Whether you are baking for tea parties, scheduling your viewing of the coronation service, or making as many alternative plans as possible in order to avoid the topic, there is one common denominator amongst all arrangements for the impending coronation of King Charles III.....Monday 8th May is an additional bank holiday in the UK! 

Surely this is nationwide cause for celebration? Not quite for everybody. 

ACAS has highlighted that news of the additional bank holiday may have triggered a few queries from both employers and employees. For example:

• Do employees have the right to take the day off? 
• How will this impact on an employee's holiday entitlement? 
• What is the correct rate of pay for the bank holiday? 

As is so often the case with employment matters, the answers to these questions will depend on the precise facts of each case, but the best starting point will always be to head straight to the contract of employment. A well drafted contract will set out an employee's basic holiday entitlement and whether or not this includes bank holidays and, for bonus points, would reference the employer's holiday or absence policy which will explain how to manage any holiday requests which are in excess of the contractual holiday entitlement. 

If the employment contract sets out an entitlement to holiday which includes bank holidays, then it is likely that there will not be an expectation for the employee to work this additional day and it will automatically be deducted from the overall holiday allowance. If the holiday entitlement does not include bank holidays, and the employee would normally work on the Monday, then the employee is likely to need to book this day off as holiday in the usual way. 

Holiday entitlement, although a simple point on the face of it, often becomes a deeper talking point with employers because a nuanced tweak to the contract wording can have quite a significant effect on the practicalities of the working relationship. As for the correct rate of holiday pay, this can equally become a fairly complex question if the rate of pay is not defined in the employment contract. 

So, a blissful three-day weekend can actually (slightly tenuously) give rise to a few tricky questions. 

Whether you're working or not, celebrating or not, I hope the bank holiday goes smoothly!

....I wonder if King Charles III will be granted a day off in lieu...?