There is no standalone statutory right to paid bank holidays in the UK. The Working Time Regulations 1998 give workers a minimum of 5.6 weeks (28 days for a five-day week) paid annual leave, and bank holidays may count towards that total. Your policy must state clearly whether bank holidays are inclusive (within the 28 days) or additional (on top of annual leave). Part-time workers must receive a pro-rata bank holiday entitlement under the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000.
What the law says about bank holidays
Three pieces of legislation set the framework for bank holidays at work. None of them give workers an automatic right to a paid day off on every bank holiday. What they do is set a floor on total paid leave and impose disclosure and non-discrimination obligations on employers.
| Legislation | What it says about bank holidays |
|---|---|
| Working Time Regulations 1998 | Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid annual leave (28 days for a five-day week). Bank holidays may be counted towards this total. There is no separate statutory entitlement to bank holidays. |
| Employment Rights Act 1996 | The written statement of employment particulars (the contract or a separate document) must state holiday entitlement and whether bank holidays are included. This is a day-one right. |
| Part-time Workers Regulations 2000 | Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers. Because most bank holidays fall on Mondays, employers must give a pro-rata bank holiday entitlement to workers who do not work Mondays. |
From 6 April 2026, employers must keep adequate records of annual leave taken and holiday pay paid under the Employment Rights Act 2025. This applies to all workers, including bank holiday entitlement. The records must be kept for two years. A leave management system that logs all requests and approvals automatically satisfies this requirement.
Bank holiday dates are set by the GOV.UK bank holidays list, which varies by nation. England and Wales have eight bank holidays in 2026. Scotland has nine (including 2 January and St Andrew's Day, but not Easter Monday). Northern Ireland has ten (adding St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne). If your team spans multiple nations, your policy must specify which regional bank holidays apply to which employees. See the UK bank holidays 2026 and 2027 calendar (or the forward 2027 and 2028 calendar) for the full list.
Inclusive vs additional: the two approaches
The most important question your bank holiday policy must answer is whether bank holidays are inside or outside the annual leave allowance. Both approaches are lawful under the Working Time Regulations 1998. The contract must state which applies.
The inclusive approach ("28 days inclusive of bank holidays") meets the statutory minimum exactly and is the most common arrangement in the UK. The additional approach ("20 days plus bank holidays") is more generous and is common in professional services and the public sector. In terms of total days taken, both the inclusive and additional standard arrangements equal 28 days, but the additional approach feels more generous to employees and makes job adverts easier to write ("25 days plus bank holidays" reads better than "28 days inclusive").
If you use an inclusive allowance and your staff are based in Scotland (nine bank holidays) or Northern Ireland (ten bank holidays), their net discretionary leave will be different from England and Wales staff. An inclusive allowance of 28 days leaves a Scotland-based employee with only 19 days of discretionary leave. Many employers resolve this by using the same inclusive total across all nations, but making the policy clear about which regional bank holidays apply.
Part-time workers and pro-rata bank holidays
Most UK bank holidays fall on Mondays. A worker who does not work Mondays would miss most or all of them, meaning they could end up with fewer total leave days than a comparable full-timer. The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 prohibit this: part-time workers must receive at least a pro-rata bank holiday entitlement relative to their full-time comparator.
How to calculate the pro-rata entitlement
The standard approach is to calculate a pro-rata bank holiday allocation that the employee can take on any working day they choose, not limited to the actual bank holiday dates.
Formula: (contracted working days per week ÷ 5) × number of bank holidays in the leave year
Fractions should be rounded up to the nearest half-day (never down). So a three-day-a-week employee gets 4.8 days, rounded to five days. The employee can book these days as they would any other annual leave, using their standard request form. They do not have to take them on actual bank holiday dates.
If you use an inclusive allowance for part-time workers, verify that the total (discretionary days plus pro-rata bank holidays) still reaches 5.6 weeks. A three-day-a-week worker on a 5-day week is entitled to 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days minimum. If your policy gives them 12 days plus 4.8 pro-rata bank holidays (= 16.8), that meets the minimum exactly. Review the calculation whenever an employee changes their working pattern. The part-time holiday entitlement guide covers the full calculation in detail.
Shift workers and non-standard patterns
Shift workers and those on irregular patterns need the same pro-rata treatment. The calculation method is the same (contracted days or hours divided by a five-day-week equivalent, multiplied by the bank holiday count), but a few additional points apply.
- Hours-based contracts: express the bank holiday entitlement in hours rather than days. A worker contracted to 24 hours a week (three eight-hour shifts) would receive 24/40 × 8 × 8 hours = 38.4 hours of bank holiday entitlement per year.
- Rotating shifts that cover bank holidays: if a shift worker is rostered to work on a bank holiday, they should either have the day off (if the business is closed) or receive a replacement day in lieu, so that their total bank holiday entitlement is not eroded. The policy should state which applies.
- Zero-hours and irregular-hours workers: use the 52-week reference period and calculate the proportion of weeks worked. For workers with genuinely variable hours, expressing the entitlement as hours is more accurate than days.
A day in lieu (sometimes called a substitute day) is given when a worker is required to work on a bank holiday. It is a discretionary arrangement unless your contract provides for it. Including a day-in-lieu clause in your policy avoids ambiguity and reduces the risk of grievances from shift workers who feel disadvantaged by bank holiday rosters.
Mandatory leave and Christmas shutdowns
Under Regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, an employer can require a worker to take annual leave on specific dates by giving notice of at least twice the length of the leave being required. For a single bank holiday, that means at least two days' notice (though far more notice is expected in practice). For a Christmas shutdown of five days, at least ten days' notice is required.
Christmas shutdowns are the most common use of this power. In 2026, Christmas Day falls on a Friday (25 December) and Boxing Day substitute falls on Monday 28 December. A business that closes from 25 December to 1 January would have two bank holidays in that period and three additional non-bank-holiday working days (Tuesday 29, Wednesday 30, Thursday 31 December). For those three days, the employer can require employees to use annual leave, provided:
- Sufficient notice is given (at least six days' notice for three days of required leave, which is twice the length, though typically notice is given months in advance);
- The total required leave does not prevent workers from taking their full statutory 5.6 weeks in the leave year; and
- The arrangement is specified in the employment contract or leave policy.
An employer can require workers to use their annual leave entitlement during a shutdown. But if a worker has exhausted their annual leave allowance, the employer cannot require them to take unpaid leave unless the contract expressly provides for it and the worker has agreed. Unpaid enforced leave may constitute an unlawful deduction from wages.
For the full shutdown process, dates, pay options and a downloadable policy, see our dedicated Christmas shutdown policy for small business, and work out the figures with the Christmas shutdown cost calculator.
Bank holidays during sickness absence
When a worker is sick on a bank holiday, the position depends on the policy. If bank holidays are given as additional days off (not taken from the leave allowance), the worker accrues the bank holiday entitlement and it remains available to take later in the leave year. If bank holidays are within an inclusive 28-day allowance, the leave accrues during sickness and may be carried forward if the worker cannot take it in the leave year, consistent with the principles from Stringer v HMRC [2009] UKHL 31.
Bank holidays during maternity and family leave
Annual leave, including any bank holiday entitlement, continues to accrue throughout maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and shared parental leave. Because workers on family-related statutory leave cannot take leave simultaneously, any accrued entitlement that cannot be used in the leave year must be carried forward and taken on return. This is a statutory right that cannot be waived by contract.
Download the Word template
Bank holiday policy template
A ready-to-edit Word document with the full policy wording below. Blue bracketed placeholders mark every decision point: region, inclusive or additional treatment, pro-rata method, and shutdown clause.
- Statutory basis cited for each clause
- Inclusive and additional wording options
- Pro-rata calculation clause for part-timers
- Shutdown and mandatory leave clause
- Italic drafting notes you can delete before issuing
Copy-and-paste policy wording
The clauses below are ready to adapt for your employee handbook. Fill in the bracketed fields, choose between the options marked with a forward slash, and remove the drafting notes before issuing. Keep all statutory obligations intact and do not narrow the entitlement below the 5.6-week statutory minimum. Prefer to work in Word? Use the download above.
1. Purpose and scope
This policy sets out how bank holidays are treated as part of the annual leave entitlement at [Company name]. It applies to all employees and workers. The Working Time Regulations 1998 set the minimum paid leave entitlement; this policy cannot reduce it.
2. Bank holiday entitlement and treatment
Full-time employees working [five] days a week are entitled to [28] days paid annual leave per leave year, which [includes / is in addition to] the [eight] bank holidays for [England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland] published annually on GOV.UK.
Drafting note: 28 days inclusive is the statutory minimum for a five-day week (5.6 weeks × 5 days). If you say "is in addition to," you are giving more than the statutory minimum and the policy is more expensive but more attractive. Choose one and delete this note before issuing.
3. Part-time employees
Part-time employees receive a pro-rata bank holiday entitlement calculated as follows: (contracted working days per week ÷ 5) × [number of bank holidays in the leave year]. Fractions are rounded up to the nearest half-day. Part-time employees may take their pro-rata bank holiday allocation on any of their contracted working days; they are not restricted to the actual bank holiday dates.
Drafting note: This clause is required by the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. Most UK bank holidays fall on Mondays, so without this clause a part-timer who does not work Mondays would receive fewer effective bank holiday days than a full-timer. Delete this note before issuing.
4. Shift workers and irregular patterns
Employees working shift patterns or irregular hours receive a bank holiday entitlement expressed in hours, calculated as: (contracted weekly hours ÷ 40) × [8] bank holidays × [standard daily hours]. Where an employee is rostered to work on a bank holiday, they will receive [a day in lieu to be taken at a mutually agreed time / an alternative day off in the same pay period].
Drafting note: Choose which day-in-lieu option applies, or remove the day-in-lieu sentence if it does not apply to your business. Standard daily hours is typically the contracted daily hours (e.g., eight hours). Delete this note before issuing.
5. Mandatory leave: bank holidays and shutdowns
The Company [does / does not] require employees to take annual leave on bank holidays. Where the Company closes for a period that includes non-bank-holiday working days (for example, between Christmas and New Year), employees may be required to use annual leave for those days. At least [number] weeks' notice will be given before any mandatory leave period. Mandatory leave cannot be required in a way that prevents employees from taking their full statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks in the leave year.
Drafting note: Under Working Time Regulations 1998 Regulation 15, you may require workers to take leave on specific dates by giving notice of at least twice the length of the leave required. Most employers give far more notice than the minimum, particularly for Christmas shutdowns. Specify your actual notice period above and delete this note before issuing.
6. Bank holidays during sickness absence
Where a bank holiday falls during a period of sickness absence, the bank holiday entitlement accrues and may be carried forward to be taken at a later date in the same leave year [or, where that is not possible due to continued sickness, into the following leave year]. Employees should notify their manager as soon as practicable if they wish to reclaim a bank holiday that fell during sickness absence.
7. Bank holidays during family-related leave
Annual leave entitlement, including any bank holiday entitlement, continues to accrue throughout maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and shared parental leave. Any accrued entitlement that cannot be taken during the leave year must be carried forward and taken on return to work.
8. Requests to work on bank holidays
Where the business operates on bank holidays, employees may be asked to work. Employees who work on a bank holiday will receive [a day in lieu / enhanced pay at [rate] / their normal pay if bank holidays are included in their standard rota and their annual leave entitlement accounts for this]. The terms applicable to each role will be stated in the individual contract of employment.
Drafting note: Day in lieu is the most common arrangement for employees not contractually required to work bank holidays. Enhanced pay (time and a half or double time) is common in retail and hospitality. If your contracts already set these terms, this clause reinforces them. Delete this note before issuing.
Manager checklist: bank holidays in practice
Use this checklist at the start of each leave year and whenever a relevant situation arises. The sequence matters: checking the policy before checking individual entitlements avoids inconsistent treatment.
Book Time Off pulls UK bank holidays directly from the GOV.UK feed for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. They appear automatically on the calendar and wallchart, tagged "BH," and are never deducted from anyone's annual leave allowance. When a bank holiday falls in a week when someone books leave, the system counts only the non-bank-holiday working days. Every team member's days used and days remaining are always accurate without any manual adjustment.
→ See bank holidays in action · start free trialFor a broader policy covering the full annual leave process, request forms, carry-forward rules, and sickness during leave, the company leave policy guide includes a complete 16-clause template. The Policies and Templates hub lists all available policy wording in one place. If your team includes employees observing religious holidays, see the religious holidays and time off policy guide.
Sources
| GOV.UK | Bank holidays in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland · Verified June 2026 |
| GOV.UK | Holiday entitlement: overview and employee rights · Verified June 2026 |
| Legislation.gov.uk | Working Time Regulations 1998 · Regulations 13, 15 (minimum leave, dates of leave) · Verified June 2026 |
| Legislation.gov.uk | Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 · Verified June 2026 |
| Legislation.gov.uk | Employment Rights Act 1996, section 1 · Written statement of employment particulars · Verified June 2026 |
| ACAS | Bank holidays and Christmas · Verified June 2026 |
Frequently asked questions
This guide is for general information only. Employment law is complex and your specific situation may be different. For advice on your legal obligations, contact ACAS or an employment solicitor.