Navigating the 2024/2025 Holiday Year: The Case for an Extra Day Off

In the UK, there are typically eight bank holidays each year: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, two May bank holidays, the August bank holiday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Occasionally, there are “bonus” bank holidays for special events, such as the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee or the coronation of King Charles.

However, for the period of 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, there will only be seven bank holidays due to Easter falling later in April this year compared to March in the previous year.

This reduction in bank holidays can affect employers whose holiday year runs from 1 April to 31 March, particularly if their employees are entitled only to statutory minimum annual leave. In these cases, it may be necessary for employers to grant an additional day off to ensure compliance with the law.

What Does the Statutory Minimum Annual Leave Entitlement Include?

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, full-time employees are entitled to at least 28 days of annual leave per holiday year. Importantly, this minimum entitlement includes bank holidays, although workers are not specifically entitled to have these days off. Therefore, if there are fewer bank holidays in a given year, such as the seven in 2024/2025, employers must ensure that the total leave (including bank holidays) still meets the statutory minimum.

Contractual Entitlement and Bank Holidays

The question of whether employees are entitled to an extra day off during the 2024/2025 holiday year depends largely on how their contracts are written. Below are the key scenarios:

• 28 Days of Annual Leave, Including Bank Holidays: If the contract specifies 28 days of leave (inclusive of bank holidays), employees will receive their full statutory minimum entitlement. In this case, there’s no need for the employer to offer an additional day off, even though there are only seven bank holidays.
• 21 Days (or More) of Annual Leave, Plus Bank Holidays: Employees in this category are still entitled to at least the statutory minimum of 28 days, as they will receive 21 days of annual leave plus the bank holidays. Therefore, no additional leave is required from the employer.
• 20 Days of Annual Leave, “Plus Bank Holidays”: This is where an issue arises. With only seven bank holidays in 2024/2025, employees will only have 27 days of leave in total, which is below the statutory minimum of 28 days. In this case, employers must grant an additional day of leave to ensure they comply with the Working Time Regulations 1998.

What Should Employers Do?

Employers whose holiday year runs from 1 April to 31 March should carefully review the wording of their employees’ contracts. If employees fall into the third category above (i.e. they have 20 days of annual leave plus bank holidays), the employer should grant an additional day of leave to ensure compliance with the statutory minimum entitlement.

It may seem tempting to assume that, over time, the number of bank holidays will average out. For example, in the 2023/2024 holiday year, there were nine bank holidays, which may balance out the seven in 2024/2025. However, Employment Tribunals do not average the holiday entitlement across multiple years. If employees receive only 27 days of leave in a given year, they may bring a claim for unlawful deductions from wages.

To avoid this risk, employers should offer an extra day of annual leave to affected workers for the 2024/2025 holiday year.

Key insights

The number of bank holidays can vary from year to year, and some years, like 2024/2025, will have fewer than the usual eight. Employers must ensure that their employees’ annual leave entitlement complies with the statutory minimum of 28 days, and HR teams should carry out an audit to evaluate potential risks. This is particularly important in years with fewer bank holidays. By proactively granting an extra day of leave where necessary, employers can avoid potential legal challenges and ensure compliance with employment law.

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Easter will again occur in April 2026, and the 2025/2026 holiday year should return to normal for most employees. In the meantime, employers should ensure that holiday entitlements are managed effectively to prevent legal complications.

Contact our employment law solicitors today

We will keep you updated as things progress within the new government. If you have any questions regarding any of the issues raised in this article, please do not hesitate to contact our specialist Employment Law team by using our online enquiry form or by calling 0330 191 5713.

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