Prince William and Kate Middleton will tie the knot on 29 April 2011 and, to the delight of the Nation, the day has been declared an additional public holiday. From an employer’s perspective,  careful consideration must now be given to how to implement this holiday in their workplace.  Here, we answer some of the questions that employers might need to consider.

Do we have to allow all staff the extra day off?

Most employers are likely to want to find a way to ensure that their employees benefit from this extra holiday given the adverse implications for morale if they fail to do so. However, many workplaces require operations to continue 24/7, 365 days a year and these employers will not be able to automatically grant all staff a day off on 29 April.

Holiday entitlement in the UK is regulated by the Working Time Regulations 1998 which entitle all workers to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave, capped at a maximum of 28 days. However, leave entitlement under the Regulations is not in addition to public holidays. There is no statutory right to take public holidays and whether or not a worker is entitled to be off work on a public holiday is a matter determined by the contract between the employer and the worker. If the contract entitles the worker to x days’ holiday inclusive of bank and public holidays, then the additional public holiday will have no effect on the overall contractual entitlement. If the contract entitles the worker to ‘x days holiday plus bank and public holidays’, they will be contractually entitled to the additional day.

Where there is a contractual entitlement to public holidays, whether or not an individual is entitled to be absent from work on Friday 29 April itself, or has to take time off in lieu at another time, will depend upon the employer’s usual arrangements for absence on public holidays.

How do we deal with part-time employees who don’t work on Fridays?

Part-time employees are entitled to not be treated less favourably than full-time employees on a pro-rata basis.  As such, if your full-time staff are to be entitled to an additional public holiday in 2011 (either under their contract or because an additional day’s leave is being granted), part-time employees must be entitled to this extra leave on a pro-rata basis.

In most cases this will mean that, for 2011, the pro-rata calculations of holiday for part-timers should be based on an annual total of 9, rather than 8, public holidays. Part-time employees who don’t work on Fridays should be entitled to take their pro-rated leave at another time to ensure that they are not treated less favourably than full-time employees.

Will staff who are absent on sick or maternity leave be entitled to the extra public holiday?

The situation will be different depending on whether the absence is due to sick leave or maternity leave. In either case,  entitlement to the extra public holiday will depend, in the first instance, on whether the individual is contractually entitled to public holidays (see above). Where they are contractually entitled –
 

• For a sick employee, the position will then depend on what the contract says about holiday accrual during sickness absence. Many contracts do not specify what happens to holiday during sickness absence, in which case the employee will be entitled to the additional holiday. Some contracts state that only statutory Working Time Regulations annual leave accrues during sick leave; in that case, an employee on sick leave would not be entitled to the additional public holiday. If the employer decides to grant the public holiday regardless of whether the employees are contractually entitled to it, then not granting it to employees on sickness absence could potentially risk a disability discrimination claim if the employee’s sickness absence is due to a disability.

• Employees on maternity leave are entitled to accrue holiday in the same way as employees at work, including public holidays, although a woman cannot take holiday during her maternity leave. If the employees are not contractually entitled to the holiday but the employer decides to grant it anyway, employees on maternity leave should also be given the additional holiday otherwise there is a risk of discrimination claims. 

What notification should we give to staff about their holiday entitlement in 2011?

Employers would be advised to notify employees about their holiday entitlement in 2011 as soon as possible. Many employees will assume that they are entitled to take the additional public holiday (or to have time off in lieu if they have to work that day); if this is not the case, the sooner employees are notified the less potential there is for serious disputes arising. If employees are entitled to the additional public holiday, or the employer decides to grant it anyway, there is likely to be significant demand to take annual leave in the three days between the two four day weekends in April. If contracts of employment do not specify a procedure for approving annual leave requests, employers may wish to consider putting in place specific arrangements for the allocation of annual leave during this period, particularly as in some areas it will also be a school holiday.

Guy Lamb is Employment Partner at DLA Piper.