Blog>Trade>Business Management>What are the bank holiday rules for employers?
Last updated: 3 January 2025
What are the bank holiday rules for employers?
Bank holiday working rules vary between trade businesses. In this article, we look at bank holiday rules for employers and how they may differ from trade to trade.
Bank holidays are usually seen as a time to put your feet up and relax. But not for everybody. Some tradespeople have to work. Others may choose to work.
The nature of being an emergency tradesperson, such as a plumber or electrician, means that you could be on call at any time. That includes bank holidays too.
There are bank holiday rules for employers to set out what you need to do in terms of:
Giving employees time off
Offering paid leave
Paying employees more than their usual pay rate
Charging customers more work for undertaken
As they are national holidays, employers don't have to give employees paid leave on bank holidays if they aren't working. In other words, bank holiday working rules are generally set by employers.
If you run a trade business, make sure the rules do what you need them to.
However, if you work for a trade business, but don't run it, make sure to read your work contract carefully. The bank holiday rules for employment will vary from place to place and will probably be included.
When are bank holidays in the UK?
The main bank holiday dates in England and Wales are:
New Year’s Day
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Early May bank holiday
Spring bank holiday
Summer bank holiday
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
Scotland has similar bank holidays, plus
1-2 January for New Year’s holiday
St Andrew's Day bank holiday
The Republic of Ireland has some extra Bank holidays:
St Bridget’s Day
St Patrick’s Day
June bank holiday
October bank holiday
Employers can include Bank holiday dates as part of an employee’s statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks of annual paid holiday. That works out at 28 days. In which case, if England and Wales have eight bank holidays, the employee would have 20 days left to take as holiday.
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Are there bank holiday working rules?
The government doesn’t set hard-and-fast bank holiday working rules for employers to follow. Therefore, as a business owner, it is more a case of rules set by you for your staff.
Bank holiday rules for employers are likely to vary according to:
Your trade (some trades operate all year round, for example with emergency repairs)
The time of year (seasonal businesses may have to operate on bank holidays)
Unexpected peaks in workload (so businesses can catch up)
Size of project (larger jobs may require additional input or have tight deadlines)
Availability of the customer (accommodating someone will provide a much better customer experience)
Make sure you understand your work contract and what it says about bank holiday working rules. Either as an employer or employee.
What is required in a small business employment contract?
As you grow your trade business, you'll probably want to take on more people. Whether full-time or part-time, it pays to put in writing the arrangements that you agree to. This important paperwork is a small business employment contract. Simple employment contracts don't need to be complicated. They
Do ‘emergency’ trades have to work on bank holidays?
Bank holiday rules for employment vary according to the trade.
With ‘emergency’ trades, like plumbers and electricians, employees often need to be prepared to work on bank holidays. Especially if you list emergency services on your Checkatrade profile.
Again, it depends on how you choose to operate as an employer. Some emergency tradespeople will decide they don’t want to work on bank holidays. Instead, they might provide short term solutions over the phone.
Other tradespeople are keen to take on the extra workload. This opens up the question of what to charge customers when you do jobs on bank holidays.
Can you take a day off instead of working on a Bank holiday?
As an employee, you may prefer to work on a bank holiday and take a different day off instead.
However, it is down to the discretion of your employer. So you will need to ask them if this is possible.
This is called taking a day’s holiday ‘in lieu’. It just means ‘instead of’. The same applies if the bank holiday falls on a non-working day, like a Sunday. Then you will probably be allowed to take the following day, Monday, off ‘in lieu’.
As a trade business owner, you will need to consider whether you will follow the same rules as your staff. The point of starting a business is to become the boss, after all.
Keep your business moving in the right direction
Get more leads throughout the year as a Checkatrade member
What are the bank holiday pay rules?
As an employer, if you want to pay a person more than their agreed rate for working on a public holiday, then it’s up to you.
There are no official rules for extra pay on bank holidays, but some trade businesses choose to offer ‘time-and-a-half’ or ‘double-time’.
However, no employer is required to do this. Once again, it is down to the individual employer and what it says in your work contracts.
If you work part-time, a bank holiday may fall on a non-working day. It’s unlikely your employer give you holiday pay for that day.
How to calculate holiday pay
Whether you're setting up a new business or you’re an employee, your statutory holiday pay entitlement rules are set by HMRC. This includes holiday pay for part-time employees. What is holiday pay entitlement? Almost all people classed as workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday every year
What are the rules on charging customers extra to work on bank holidays?
Trade businesses must tread a careful path regarding what they charge for bank holiday work.
On the one hand, a trade business is entitled to ask for more to work on a public holiday. On the other hand, it can affect a customer relationship quite quickly.
Trade businesses should be very clear at the outset when they discuss working for customers on public holidays. Let them know what rate you will charge and avoid awkward conversations later on.
Factors such as bank holiday surcharges can be factored into your pricing template.
Win more business - whenever you work
Choosing to work on bank holidays is a great way to boost your income. Fewer competitors are likely to be available on public holidays. That could put you in the driving seat for certain types of jobs and emergency callouts.
Another important way to build your trade business is with more sales leads. As a Checkatrade member, you could receive our help with new enquiries. With people searching for trade jobs around the clock, can you afford to miss out on that interest?
There are many other reasons to consider membership with us as well. They include:
Dedicated membership advice team
Work guarantee up to £1,000
Exclusive offers and discounts
Reduced cost of workwear and branding
Savings on other business essentials such as vans, fuel and materials
Is a Checkatrade membership worth it?
One way to figure out whether the cost of something is worth it is to look at ROI (Return on Investment). In its most basic sense, this is how much something costs compared with the income it generates. Working out the ROI of a Checkatrade membership is definitely a must-do for any trade business
Key takeaways
Some trades need to work on bank holidays, for example, on ‘emergency’ jobs
Employers don’t have to give employees paid leave on bank holidays
Employers can include bank holidays as part of an employee’s statutory annual minimum paid holiday leave
Employers can let employees take different days off ‘in lieu’ of working on a bank holiday
Employers can pay employees more for working on bank holidays
Employers can charge customers more for working on bank holidays
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