What are the bank holiday rules for employers?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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
• Up to 20% off Public Liability Insurance
• Reduced cost of workwear and branding
• Savings on other business essentials such as vans, fuel and materials

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