By Annie Ward, HRZone Editor

The TUC have revived calls this week for the government to introduce an additional bank holiday; HR Zone examines the issues and asks whether more annual leave is the answer to combating stress, improving productivity and work/life balance.

Bank holidays were first introduced for religious observance. The Bank Holidays Act of 1871 designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and five in Scotland.

One hundred years later the act was repealed and its provisions incorporated into the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which remains the statutory basis for bank holidays.

The introduction of the Working Time Directive added further fuel to the bank holiday fire when it became a statutory minimum for the first time to give all employees regardless of length of service 20 days paid holiday per year on a pro rata basis. Employers can include bank holidays in this allowance.

The extension to all of paid holidays gave six million workers an increase to their holiday allowance.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) argue that since 1997 the UK economy has grown 6% creating an additional 833,000 jobs. The conclusion they have reached, therefore, is that the UK can afford the introduction of further bank holidays.

The call they have made is to bring the number of bank holidays in line with the EU average of 11 days a year. Only the Netherlands gives its workers as few public holidays as the UK, but the Dutch benefit from more annual leave. Slovakia enjoy the most with 18 days, closely followed by Cyprus on 14, Malta, Spain and Portugal who each allocate 14 days to workers.

The UK currently has eight days bank holiday.

A poll conducted by the TUC’s world of work website, WorkSMART shows that out of almost 20,000 online voters, just under half, 41% said that a Monday in late October would be their most preferred option for a new bank holiday. Almost a third (32%) opted for St George’s, St Andrew’s and St David’s Days with one in ten balloting for New Year’s Eve.

The TUC’s Brendan Barber said: “In the past, bosses have wildly exaggerated the costs of introducing more bank holidays, but our calculations suggest that the UK can well afford to bring in extra days. If we all were able to take a few extra days off work, rather than losing out, employers would benefit from less-stressed, more contented, productive staff.”

The union body say that extra days off would reduce the bill for work-related stress which currently costs the UK £4.4 billion a year.

Is this, however, the reality? When bank holidays were first introduced the idea was that all businesses including banks were closed. Commercial concerns were put aside while workers enjoyed a family day, attending religious festivals or having social get togethers.

The reality today, however, is very different. Many businesses open for trade over the bank holiday and infact rely on bank holiday spending to boost annual profits. While half of workers enjoy the extra day it would seem that the other half face long hours and more stress.

Those in the retail, catering and caring industry bear the brunt of the bank holiday workathon, with many working longer hours to cover holidaying colleagues.

Many businesses cannot afford to close over bank holidays either, especially when they know that competitors will happily take their business if they choose to holiday.

On the flip side, open for business often means double-pay for staff who work. The long-standing fire dispute has been settled at last on the basis that fire staff get double-time if they work the bank holiday; this all comes at a cost.

Business leaders’ group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) support claims that extra bank holidays would hurt the UK economy.

CBI Director-General, Digby Jones, said: “Many people already have 20 days holiday a year on top of bank holidays and in the future this may be extended to all employees.

“Everyone likes the idea of more time off, but most people realize that it can’t come without cost. In a fiercely competitive global economy we need to be ahead of other countries in attracting investment and creating jobs. Following the labour practices of countries that are less dynamic than we are is not the route to full employment and a successful economy.

“It’s also a fact that people do not want to be told when to take time off. Some employers are responding to employee demand and swapping bank holidays for more flexible leave arrangements.”

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) say that the creation of further bank holidays might add pressure on workers to perform on fewer working days, putting into question the TUC’s argument about a reduced stress bill.

John Philpott, CIPD chief economist, said:

“If hours were cut by imposing new bank holidays in an ad hoc way, without taking into account the circumstances of individual firms, the response may be for employers to try to raise productivity by increasing the intensity of work on other days of the year, particularly around bank holidays. This could pile even greater pressure on workers to get more done in less time – defeating the objective of those arguing for more holidays.”

So is the answer a more flexible rewards-package, which allows workers to cherry-pick extra benefits, whether this be more holiday or alternative perks? Are the TUC indeed taking the wrong approach to the work/life balance issue, are more bank holidays the answer or do they just put a squeeze on production and more stress on businesses to make up the time, match competitors opening-hours and pay double-time for staff?

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