Business owners (and anyone who enjoys a well-deserved break) should be aware that there are eight UK bank holidays each year, but they are not evenly spaced out through the year. In most years, half of them fall between April 1 and May 29.
In 2017, Good Friday is April 14, Eater Monday is April 17, the May Bank Holiday falls on May 1 and the Spring bank Holiday is May 29. To deal with this glut of bank holidays requires careful planning.
The law
Although traditionally staff at many firms takes bank holidays off, there is no statutory right to do this. Obviously, there are some businesses such as retail and the hospitality industry where employees routinely work bank holidays. If staff do work bank holidays, there is no legal requirement for a business to pay extra money such as time and a half. This is up to the individual business.
Part-time workers need to have the same conditions as full-time workers. If full-time staff take bank holidays off, then the part-time staff are entitled to as well.
If employees are required to work bank holidays, they cannot legally refuse to work for religious reasons, but this is a grey area and accusations of religious discrimination are sometimes made.
Financial impact
If your business closes over the bank holidays, the glut of bank holidays means that you will lose four days trade in the space of a couple of months, and this can impact on your cash flow.
Another issue that affects all businesses is that bank holidays, as the name suggests, sees banks close. Banks and other financial institutions use the PhilPass system that handles the clearing and settlement of payments and the system is closed on bank holidays. Cheques and other payments may not be credited to a business’ bank account until after the bank holiday. Businesses working on tight profit margins or with low cash flow could experience difficulties.
Delays can accumulate for businesses that receive payments through the postal system. Both the Royal Mail and the cheque-clearing system do not operate during bank holidays.
The answer to the issues around bank holidays is wise planning. Some businesses, such as retail outlets, may experience an upsurge in sales at bank holidays. If you are not one of them though, talk to an accounting service who can advise your business on how to deal with the haul of holidays.