As the dust from the Queen’s death begins to settle and the many, many protocols in place begin to unfold, it’s been confirmed that next Monday, the 19th of September, will be a UK wide bank holiday.
It the second time this year we’ve been granted an extra bank holiday in a calendar that’s famously very lean on them – first the late May bank holiday was extended to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and now we’ve got another to mourn her death.
Prior to the inevitable happening, Google searches for whether we’d get 12 days off work peaked, but it’s since transpired that only the day of the royal funeral will be a bank holiday, with 12 days marking an official period of mourning, ending on the day of the funeral, with many events cancelled out of respect.
But many people are questioning whether we’ll have to make up the extra bank holiday – namely whether one will be taken away at a later date. And since they can’t take Christmas and Boxing Day from us (the only UK bank holidays after the late August one) it might mean that next year’s days off are looking extra lean.
Will We Lose A Bank Holiday Next Year?
According to the official Government website, the day ‘will operate in the same way as other bank holidays, and there is no statutory entitlement to time off. Employers may include bank holidays as part of a worker’s leave entitlement’. So that means that your employer isn’t obliged to give you the time off work, and it’s something you’ll need to discuss with them ahead.
It continues, ‘The bank holiday will be a unique national moment, and we would encourage employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take time off. The government cannot interfere in existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers. However, we would expect that many workers will be able to take the day off on the bank holiday.’
On the question of whether or not we’ll have to forfeit a bank holiday in 2023, there is frustratingly no concrete information, but hopefully we can get confirmation later.
Will 19th September Be An Annual Holiday?
It’s probably unlikely, and the government have already said they have ‘no plans’ to instate one. The state funeral for George VI was not marked with a bank holiday and so there’s no precedent for the government to follow.
Will There Be A Bank Holiday For King Charles III’s Coronation?
The coronation won’t be for a good while yet but the government have said that ‘no decisions have been made’ yet and will be confirmed ‘nearer to the time’. However, the Queen’s own 1953 Coronation was made a bank holiday, so we’re feeling optimistic.