UK Bank Holidays 2026 & 2027

The 28-day statutory minimum annual leave entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 can include bank holidays. There is no automatic legal right to have bank holidays off or to receive extra pay for working them. It depends on your employment contract. Many employers choose to offer bank holidays on top of the statutory minimum, but they are not required to do so.

Part-time workers are entitled to the same pro-rata annual leave as full-time workers (5.6 weeks per year). If full-time staff receive 28 days including bank holidays, part-time staff receive a proportional amount. For example, someone working 3 days a week is entitled to 16.8 days per year. Employers cannot treat part-time workers less favourably under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.

Yes. There is no statutory right to take bank holidays off in the UK. Employers can require employees to work on bank holidays, provided this is set out in the employment contract. Sectors such as retail, hospitality, healthcare, and emergency services commonly require bank holiday working. If you do work on a bank holiday, your employer must still ensure you receive your full statutory leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks per year.

There is no legal requirement in the UK to pay employees extra (such as double time or time-and-a-half) for working on a bank holiday. Any enhanced pay for bank holiday working is a contractual matter between you and your employer. Check your employment contract, staff handbook, or collective bargaining agreement for details of any enhanced bank holiday pay provisions.

The number of bank holidays varies by region. England and Wales have 8 bank holidays per year. Scotland has 9 (adding 2nd January and St Andrew's Day, but not Easter Monday). Northern Ireland has 10 (adding St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne). Additional bank holidays can be declared by Royal Proclamation for special occasions, such as coronations or jubilees.

Yes. Scotland has 9 bank holidays compared to 8 in England and Wales. Scotland includes 2nd January as a bank holiday and St Andrew's Day (30 November), but does not observe Easter Monday as a statutory bank holiday. The Summer Bank Holiday also falls on the first Monday in August in Scotland, rather than the last Monday in August as in England and Wales.

If a bank holiday falls on a day you don't normally work (for example, a Saturday or Sunday for a Monday-to-Friday worker), you may be entitled to a substitute day off. For public bank holidays that fall on weekends, the government designates a substitute weekday. However, for part-time workers whose regular days off coincide with a bank holiday, your entitlement depends on your employment contract and how your employer handles bank holidays.

Whether you can carry over bank holidays depends on how they are treated in your employment contract. If bank holidays are included as part of your 28-day statutory entitlement, up to 1.6 weeks of unused leave (8 days for a full-time worker) can be carried over to the next leave year, subject to any agreement with your employer. If bank holidays are offered in addition to statutory leave, carry-over rules are set by your employer's policy. The Working Time Regulations 1998 govern the statutory position.