Another extra 2023 Bank Holiday – what to do?

It has recently been announced that there will be an additional bank holiday in 2023 to mark the coronation of King Charles III.

The holiday will fall on Monday, 8 May 2023 and is in addition to the normal bank holiday already scheduled for the Monday before, 1 May 2023. Employers may be wondering whether they need to grant staff an additional paid holiday for the coronation bank holiday on 8 May.

Legally, there is no automatic entitlement for an employee to take a day off on any bank holiday or to be paid for it. Whether or not an employee is entitled to take an additional paid holiday on the coronation bank holiday will depend on the specific wording of their contract of employment.

If their contract of employment specifies that particular named days, or a specific number of days, will be granted by the employer as paid bank holidays, then it is unlikely that the employer will be obliged to grant an additional day for the coronation bank holiday. However, a contract of employment that entitles employees in more general terms to “all recognised bank holidays” (or similar) may well provide a basis for employees to be entitled to this additional holiday, particularly if the employer also gave staff paid time off on the bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee or for the Queen’s funeral earlier in 2022.

Employers who are unsure as to whether the wording of their contracts of employment gives staff the right to take the coronation bank holiday as a paid holiday should refer to what they did in 2022.

If the employer is going to remain operational on the coronation bank holiday, and staff are not contractually entitled to take the day off as a holiday, employees should be able to request to take the day off as a holiday in the normal way.

Take time to review annual leave policies and if in doubt call 121 HR Solutions on 0800 995 121.