UK bank holidays 2026 and 2027, for employers.

England and Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

A substitute day is the weekday off when a bank holiday falls at a weekend.

• No. Bank holidays don’t have to be given as paid leave, and whether someone works on one is up to the employer and the contract.
• You can count bank holidays towards the 5.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday, or give them on top. The contract should say which.
• Whether staff get an extra, one-off bank holiday depends on the wording of their contract.

Part-timers must be treated no less favourably than full-timers. If bank holidays come out of holiday, a part-timer can’t be made to use holiday for a bank holiday on a day they don’t normally work.

Because most bank holidays fall on a Monday, someone who works Mondays uses more of their holiday on them than someone who doesn’t. One way to avoid that is to give everyone their entitlement in hours or days pro rata, and let them book the bank holidays they work.

• Someone who works a bank holiday must still get their full 5.6 weeks of paid holiday over the year, so the day is often given back as a day in lieu.
• Holiday can’t be replaced by pay, except for holiday not taken when someone leaves.

You can close over Christmas and ask staff to use holiday for it, even if you stayed open in earlier years. Give notice of at least twice as many days as the holiday you need them to take: four days’ notice for two days’ holiday. Check the contract and any custom and practice first.