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Bank Holidays and Your Annual Leave: How It Really Works

22 January 2026 · Updated 17 August 2026

There is no automatic right to bank holidays off in the UK. Most people assume there is. The law says something very different, and it changes how the whole holiday package should be read.

The myth everyone believes

Here it is, plain and simple: there's no separate legal right to bank holidays in UK employment law. None. Your statutory 5.6 weeks (28 days for a full-timer) can include bank holidays. So your employer can count the 8 bank holidays in England and Wales as part of your 28 days, leaving you just 20 days to choose yourself. And that's completely legal.

Many employers do give bank holidays on top, but that is a contractual perk rather than a legal requirement, and it depends entirely on the wording. "Including bank holidays" and "plus bank holidays" are eight days apart. Read that clause before you sign.

How many Bank Holidays are there?

England and Wales normally get 8 a year. These are the actual 2026 dates, from the official GOV.UK list:

Note the substitute day at the end of 2026. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. The 2027 dates are already published too: Friday 1 January, Good Friday 26 March, Easter Monday 29 March, Monday 3 May, Monday 31 May, Monday 30 August, and then substitute days on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December because both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall at the weekend.

Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. Scotland has 2 January and St Andrew's Day on 30 November but not Easter Monday, and its summer bank holiday falls at the start of August rather than the end. In 2026 Scotland also has an additional bank holiday on Monday 15 June, granted by royal proclamation to mark the national football team's return to the World Cup. Northern Ireland adds St Patrick's Day on 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne on 12 July, with a substitute day of Monday 13 July in 2026. Check the GOV.UK list for the exact set that applies where you work, because it changes year to year.

What your contract should say

Your contract should spell out your annual leave and whether bank holidays are included or on top. Here's what the common wording actually means:

Red flag: If your contract just says "20 days annual leave" with no mention of bank holidays, that's ambiguous. Does it mean 20 plus bank holidays, or 20 with bank holidays counted separately toward the 28-day minimum? Get it clarified in writing. Don't guess.

Working on Bank Holidays

There is no right to have bank holidays off. If your employer needs you to work on Christmas Day, Easter Monday, or any other bank holiday, and your contract allows it, that's perfectly legal. Retail, hospitality, healthcare, emergency services, transport: millions of UK workers are in the office or on shift every bank holiday.

If you do work a bank holiday, your employer should give you a day in lieu or count it as a normal working day and add an equivalent day to your annual leave. Some employers pay time-and-a-half or double time for bank holidays, but that's a contractual bonus, not a legal right. There's no statutory premium for bank holiday work.

The bottom line: your employer still has to give you your full 5.6 weeks over the year. If you work all 8 bank holidays and they're included in your 28 days, you need 28 other days off to compensate.

Part-time workers and Bank Holidays

This is where things get properly unfair if your employer isn't paying attention. Think about it: most bank holidays fall on a Monday. If you work Monday to Friday, great: you benefit from all of them. If you work Tuesday to Friday, you miss nearly every single one. If bank holidays are included in the annual leave pot, Monday workers get a better deal through pure luck of scheduling.

The fair solution is pro-rata bank holiday entitlement. Full-time gets 8. Four days a week gets 6.4 (that's 8 x 4/5). That way it's equitable regardless of which days you work.

Even better, some employers convert the entire holiday entitlement into hours and let workers use them flexibly. No arguments about which day bank holidays fall on. If your employer isn't doing something like this, they might be inadvertently discriminating against part-time staff. Worth flagging.

Requiring workers to take Bank Holidays

Your employer can direct you to take annual leave on specific dates, including bank holidays. Under regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 the notice must be given at least as many days in advance as the number of days of leave being required. So one day's notice for a single bank holiday, and five days' notice for a week-long Christmas shutdown. The rule that requires twice the notice is the one that applies when the worker requests leave, not when the employer imposes it, and a contractual holiday policy can vary either figure.

Most employers sort this through the contract from day one, so the notice requirement is already covered. But if they suddenly want to change things (say, making people work on bank holidays when they previously had them off), that requires consultation and potentially contract amendments. They can't just spring it on you.

Bank Holidays during sick leave or maternity leave

If a bank holiday falls while you're off sick, it doesn't eat into your annual leave. Your employer can't deduct it from your balance. When you come back, your remaining holiday should be calculated as if the bank holiday didn't happen during your absence.

Same goes for maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave. You keep accruing holiday throughout, bank holidays included. That leave carries over for when you return.

Religious holidays and alternative days

UK bank holidays are largely based on the Christian calendar. There's no legal right to swap bank holidays for other religious observances, but under the Equality Act 2010, employers mustn't discriminate on grounds of religion. That means they should at least consider reasonable requests for time off for religious holidays, and shouldn't refuse without a solid business reason.

Some forward-thinking employers now offer "floating holidays" that workers can use for any religious or cultural celebration they choose. It's a simple solution that treats everyone fairly.

Extra Bank Holidays

Extra bank holidays are announced from time to time: the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee on 3 June 2022, her state funeral on 19 September 2022, the coronation of King Charles III on 8 May 2023, and in Scotland the World Cup bank holiday on 15 June 2026. When one is announced you do not automatically get the day off. It depends on the contract wording. "All bank and public holidays" covers you. "The usual 8 bank holidays", or any fixed number, generally does not.

Most employers were generous about the recent extra ones, but some made staff work or use annual leave. If another one gets announced, check your contract wording immediately.

Check Your Entitlement

Use our Holiday Entitlement Calculator to work out your total statutory entitlement and see how bank holidays should fit in. If the numbers don't add up, raise it with your employer or contact ACAS. You've earned your holiday. All of it. Don't let a misunderstanding about bank holidays cost you days you're entitled to.

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