
This article is all about the additional bank holidays given to the employee this year. As it is the right of every employee to know about the basic holidays they have, it is also important that the holidays they take should not hamper the productivity of the company.
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