With a public holiday to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton just two months away, the question has arisen as to what provisions employers should put in place in relation to time off and payment for this day.
If you’ve not already, you should decide now what your policy will be and communicate this to your employees as soon as possible.
What an employer should do in relation to allowing time off or additional payment for working on the day of the Royal wedding depends on the contractual provisions within an individual’s contract of employment. Given that, under the Working Time Regulations, all employees are entitled 28 days’ holiday (or the appropriate proportion of this for part time workers) this additional Royal wedding holiday should not affect the legal minimum entitlement for most employers.
If employers have genuine business reasons for requiring staff to work on that day, the time off may not be possible, however, in that situation, employers will need clear contractual provision to require employees to work on bank or public holidays. Without this provision, it will only be possible for employers to get their employees to work with their express consent. To pay or not to pay?
In relation to the question of payment, whilst many employers will be happy to give staff the day off with their normal pay, this is not a statutory obligation and, for many employers, incurring the extra cost of payment for this day may be something they will wish to avoid.
Therefore, employers are, subject to their contracts of employment, free to choose whether any payment should be made for this day.
This decision will obviously need to balance the benefits of making a payment of normal wages as an extra reward to employees against the cost of doing so and the potential negative employee reaction that will inevitably result if no payment is made. Where employees normally work on bank holidays then their pay for the day will also depend on their contract. As there is also no statutory right to be paid overtime premium or to be given time off in lieu on such days, payments for all employees that work on April 29 should be determined in advance of the day in question to avoid any subsequent uncertainty, either in line with their existing contracts or through a separate agreement. Qdos Consulting provides HR, taxation, insurance and VAT advice to SMEs. It also provides the Forum of Private Business‘s 24-hour legal helpline.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.