Bank Holiday Pay: What Employers Are and Are Not Legally Required to Pay

It is Good Friday today, and your inbox is probably full of questions from staff about bank holiday pay. Before you answer them, make sure you know the rules — because this is an area where a lot of employers get it wrong.

The short answer: there is no automatic statutory right to paid bank holidays in UK law. What your employees are entitled to depends entirely on what their employment contracts say. Getting this wrong can leave you facing underpayment claims, tribunal complaints, or both.

Here is a plain-English guide to exactly what the law requires, what common contract mistakes to avoid, and how to handle the most common employer headaches around bank holidays.

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The Core Rule: It Is All in the Contract

The Working Time Regulations 1998 give workers a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks (28 days for a full-time employee working a five-day week) of paid annual leave per year. That is the floor.

What those 5.6 weeks contain is up to you and your contracts. You have two options:

Option 1: 28 days including bank holidays Your employees get 28 days total. Bank holidays count towards that 28. When the business is closed on Good Friday, you deduct one of their 28 days.

Option 2: 28 days plus bank holidays Your employees get 28 days of annual leave on top of all bank holidays. Good Friday is an additional paid day off, separate from their leave entitlement.

This single difference can be worth 8 days of pay per year, per employee. Yet many employers do not state this clearly in contracts, or they have inconsistent wording across different contracts in the same business. That is where disputes begin.

Check your contracts today. If they say "28 days' annual leave including bank holidays" that is Option 1. If they say "28 days plus bank holidays" or "28 days in addition to bank holidays", that is Option 2. If the wording is ambiguous, seek legal advice before you make a decision either way.

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Can You Require Staff to Work on Bank Holidays?

Yes. There is no legal right for employees to take bank holidays as time off. If your business is open on a bank holiday, you can require staff to work on those days — provided your contracts allow it.

Most employment contracts either:

• state that employees may be required to work bank holidays as part of their normal working pattern, or
• say nothing at all (in which case you generally can require this, but seek advice if you have employees who have always had bank holidays off, as custom and practice may have created an implied term)

Sectors like hospitality, retail, healthcare, and emergency services routinely require bank holiday working. If this applies to your business, make sure your contracts are clear.

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Do You Have to Pay More for Working on a Bank Holiday?

No. There is no legal requirement to pay a premium rate (such as time and a half or double time) for working on a bank holiday. Whether you pay extra is entirely a matter of contract.

If your contract or staff handbook says employees will receive time and a half for bank holiday working, you must honour that. But if your contracts make no such promise, your normal rate applies.

Many employers offer enhanced bank holiday pay as a benefit to attract and retain staff — particularly in competitive sectors. That is a commercial decision, not a legal one.

If you have historically paid a premium and want to change this, you cannot do so unilaterally. Changing contractual terms requires a proper consultation process. Doing it without following the correct procedure could expose you to breach of contract claims.

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Part-Time Workers: The Pro-Rata Rule

Part-time workers have the same holiday rights as full-time staff, adjusted proportionally. The legal principle here is straightforward: you cannot treat part-time workers less favourably than comparable full-time workers in relation to holiday entitlement.

Where this gets complicated is bank holidays. If your full-time staff (five days a week) receive bank holidays as paid days off, and those bank holidays always fall on a Monday, a part-time employee who never works Mondays could get none of them. That would breach the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.

The correct approach: calculate the part-time worker's bank holiday entitlement proportionally and give them that value in leave, regardless of which day of the week the bank holidays fall on.

Example: A full-time employee gets 8 bank holidays per year. A part-time employee who works 3 days per week should receive 3/5 x 8 = 4.8 days of bank holiday equivalent leave. If the bank holidays all fall on Mondays and they do not work Mondays, you owe them 4.8 days of leave in lieu.

Failing to do this is one of the most common causes of holiday pay complaints from part-time staff. Audit your part-time workers' contracts and make sure you are calculating their entitlements correctly.

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2026 Bank Holidays: England and Wales

Here are the bank holidays for 2026 in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different dates for some of these.

| Date | Bank Holiday | |------|--------------| | 1 January (Thursday) | New Year's Day | | 3 April (Friday) | Good Friday | | 6 April (Monday) | Easter Monday | | 4 May (Monday) | Early May bank holiday | | 25 May (Monday) | Spring bank holiday | | 31 August (Monday) | Summer bank holiday | | 25 December (Friday) | Christmas Day | | 28 December (Monday) | Boxing Day substitute |

There are 8 bank holidays in England and Wales in 2026. Scotland has additional dates. Northern Ireland has additional dates including St Patrick's Day.

Note on Easter: Easter's date changes every year, which means the number of bank holidays in any leave year running from April to March can vary. For leave years that run on a calendar year basis this is less of an issue, but it is worth being aware of.

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Common Bank Holiday Pay Mistakes Employers Make

1. Vague contract wording Contracts that say "statutory holiday entitlement" or "the legal minimum" without specifying whether bank holidays are included or additional are a liability. Rewrite them to be explicit.

2. Treating part-time workers the same as full-time workers without adjusting for the days they work As described above, if bank holidays cluster on Mondays and your part-timer does not work Mondays, they need leave in lieu.

3. Assuming premium pay is always required It is not. But if you have been paying it informally or if your handbook mentions it, you may have created a contractual commitment. Check before changing it.

4. Not paying for bank holidays when the business is shut If your business closes on bank holidays and employees are on Option 1 contracts (28 days including bank holidays), the closure day counts as one of their 28 days. You do not owe an additional day's pay on top of that, but you must not fail to pay them for the closure day entirely.

5. Paying zero-hours workers nothing for bank holidays Zero-hours workers accrue holiday entitlement based on the hours they work. If they have worked regular hours and a bank holiday falls, their holiday pay entitlement still needs to be correctly calculated. Following the ERA 2025 changes from April 2026, zero-hours workers' holiday pay is now calculated on a 52-week average earnings basis, removing the previous complications. If you have zero-hours staff, make sure your payroll is updated.

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What If an Employee Works on a Bank Holiday and Refuses Time Off in Lieu?

If an employee works a bank holiday and your contract says they are entitled to a day off in lieu, you must give them that day. You can direct when they take it (with reasonable notice), but you cannot withhold it.

If your contracts are silent on this and there is no enhanced payment or TOIL promise, and you have paid normal rate, you have met your obligations.

Keep records of bank holiday working, payment, and any TOIL taken. These records are your defence if an employee later claims they were underpaid.

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Should You Update Your Employment Contracts?

If your contracts are unclear on bank holidays, now is a good time to review them. Key things to confirm:

• Whether bank holidays are included in, or additional to, the 28-day statutory minimum
• Whether employees can be required to work on bank holidays
• Whether any enhanced rate applies for bank holiday working
• How bank holiday entitlement is calculated for part-time, shift, and zero-hours workers

ERA 2025 did not change bank holiday law directly, but it has changed holiday pay calculation rules for irregular-hours workers and introduced new record-keeping requirements for holiday entitlement. If your contracts or policies have not been reviewed since before April 2026, they may need updating.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do employers have to pay employees for bank holidays in the UK?

No. There is no automatic statutory right to paid bank holidays. Whether employees receive paid bank holidays depends on what their employment contract says. An employer can count bank holidays as part of the statutory 28-day minimum, or give them as additional days on top. What matters is that the total paid leave is at least 5.6 weeks per year.

Can an employer make staff work on Good Friday or Easter Monday?

Yes. If the employment contract allows bank holiday working (or is silent on the matter), an employer can require staff to work on bank holidays. There is no legal right for employees to take Good Friday or Easter Monday off, unless the contract specifically grants it.

Is time and a half required for working on a bank holiday?

No. Premium pay for bank holiday working is not required by law. Whether you pay it depends entirely on what the employment contract or staff handbook says. If there is no contractual entitlement to enhanced pay, normal rate applies.

How does bank holiday pay work for part-time employees?

Part-time employees have the same holiday rights as full-time staff, on a pro-rata basis. If full-time staff receive 8 bank holidays as paid days off, a part-time employee working three days a week should receive the equivalent of 4.8 days. If all the bank holidays fall on days they do not work, you owe them that entitlement as leave in lieu.

What happens if a bank holiday falls during an employee's annual leave?

If a bank holiday falls on a day the employee is already on annual leave, they should not lose their bank holiday entitlement. Unless the contract specifically states otherwise, you should allow them to take a replacement day's leave. This principle was established in case law and is the default position under ACAS guidance.

Can an employer change the bank holiday arrangement in an employment contract?

Not unilaterally. If you want to change whether bank holidays are included in or additional to annual leave, or remove a contractual premium pay entitlement, you need to follow a formal contract variation process. This typically involves written notice, consultation with affected employees, and agreement. Changing contractual terms without this process can lead to breach of contract claims and, in some cases, constructive dismissal.

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Review Your Contracts Before the Next Bank Holiday

Bank holiday pay is a low-profile issue until someone raises a grievance or files a tribunal claim. The fix is simple: clear contract wording, correct pro-rata calculations for part-time staff, and consistent application across your workforce.

If your contracts are vague, or if you are not sure whether your zero-hours and part-time workers' holiday entitlements are correctly calculated under the new ERA 2025 rules, an EmployerKit Audit will go through your employment documents and flag exactly what needs updating.

Get your contracts checked against the new rules. EmployerKit Audit from £49.

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Last updated: April 2026

This guide is for information purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. For complex situations or disputes, consult an employment solicitor or contact ACAS.