Small firms, including retailers, are being urged to check their staff contracts to prevent misunderstandings around the Royal wedding bank holiday and the Easter period.

North West based Mace & Jones law firm says it has received a number of queries from employers confused about staff rights around bank holidays. The firm’s head of employment law Martin Edwards said some bosses feel they are being bowled a googly by the additional bank holiday for the Royal wedding on April 29 which follows on from the unusually late Easter.  This will mean the back end of April will see four bank holidays in 11 days. For most workers, this would mean a four day week followed by a three day week.

Mr Edwards said many businesses desperately need to be fully staffed to cope with, and benefit from, the much needed commercial boost of having so many of the population off.

“While some firms will happily give staff time off there is no doubt this is causing other employers headaches particularly in the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors,” he said. “Other businesses such as those in the agriculture sector, cannot afford to let service or production levels drop.  One of the main questions we are being asked is whether employees have to be given the extra day off. In England and Wales there is no automatic right for an employee to have the day off on a bank holiday – whether they can or not will depend on their contract of employment. In the same way, if employees do work on a bank holiday their pay for the day will depend on their contract, as there is no statutory right to overtime or time off in lieu.”

“The position of employers will very much depend on the exact wording of a contract,” he said. “If, for example, it says that the holiday entitlement is “23 days plus bank holidays” then the employer is likely to have to give the employee a day’s paid leave on 29 April. If, however, it says “28 days including bank holidays” then there will be no extra entitlement.”

Mr Edwards urged employers to look closely on the impact on part time staff.

“For part time workers the terms of their contracts will be very important as that will govern whether they are entitled to the additional day,” he said. “The legal default is that part time workers are entitled to bank holidays in proportion to the hours worked in their contract. So, a worker on a 0.5 contract is entitled to 0.5 day for the bank holiday or the bar staff who work a four hour shift will be entitled to four hours off in lieu. There is particularly a problem for part time workers who work Mondays, as most bank holidays fall on a Monday. The simplest and fairest answer is to treat all the workers the same, provided that they receive their entitled pro rata bank holiday.” 

“Employers will also be keen to know where they stand in relation to paying staff who do work on the extra bank holiday. As with any bank holiday, an employee’s pay for the day will depend on the wording of their contract, as there is no statutory right to additional pay or time off in lieu. Many organisations do, however, have agreed rates for working on bank holidays, such as double time, and these should be applied as normal. The best advice for employers is to be prepared - check your contracts of employment and take advice as appropriate.”