Over the weekend, a public holiday was announced for the King’s Coronation. 

The Coronation itself is taking place on 6 May 2023 and the bank holiday will fall on 8 May 2023. This is an additional public holiday to the one that traditionally falls on the first Monday in May which, in 2023, will remain on 1 May 2023. This has been announced across the United Kingdom, with Nicola Sturgeon confirming the position in Scotland.

This had been expected and is something that employers would be well advised to consider and raise with their employees and workers proactively. There will be lots to consider which will not be limited to whether individuals are entitled to take the day as a holiday, whether in addition or included within their existing holiday entitlement and whether paid or unpaid. 

Other considerations include your industry sector and whether your business is likely to experience a peak (or drop) in demand due to the public holiday as well as project deadlines.

What does your contract say?

Whether staff are entitled to the day in addition (or at all) depends on what their contract says. The wording of your contracts is likely to fall into one (or more) of the following scenarios:

• X days/weeks plus bank holidays
• X days/weeks plus usual/8 bank holidays (and/or lists the actual bank holidays)
• X days/weeks including bank holidays
• X days/weeks but silent on bank holidays
• No contract

Holiday entitlement

Some contracts will entitle the individual to the day in addition to their holiday entitlement, others to the day but included within their holiday entitlement and others will not entitle the individual to the holiday at all; don’t forget, the contract is just the starting point. 

The entitlement may have been altered by what has habitually been done in the past, for example, the Royal Wedding, the Queen’s jubilee and, more recently, the Queen’s funeral. 

If there is no entitlement, the individual could:

1. work the day (if the workplace is operating)
2. take unpaid leave, or;
3. choose to use one of their other holiday days if they want to be paid. 

You could, of course, gift the additional day but you are not obliged to do so (although this might be welcomed by staff, especially in the current cost of living situation). However, as flagged above, not all organisations will be in a position to allow staff to take the additional day and this might need some thought and management.

What should you do as an employer? 

If you are an employer grappling with the announcement and need some help understanding whether staff are or are not entitled to the extra day or to ensure you have enough staff available to work the BLHR and employment team can provide advice and support and precisely the sort of query that is covered under our fixed fee BLHR service.