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30-568: There is no automatic right to paid time off on these days, or any right to a holiday ata ll, but banks close and the majority of the working population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contracts. Before 1980, collective agreements widely included public holidays as part of a standard entitlement to time off. Schedule 11 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 enabled mandatory extension of collective agreements across sectors, but this

60-570: A trade union may improve upon. The Regulations apply to all workers (not just employees) and stipulate minimum rest breaks, daily rest, weekly rest and the maximum average working week. Regulations 13 and 13A create a right to paid annual leave of 28 days, expressed as "four weeks" and an additional "1.6 weeks" (including bank holidays and public holidays). In the Working Time Directive article 7 refers to paid annual leave of "at least four weeks", and under article 5 states that

90-586: A St Piran's Day bank holiday in Cornwall would benefit the Cornish economy by £20–35 million. The number of holidays in the UK is relatively small compared to many other European countries. However, direct comparison is inaccurate since the 'substitute day' scheme of deferment does not apply in most European countries, where holidays that coincide with a weekend (29% of fixed-date holidays) are "lost". In fact,

120-586: A bank holiday in Scotland until 1974. Starting in 1965, experimentally, the August Bank Holiday weekend was observed at the end of August "to give a lead in extending British holidays over a longer summer period". Each year's date was announced in Parliament on an ad hoc basis, to the despair of the calendar and diary publishing trade. The rule seems to have been to select the weekend of

150-467: A default rule that workers may work no more than 48 hours per week and employers are required to do everything reasonable to ensure limits are not broken. There are however, numerous exceptions to the universal rule. It does not apply to some limited specific sectors. Moreover, "autonomous workers", which according to the UK's Health and Safety Executive , following European Union interpretation and case law, are defined as those with "total control" of both

180-563: A legal challenge in the European Court of Justice. It does not extend to Northern Ireland. The Working Time Regulations create a basic set of rights for the time people work, particularly 28 days paid holidays, a right to 20 minute paid breaks for each 6 hours worked, a right to weekly rest of at least one full 24 hour period, and the right to limit the working week to 48 hours. These are designed to be minimum standards, which anybody's individual contract or collective agreement through

210-666: A petition before the Public Petitions Committee to make this a national holiday. Their petition was discussed and was accepted, and this propelled the bill along. The Bill was sent back to the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Culture Committee, and was eventually supported by Jack McConnell , the then First Minister , after a compromise agreement was reached whereby the holiday would not be an additional entitlement. The First Minister stated that he believed that employers and employees should mark

240-465: A weekend and to create extra one-off bank holidays for special occasions. The Act does not provide for a bank holiday to be suppressed by royal proclamation without appointing another day in its place. In this way, public holidays are not "lost" in years when they coincide with weekends. These deferred bank holiday days are termed a "bank holiday in lieu " of the typical anniversary date. In the legislation they are known as "substitute days". The movement of

270-644: A year in England and Wales, nine in Scotland and ten in Northern Ireland . Additional days have been allocated for special events, such as royal weddings , coronations , and jubilees . There are seven bank holidays common to all jurisdictions: New Year's Day, Good Friday , the early May bank holiday ( May Day ), the Spring bank holiday, the Summer bank holiday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day . Easter Monday

300-522: A year under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (including any bank holidays or public holidays that are taken). Local holidays are determined by local authorities across Scotland. Some of these may be taken in lieu of statutory holidays while others may be additional holidays, although many companies, including Royal Mail, do not follow all the holidays listed below, and many swap between English and local holidays. Since Easter 1996

330-731: Is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, St Patrick's Day and Orangemen's Day are also bank holidays. In Scotland, 2 January and St Andrew's Day are bank holidays. The Summer bank holiday varies according to jurisdiction: in Scotland, it is on the first Monday in August, and in the rest of the United Kingdom, it is on the last Monday in August. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Good Friday and Christmas Day are common law holidays, having been customary holidays since time immemorial . The first official bank holidays were named in

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360-544: The Bank Holidays Act 1871 , introduced by Liberal politician and banker Sir John Lubbock . Under the Act, "no person was compelled to make any payment or to do any act upon a bank holiday which he would not be compelled to do or make on Christmas Day or Good Friday, and the making of a payment or the doing of an act on the following day was equivalent to doing it on the holiday". People were so grateful that some called

390-586: The "weekly rest period" means a "seven-day period". When the Directive was implemented in the UK, regulation 13 originally stated "four weeks" but many employers only gave their workers four five-day periods of leave (i.e. 20 days). In response the UK government amended the regulations in 2007 to add the further 1.6 week period, bringing the minimum in line with the European Union requirement for four full weeks (i.e. 28 days). However, this confusion led to

420-591: The Labour Party announced it would make those days bank holidays if elected. The same year, an online petition to the Prime Minister as to Wales received 3,577 signatures. In 2009, it was reported that St Piran's Day (patron saint of Cornwall ) on 5 March is already given as an unofficial day off to many government and other workers in the county. It is suggested that a move from the May bank holiday to

450-740: The Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk West , in 2003. The first reading of the bill was rejected in 2005 by the Scottish Parliament ; at the time the Scottish Executive was opposed to the idea of another bank holiday, and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce claimed that an extra holiday would cost the country £400 million in lost productivity . In May 2005, Samantha Mungall, Iain Scherr and Alexandra Gill - three first year students at Clyde Valley High - presented

480-505: The Scottish clearing banks have harmonised the days on which they are closed with those in England and Wales and are therefore closed on Easter Monday and the last Monday in August (rather than the first). This has resulted in a number of local authorities creating a public holiday on Easter Monday. Previously Easter Monday had not been a public holiday in Scotland. There have been protests about banks opening on 2 January since this decision

510-469: The St Andrew's Day Scottish holiday to the nearest Monday when 30 November is a weekend day is statutory and does not require a proclamation. Bank holidays falling on a weekend are always moved to a later date, not an earlier one. Although there is no statutory right for workers to take paid leave on bank holidays, where paid leave is given (either because the business is closed or for other reasons),

540-592: The UK until 1974 and 1978 respectively. The date of the August bank holiday was changed from the first Monday in August to the last Monday in August in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (but not in Scotland), and the Whitsun bank holiday (Whit Monday) was replaced by the Late Spring Bank Holiday, fixed as the last Monday in May. From 1978, the final Monday of May in Scotland (a statutory holiday in

570-614: The Working Time Directive and consequently the Regulations. St Andrew%27s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 The St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament that officially designates St. Andrew's Day (30 November) to be a bank holiday in Scotland . The Bill that led to the Act being passed was first proposed by Dennis Canavan , Independent Member of

600-447: The argument that the UK had gone beyond the minimum standards required by the Working Time Directive 2003 , even though no country in the EU has a right to fewer holidays than 28 days. Regulation 10 creates the right to a minimum period of rest of 20 minutes in any shift lasting over 6 hours. Children under 18 are entitled to a 30 minute break for every 4.5 hours worked. Regulations 4–5 set

630-467: The average number of non-weekend holidays in such countries is only marginally higher (and in some cases lower) than the UK. Worth mentioning is that public holidays in Europe which fall on Thursday or Tuesday typically become " puente " or "bridge" four-day or even six-day extended holiday weekends as people tend to use one or two days from their holiday entitlement to take off Monday and/or Friday. After

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660-408: The bank holiday can count towards the minimum statutory holiday entitlement. Likewise, if people are required to work on a bank holiday, there is no statutory right to an enhanced pay rate nor to a day off in lieu , although many employers do give either or both. Any rights in this respect depend on the person's contract of employment. The statutory minimum paid holidays is 28 days (or 5.6 weeks)

690-609: The day with a holiday, but that this should be as a substitute for an existing local holiday, rather than an additional one. The Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 29 November 2006, and received Royal Assent on 15 January 2007. The Act amends the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 , an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which sets out the official bank holidays for England and Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland . The 1971 Act does not give employees

720-465: The duration and scheduling of work, are also excluded. Any individual can also voluntarily opt out of the maximum working week of 48 hours. ECJ case law has confirmed that statutory holiday will continue to accrue during career breaks or sabbaticals. Cases listed below that are not between UK-based parties are decisions of the European Court of Justice that bind the UK in the operation of

750-591: The election of the coalition government in May 2010, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport launched a pre-consultation in 2011 which included the suggestion of moving the May Day Bank Holiday to October, to be a "UK Day" or "Trafalgar Day" (21 October) or to St David's Day and St  George's Day. Bank holidays are established in several ways: Royal proclamation is also used to move bank holidays that would otherwise fall on

780-590: The first bank holidays St Lubbock's Days for a while. The Act did not include Good Friday and Christmas Day as bank holidays in England, Wales, or Ireland because they were already recognised as common law holidays. In 1903, the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act added 17 March, Saint Patrick's Day , as a bank holiday in Ireland only. New Year's Day did not become a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland until 1 January 1974. Boxing Day did not become

810-461: The last Saturday in August, so that in 1968 and 1969 Bank Holiday Monday actually fell in September. A century after the 1871 act, the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80), which currently regulates bank holidays in the UK, was passed. The majority of the current bank holidays were specified in the 1971 Act: however New Year's Day and May Day were not introduced throughout the whole of

840-687: The rest of the UK) and the first Monday in May in the rest of the UK (a statutory holiday in Scotland) have been proclaimed as bank holidays. In January 2007, the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 was given royal assent , making 30 November (or the following Monday if 30 November falls on a weekend) a bank holiday in Scotland. There are calls for extra public holidays on the patron saints' days in England (for St. George's Day ), and Wales (for St. David's Day ). For example, in 2018

870-513: Was repealed with effect from 1980, and the Fair Wages Resolution 1946 (affecting public sector contracts) was repealed with effect from 1983. This meant there was no effective legal mechanism for holidays until the Working Time Regulations 1998 , based on the Working Time Directive restored 20 and then 28 days paid holidays - however employers do not need to grant paid holidays on public holiday days. There are eight bank holidays

900-564: Was taken. This has resulted in many banks now providing only a limited service on 2 January, with most members of staff still entitled to the holiday. Working Time Regulations 1998 The Working Time Regulations 1998 ( SI 1998/1833 ) is a statutory instrument in UK labour law which implemented the EU Working Time Directive 2003 . It was updated in 1999, but these amendments were then withdrawn in 2006 following

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