Bank Holidays,enhanced payments and holiday entitlement
If your employment contracts are well drafted and include bank holidays within statutory holiday entitlement or paid at the normal rate of pay then you need only pay an enhanced rate if you choose to. Remember that if you pay it more than once its likely to be seen and argued as a new custom and so do so very carefully. There is no legal requirement to pay additional salary for the inconvenience of working a bank holiday nor indeed to provide Bank Holiday’s off work at all. That’s the legal position. The human practical position is if you require staff to work all Bank Holidays then sooner or later, their families, holiday and other outside work demands will bring this up as an issue and you will be dealing with either a holiday request for that day or the employee taking off the day if refused using sickness or unauthorised absence. A balance is to be struck between the needs of an individual and those of your business. Ways we help employers overcome these practical issues are:
1. Staff absence planning
2. Well drafted and enforced policies for unauthorised absence and odd pattern sickness days
3. Well drafted and clear policies and employment contracts
4. Fair operation processes and procedures
Paying an enhanced rate can cause lots of issues for the business and makes all Bank Holidays special in the eyes of the employees. Better to link additional payments with performance, including attendance to keep people on track than go for the obvious.
For more help and assistance in managing thorny HR issues email [email protected]