Managing leave around public holidays in the United Kingdom
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Public holidays in the UK do not automatically sit outside an employee's statutory leave entitlement. Whether bank holidays count as part of a worker's 5.6 weeks depends entirely on how their contract is worded — and getting this wrong is one of the most common sources of holiday pay disputes.
How statutory leave and bank holidays interact
UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of statutory annual leave per year — 28 days for someone working five days a week, including bank holidays. The law sets the total; it does not specify that bank holidays must be given as additional days off.
This means two legitimate approaches exist:
- Bank holidays included in the 5.6 weeks. The employee uses some of their 28-day entitlement on bank holidays. They have fewer days left to book at will.
- Bank holidays on top of the 5.6 weeks. The contract gives 28 days plus bank holidays. This is more generous than the statutory minimum and perfectly lawful.
Neither arrangement is wrong. The problem arises when contracts are ambiguous or when employers assume workers understand the difference. State clearly in writing which approach applies.
Calculating leave for part-time and irregular workers
Part-time employees must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-time workers on a pro-rata basis. A worker doing three days a week is entitled to 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days of statutory leave, inclusive or exclusive of bank holidays depending on the contract.
The complication with bank holidays is that they fall predominantly on Mondays. A worker who never works Mondays would receive a windfall if bank holidays were given as extra days off, since none of those days fall on their working days. Conversely, a Monday worker could be disadvantaged if bank holidays simply consume their allowance and they are forced to take leave on days they would have worked.
The fairest approach for irregular or compressed-hours workers is to calculate leave in hours rather than days. This avoids structural bias based on which days of the week someone happens to work.
For workers on irregular schedules, calculating entitlement as a proportion of hours worked across the year and allowing them to book leave in hours gives the clearest and most defensible outcome.
Managing requests around popular public holiday periods
Bank holiday weekends and the days immediately surrounding them — particularly around Christmas, Easter and late August — generate a surge of leave requests. A clear, written policy saves significant time and avoids accusations of inconsistency.
Useful elements of a leave policy for these periods:
- Booking windows. Specify how far in advance requests must be submitted and the deadline for responses.
- Maximum concurrent absence. Define what proportion of a team can be off simultaneously. Apply this consistently.
- First-come, first-served or rotational. Choose a method and document it. Rotational systems (where someone who was refused a Christmas period one year gets priority the next) are often perceived as fairer.
- Carryover rules. Be explicit about whether untaken leave can be carried into the next holiday year and any cap that applies.
Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, day-one rights are strengthened, so it is worth reviewing whether any of your leave-related policies inadvertently disadvantage newer employees.
Requiring employees to take leave on specific dates
Employers can require workers to take annual leave on set days — including bank holidays — provided adequate notice is given. The statutory minimum notice is double the length of leave being directed; so to require two days off, you must give at least four days' notice, though longer notice is good practice.
Many businesses direct employees to take leave over the Christmas shutdown period. This is lawful provided the worker retains at least the statutory minimum entitlement to use at other times. If the shutdown consumes a disproportionate share of the annual allowance, resentment follows — and it may create problems for workers with religious or caring obligations who need flexibility at other points in the year.
Holiday pay: what to include
Holiday pay must reflect "normal remuneration", not just basic salary. For workers with regular overtime, commission or shift premiums, those elements should be factored into at least the statutory portion of leave pay. The calculation reference period for workers with variable pay is the previous 52 weeks in which pay was actually received.
Getting this wrong — paying only basic salary during leave — exposes the business to unlawful deduction from wages claims, which can run back several years.
A practical audit step: compare what each worker earns in a typical working week against what they receive during a week of annual leave. If there is a consistent gap and that worker regularly earns variable pay, the holiday pay calculation likely needs revisiting.
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