Bank holiday and public holiday leave

Irrespective of your length of service you will be entitled to a holiday with a normal days pay for each statutory, general and public holiday. If you are part time you will be entitled to the bank holiday pro rata to your hours of work.

There are normally 8 recognised bank holidays in Wales, detailed below. The number of bank holidays falling within a leave year may vary according to the start of the leave year.

  • New Year’s Day
  • Good Friday
  • Easter Monday
  • Early May Bank Holiday
  • Late May Bank Holiday
  • August Bank Holiday
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day

Any additional public holidays set nationally will be recognised by the council and will be treated as a normal bank holiday.

Employees who are required to work on a public holiday or extra statutory holiday will, in addition to the normal pay for that day, be paid at their normal hourly rate for all hours worked within your normal working hours for that day. In addition, at a later date, time off with pay will be allowed. Relief Workers who are requested to work a Bank Holiday will be paid at their normal hourly rate only.

If you are required to work an agreed shift pattern that provides cover 24 hours per day and seven days a week including the bank holidays you will not receive an additional payment. However, your holiday entitlement will be adjusted to include an equivalent amount of bank holidays.

Where Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Saturday and/or Sunday, the government will designate alternative days (normally a Monday or Tuesday), in substitution for the public holidays which have fallen on the weekend. If you are required to work over this period you will be paid, for up to a maximum of 3 public holidays, the normal pay for that day, and be paid at your normal hourly rate for all hours worked within your normal working hours for that day. In addition, at a later date, you will be allowed time off with pay.

Booking bank holidays

Each bank holiday must be booked as a day off in the same way as annual leave (with the exception of some employees using the Vision Time system. See Vision Time clocking system - bank holidays in the annual leave guidance).

Employees should ensure that they save enough leave to book all the bank holidays off within their leave year. There will no further time off for bank holidays above the pro rata entitlement already awarded.

All bank holiday entitlement must be used by the end of the leave year.

Bank holidays and sickness absence

Employees can only claim sickness absence on working days. Bank holidays are not considered working time (unless the employee is scheduled to work on that day). Therefore, if an absence spans a bank holiday, the employee cannot claim sickness on that day and the day must be booked out of leave entitlement.