Royal Wedding announced - April 29th, 2011
This week has seen the date for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton confirmed, along with confirmation from Prime Minister David Cameron that the day will be celebrated as a public holiday.
The 29th April 2011 has been confirmed as the date for the big day which falls next year on a Friday. This latest news follows a previous decision earlier this year to also grant an additional holiday for 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
We have taken this opportunity to speak with Simone Taylor, one of the Employment Law Specialists at Bibby Consultancy and Support who explains the need for employers to plan now for these additional bank holidays.
Simone explained that “other than staff working at banks which are not permitted to open on bank and public holidays, no other workers have a statutory right to time off on these days. However, with banks being closed on these dates, a number of employers are likely to opt to have a shut down anyway as some business come to a stand-still in order to watch the Royal event. Other businesses operating over 7 days a week such as care homes are likely to class it still as a working day.”
Asked whether this is an addition to existing holiday, Simone explained that “entitlement to bank holidays will largely be derived from contractual terms. We have legislation that specifies the minimum amount of holiday, which is namely 5.6 weeks, but this can include any public and bank holidays. As such, depending on the wording of contractual clauses some staff members will benefit from this as an additional day on top of their existing entitlement, whereas others may find the day forming part of their existing entitlement.”
Employers should arrange for their holiday clauses to be analysed so that they can begin to advise staff members of the arrangements for the Royal Occasion. If staff are not to get the day on top of their existing entitlement, the sooner you inform staff of this, the more you can avoid raised hopes only to be let down nearer the time.
Bibby Consulting and Support have formulated further guidance on this topic which is available to clients and to all readers. If you are an existing client, please call one of the team today on 08453 100 999 quoting your PCN number to discuss the situation with one of our specialist advisers and to obtain more comprehensive guidance. If however you are not yet a client of Bibby Consulting and Support, but would like to learn more about the services that Bibby Consulting and Support provide, please call Katy Vaughan today on 08453 100 600 for your free no obligation quote.
This News Release is intended to provide a general overview and discussion of the subject matter. It is not however, intended to give advice or to act as a substitute to taking legal advice from our Support Line in any specific situation. Bibby Consulting & Support accepts no liability or responsibility for the information contained within this news release. If you would like specific advice about this subject matter, please contact one of the Employment Law Team today on 08453 100 999.
