The whole of the UK usually has 8 permanent Bank Holidays. In 2023, the Coronation of King Charles III brings this number up to 9 Bank Holidays in England and Wales for 2023. These include:
In Scotland, Easter Monday is not a Bank Holiday. However, an additional New Year's Bank Holiday and Saint Andrew's Day are added to the calendar, bringing the total number of Bank Holidays in Scotland to 10 days.
Like Scotland, the list of Bank Holidays in Northern Ireland differs from the rest of the UK. In addition to the 9 Bank Holidays given in England, NI has 2 extra Bank Holidays to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne, bringing the total to 11 days.
The next bank holiday is Monday 25th December 2023 (Christmas Day).
Although the whole of the UK will benefit from one extra Bank Holiday this year due to the coronation of King Charles III, Northern Ireland still tops the list, with 11 Bank Holidays.
Whether or not employees recieve paid time off for Bank Holidays will depend on their employment contract. Most employers choose to include the Bank Holiday dates in their statutory 5.6 weeks of annual leave that are given by law to all employees.
If you're organising your team's calendar for the coming year, you'll need to be aware of the Bank Holidays and the Public Holidays that apply to the whole of the United Kingdom, as well as additional holidays which apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The question as to whether Bank Holidays are included in an employee's leave entitlement or are given in addition will depend on each employees employement contract. Whether your business includes Bank Holidays in addition to employees' statutory leave or not, you'll need to make a note of these important dates in your leave management system alongside your employee's other leave requests. In TimeKeeper, the Public Holiday calendar function allows you to add a list of non-deductible dates to an employee's leave record automatically. The correct Bank Holiday dates will be loaded for the year automatically, but can be edited if needed and additional dates (such as company closure) can be added too. You can also determine whether these dates are unpaid or paid, so that the correct leave hours are added to each employee's timesheet.
Ready to organise your team's holiday calendar and simplify your leave tracking in 2023? Try a 14 day free trial of TimeKeeper.