State Funeral Bank Holiday

Additional bank holiday- Monday 19 September

The date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral has been set as Monday 19 September and this date has been declared as a national bank holiday, the “State Funeral Bank Holiday”. The government sets out that this day will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.

We have received numerous enquiries from employers on the topic, and have compiled a short list of FAQ’s below to assist.   

Are employees entitled to the State Funeral Bank Holiday as paid holiday?

The State Funeral Bank Holiday will operate in the same way as other bank holidays, and there is no statutory entitlement to time off.

There is no statutory obligation on an employer to allow their employees time off for the State Funeral Bank Holiday and in particular the Working Time Regulations 1998 will not act so as to increase the minimum holiday entitlement legally by one day for the State Funeral Bank Holiday. Whether an employee is entitled to the extra day will depend largely on the terms of their contract as follows:.

• If the contracts of employment provides that employees are entitled to all statutory and public holidays e.g. ”you are entitled to 20 days’ holiday plus bank holidays”, the employees are contractually entitled to take the additional bank holiday as paid leave additional to their normal entitlement.
• If the contracts of employment list the normal bank holidays as part of the entitlement, or refer to the “normal bank holidays”, the employee does not have a contractual right to the bank holiday as an extra days’ leave.

In reality, most employers will decide to permit the State Funeral Bank Holiday as an additional days’ paid leave, regardless of what the contract states. Employers choosing not to give the extra bank holiday, where they are not contractually obliged to do so, will need to carefully gauge the response that this stance would receive from their employees, particularly where schools etc are closing.  

Payment for working on the State Funeral Bank Holiday

There is no entitlement for employees to be paid enhanced rates if they work the State Funeral Bank Holiday, unless the contract provides enhanced rates for any bank holiday.      

Can we help further?

Please contact James Johnson or Alexandra Bullmore in the employment team if you require further support on this or any other HR/ employment law related matter.