Paying Employees for 26 September Public Holiday

To mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Government has announced a one-off national public holiday, to take place on Monday 26 September 2022.

This means that normal Public Holiday requirements under the Holidays Act will apply.

Shop trading restrictions will not apply on this public holiday. Shops may open (and apply the normal rules for employees who work on a public holiday).

Below are the base rules from the Holidays Act that apply for paying your employees on a public holiday:

When a public holiday falls on a day that your employee would usually work, regardless of how long they’ve been working for you, then they’re entitled to a paid day off.

If they agree to work, you must:

• pay them at least time and a half and
• give them an additional paid day off (a day in lieu).

Here is the detail:

When the Public Holiday would normally be a working day for the employee:

If the Public Holiday that falls on the employee’s ordinary working day but the employee does not work then they are paid for that Public Holiday the same as for a normal working day i.e. at their relevant daily pay.

If the Public Holiday that falls on the employees ordinary working day and the employee does work on that day, then they are paid time and a half for the hours they work, and they are also entitled to an alternative day off (lieu day).

When the Public Holiday is not usually a working day:

If the employee does not normally work on the Public Holiday, in this case the Monday, then they do not get paid at all for the day, if they don’t work it.

If the employee does not normally work on the Public Holiday but then does work on that day, they are entitled to be paid time and a half for the hours they work, but not entitled to an alternative day off (lieu day).

When the employee is on call on the Public Holiday but doesn’t get called out:

If the day is an otherwise working day for the employee, the employee gets their on-call allowance if applicable and an alternative holiday if they have had to restrict their activities to the extent that they didn’t get a day off.

If the day is not an otherwise working day for the employee, the employee gets their on-call allowance if applicable only.

If you require further information regarding paying employees for statutory holidays, please call one our consultants.