Extra bank holiday

To celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee, there is an additional bank holiday in 2022. The May bank holiday weekend will be moved to Thursday 2 June and an additional bank holiday on Friday 3 June will give many people the opportunity to take a four-day weekend.

Employers will need to decide if their staff are entitled to take an additional day’s paid leave either on the 3 June or at another date in the holiday year. The starting point is to look at the holiday clause in the employee’s contract of employment. If the contract states that the employee is entitled to, for example, 28 days’ holiday which includes all statutory and bank holidays, employers aren't obliged to give them an extra day’s paid holiday. The same will apply if the contract just sets out the number of days holiday the employee can take and doesn't mention bank holidays at all. Conversely, if the contract states that they are entitled to, for example, 20 days of paid holiday plus statutory and bank holidays, employers will have to allow them to take an additional day's leave. But, if the contract states that they are only entitled to the statutory and bank holidays that are usually observed in England and Wales, they are not entitled to the extra day.