No legal right to extra pay - it depends entirely on the contract. If the contract says nothing, they get their normal rate. Most businesses that open on Christmas Day pay time and a half or double time, or give a day off in lieu. Whatever you do, be careful: if you've always paid extra, it can become part of the contract over time.
This one comes up every year and the answer surprises people on both sides. Staff often assume double time is the law. Owners often assume they can quietly stop paying it. Neither's quite right.
Is double pay on Christmas Day a legal requirement?
No. There's no law in the UK that says anyone has to be paid more for working Christmas Day, Boxing Day or any bank holiday. What staff are entitled to is whatever their contract says - and if it doesn't say anything, that's their normal pay.
The one bit of law that does apply is the minimum wage. Normal pay for Christmas Day still has to be at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for their age, same as any other day. Christmas doesn't change that either way.
What do most small businesses actually pay?
There's no official figure, but from what we see it's usually one of these:
- Double time on Christmas Day, and sometimes Boxing Day too - common in hospitality and retail.
- Time and a half on all bank holidays, Christmas included.
- Normal pay plus a day off in lieu to take later.
- Normal pay, full stop. Less common at Christmas, and not great for morale if we're honest.
If you're a small team and only need one or two people in, the cost of double time is usually small next to what it does for goodwill. A volunteer on double time beats a reluctant person on normal pay every time.
Time off in lieu instead of extra pay
This is the one we'd look at first if cash is tight. Someone works Christmas Day, they get a day off to take in January or February instead. It costs you a day of cover rather than extra wages and a lot of people genuinely prefer it - a quiet day off in February is worth more to some than a bit extra in their December pay.
The only thing to get right is the admin. Agree when the day has to be taken by, and make sure it's actually recorded somewhere, or it turns into "I'm sure I'm owed a day from Christmas" in July. We've got a whole guide on TOIL (time off in lieu) if you want the detail.
In Book Time Off you can give someone extra days on their allowance for working a bank holiday, and add your own leave types - so a day in lieu gets booked and shows on the calendar like any other day off. Honestly, it isn't a dedicated TOIL tracker, we should say. But the extra day's on their allowance and on the wallchart, rather than in someone's memory.
→ Start free trialCan I make staff work Christmas Day?
If their contract says they can be required to work bank holidays, or your business normally opens on them, then yes. Most staff in pubs, shops and care know Christmas comes with the job. If you're an office that's never opened on Christmas Day and suddenly need someone in, that's a different story - ask for volunteers rather than telling people.
And be careful who ends up on it. Quietly putting the person who doesn't celebrate Christmas on every year, or the youngest, or whoever didn't complain loudest, is how you end up with a grievance. We've written about a fair way of deciding in who gets Christmas off?
Can shops open on Christmas Day?
Small ones can. Large shops in England and Wales - over 280 square metres of sales space - can't open on Christmas Day by law, which is why the supermarkets are shut. Scotland has its own rules for large shops too. Pubs, restaurants, hotels and smaller shops can open if they want to.
Shop workers in England and Wales also have the right to opt out of Sunday working, which comes up when Christmas Eve or Boxing Day falls on a Sunday. Not this year though - in 2026 Boxing Day's on a Saturday and Christmas Eve's a Thursday.
For the dates themselves, including Monday 28 December as the Boxing Day bank holiday this year, see Christmas bank holidays 2026. And for the whole Christmas plan, how to manage Christmas holiday requests.
Once you've sorted who's working, Book Time Off puts the whole team on one wallchart so nobody has to ask - and the bank holidays are already marked, straight from the GOV.UK feed. It won't do your pay rates or your shift rota (it's a holiday system, not payroll) but it does make Christmas cover a lot clearer.
→ Start free trialThe legal bit, if you need it
You don't need this to get Christmas sorted, but here's what the rules actually say if anyone asks.
- There's no legal right to extra pay for working a bank holiday, or to have bank holidays off - it depends on the contract (ACAS, GOV.UK).
- Something you've always done can become a contract term over time - known as custom and practice - if it's regular, well known and reasonably certain (ACAS).
- Pay must never drop below the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for the hours worked (GOV.UK).
- Large shops can't open on Christmas Day in England and Wales under the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk).
- Shop workers can opt out of Sunday working in England and Wales by giving notice (GOV.UK).
Sources
| ACAS | Bank holidays and Christmas · No automatic right to time off or extra pay on bank holidays. Checked October 2026. |
| ACAS | Custom and practice · When an unwritten practice becomes a contract term. Checked October 2026. |
| GOV.UK | National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates · Checked October 2026. |
| legislation.gov.uk | Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 · Large shops closed on Christmas Day in England and Wales. Checked October 2026. |
| GOV.UK | Working on Sundays · Shop workers' right to opt out. Checked October 2026. |
FAQs
This is practical, general information for UK employers. If you've got a dispute brewing or something unusual in a contract, talk to ACAS (it's free) or an employment solicitor.