Does 28 Days Holiday Include Bank Holidays? Contract Wording, Part-Time Rules And Key Checks
If you are asking does 28 days holiday include bank holidays, the answer sits in your contract wording and holiday policy, not in a universal rule about bank holidays.
For most workers, statutory paid leave is 5.6 weeks a year. For someone who works five days a week, that is 28 days. Those 28 days may include bank holidays, or bank holidays may be additional, depending on how your employer structures leave and records it.
Bank holidays can be counted within the 28-day minimum, or granted on top. There is no automatic right to take bank holidays off with pay.
Employers can require leave to be taken on bank holidays if the workplace closes, provided overall statutory entitlement is met and leave is managed according to the contract and policy.
Does 28 Days Holiday Include Bank Holidays?
If your contract says your allowance is “inclusive of bank holidays”, then bank holidays are deducted from your total leave. If it says you have annual leave “plus bank holidays”, then bank holidays sit on top of your bookable leave.
If the wording is vague, your leave records usually show what is happening in practice.
28 days is the statutory equivalent of 5.6 weeks for a five-day working pattern. Bank holidays can be included within that total or provided as extra paid days off.
What counts is the contract and holiday policy, backed up by how leave is recorded in payroll and the HR system.
Your Contract Wording Sets The Leave Model
Two jobs can have the same headline number and different outcomes. “28 days” can mean a single pot that includes fixed days off, or it can mean a pot you can choose, plus bank holidays as additional paid closure days.
Most employers avoid confusion by applying one consistent approach across the HR system, rotas and payslips.
Does 28 Days Holiday Include Bank Holidays In Most Contracts?
Most confusion comes from assuming “28 days” means “28 days you can choose”. Under an inclusive model, some of those days are pre-allocated to bank holidays or closure dates. Under a plus model, your bookable leave stays intact when a bank holiday happens.
To reduce misreads, employers often use either “inclusive of bank holidays” or “X days plus bank holidays”. If neither appears, look at how deductions have been handled historically.
Is There A Legal Right To Paid Bank Holidays?
No. Statutory rights generally relate to paid annual leave as a minimum entitlement, not to bank holidays as guaranteed paid days off. A bank holiday can be a normal working day for many roles, including retail, hospitality, logistics, and healthcare.
The key point is that your total paid leave for the leave year meets the statutory minimum, and leave is managed in line with the contract and policy.
A practical check is whether the employer distinguishes “public holiday” from “annual leave” in payroll codes, timesheets, or the HR portal.
How Do You Confirm Whether Your Allowance Is Inclusive?
Start with the paperwork, then cross-check it against your leave record. Use three things: the contract clause, the holiday policy, and what your HR system actually deducts.
Look for these items in your paperwork and systems:
- Employment contract holiday clause.
- Holiday policy in the HR handbook.
- Leave year start and end dates.
- HRIS leave balance and deduction entries.
- Rota or shift schedule for bank holiday weeks.
A simple sense-check is consistency: people on the same contract in the same role should be treated the same way.
How To Check Whether Your Holiday Includes Bank Holidays?
- Find the holiday entitlement paragraph in your employment contract and HR handbook.
- Identify whether entitlement is written in days, weeks, or hours.
- Look for “inclusive of bank holidays” or “plus bank holidays”.
- Check last year’s leave record for a bank holiday deduction entry.
- Compare a bank holiday week rota to a normal week rota if you work shifts.
- Review your payslip or payroll portal for the code used on bank holidays.
- Ask HR to confirm the model for your role and how it is applied in the HR system.
Table for quick interpretation:
| Contract phrase | What it normally means | What to verify in records |
|---|---|---|
| 28 days inclusive of bank holidays | Bank holidays come out of the 28-day total | Bank holidays appear as deductions from the same balance |
| 20 days plus bank holidays | 20 days are bookable, bank holidays are additional | Bank holidays do not reduce the 20-day balance |
| 5.6 weeks annual leave | Statutory framing, model still depends on wording | Whether bank holidays reduce the balance |
| Annual leave plus public holidays | Public holidays treated as additional paid days off | Whether extra one-off holidays are included or deducted |
What Happens If Your Workplace Closes On Bank Holidays?
Closure often means the employer sets bank holidays as mandatory leave days. Under an inclusive model, those closure days are deducted from the same annual leave pot. Under a plus model, closure days are paid and do not reduce your bookable allowance.
Example: Maya works in an office that shuts on bank holidays and during a Christmas closure. Her contract states 28 days inclusive of bank holidays. The HR system automatically books the closed days as annual leave, leaving fewer days for her to choose.
A clear holiday policy usually states how shutdown periods are handled and what notice is given for those fixed leave dates.
What Happens If You Work On A Bank Holiday?
Working a bank holiday does not automatically give you extra pay or a day off in lieu. Any enhancement, TOIL, substitute day, or time-credit arrangement must come from the contract, a collective agreement, or a written workplace policy.
Common outcomes employers use include:
- TOIL by agreement where business cover allows it.
- Enhanced pay rates for bank holidays for certain grades or rotas.
- Normal pay with no additional leave where bank holidays are treated as normal trading days.
Example: Imran works on a rotating retail rota. Bank holidays are normal opening days. His annual leave is tracked in hours, and time off is booked from that pot. His contract includes an enhanced bank holiday rate, but his colleague on a newer contract does not.
If enhancements apply, they are usually shown as a separate line on your payslip or a specific payroll code.
How Is Holiday Entitlement Worked Out For Part-Time Patterns?
Part-time entitlement is usually calculated pro rata using the 5.6 weeks method. The goal is that part-time workers receive the same minimum leave proportion as full-time workers, adjusted to their working pattern.
If you work three days a week, this often leads to the related question of how many bank holidays am i entitled to if i work 3 days a week. That context matters when your pattern rarely falls on Monday bank holidays. Here is the standard days-per-week method:
| Days worked per week | Statutory calculation | Annual entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 × 5.6 | 28.0 days |
| 4 | 4 × 5.6 | 22.4 days |
| 3 | 3 × 5.6 | 16.8 days |
| 2 | 2 × 5.6 | 11.2 days |
Example: Sophie works Tuesday to Thursday. Most bank holidays fall on Monday. Her employer allocates a pro rata bank-holiday allowance into her annual leave hours, so she is not disadvantaged by her fixed working days.
A fair policy explains what happens when a bank holiday falls on a non-working day, especially where different teams work different patterns.
What About Irregular Hours And Part-Year Work?
For irregular-hours and part-year workers, entitlement is commonly tracked as accrued holiday based on hours worked, recorded through timesheets and payroll. The mechanics vary by employer, but the principle remains: the statutory minimum is still the equivalent of 5.6 weeks, usually expressed through an accrual method.
A good indicator is whether your HR system builds up entitlement as you work hours, rather than allocating a fixed pot on day one.
Many employers use hours-based booking for irregular shifts, because ‘days’ can be misleading when hours vary week to week.
Can Bank Holidays Be On Top Of 28 Days?
Yes, but that is an enhanced contractual benefit. The statutory baseline for a five-day worker is 28 days total, and anything beyond that is additional leave granted by the employer.
A useful comparison is:
| Arrangement | What you can book | What happens on a bank holiday | Typical misunderstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 days inclusive | Fewer bookable days because some are fixed | Bank holiday is deducted from the same pot | People assume they also get bank holidays extra |
| 20 days plus bank holidays | 20 bookable days | Bank holiday is paid without reducing the 20 | People assume “plus” always means more than 28 |
| Enhanced entitlement | More than statutory minimum | Depends on policy wording | People assume every extra bank holiday is free |
One-off extra bank holidays can expose ambiguity. Whether they are “extra” or deducted usually depends on whether the contract says “the usual bank holidays” or “all bank holidays” and how the employer defines them in policy.
Can Your Employer Decide When You Take Leave?
Employers can set rules for when leave is taken, including fixing leave on closure dates such as bank holidays or shutdown periods, as long as the process follows the contract and policy and you are still able to take your full entitlement within the leave year.
This most often appears in:
- Christmas closures in office-based roles.
- Maintenance shutdowns in manufacturing and logistics.
- Peak trading restrictions in retail and hospitality.
A common pattern is that the more operationally critical the coverage, the more the employer uses advance notice and fixed leave windows.
Which Mistakes Cause The Most Disputes?
Most problems come from terminology rather than entitlement. The biggest triggers are:
- Reading “28 days” as “28 bookable days” when it is inclusive.
- Confusing “public holidays” with “annual leave” entries in HR records.
- Assuming enhanced bank holiday pay is automatic.
- Ignoring leave year reset dates and assuming days have disappeared.
For a quick reality check, compare the contract wording with last year’s deductions to see whether bank holidays came out of the same allowance.
What To Do If Your Entitlement Looks Wrong?
Keep it evidence-led and specific. Bring the holiday clause, the holiday policy paragraph, and two screenshots or exports from your leave record: one bank holiday, one ordinary annual leave booking.
A practical order is:
- Ask your line manager or HR which model applies to your role: inclusive or plus.
- Ask how part-time or shift patterns are handled when bank holidays fall on non-working days.
- If you have a union or staff forum, check whether a collective agreement applies to your grade.
- If it remains unresolved, follow the internal grievance procedure and consider Acas for general process guidance.
As of 2026, the best way to avoid repeat issues is clarity in writing: the contract wording, the policy, and the HR deductions should all match.
What people talk about this online
Posts from the ukjobs
community on Reddit
Key Takeaways
The question does 28 days holiday include bank holidays is answered by your contract phrase and how your employer applies deductions in practice.
Find “inclusive of bank holidays” versus “plus bank holidays”, then validate against your HR leave record and payslip codes. For part-time and shift work, focus on whether entitlement is tracked in hours and how non-working day bank holidays are handled.
Next steps: pull your holiday clause, match it to last year’s deductions, and ask HR to confirm the model for your role in writing if anything is unclear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the legal minimum 28 days include bank holidays?
Yes, it can. The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks paid leave. For a five-day working pattern, that equals 28 days. Bank holidays may be counted within that 28-day total if the contract and policy use an inclusive model, and leave records show deductions on those dates.
Can my employer force me to take bank holidays as holiday?
Often, yes. If the workplace closes, the employer can treat bank holidays as mandatory leave days, provided you still receive your full entitlement overall and the leave process follows the contract and policy. Check whether those days are deducted from your annual leave balance or granted separately.
If I work a bank holiday do I get a day in lieu?
Not automatically. A day in lieu depends on the contract, holiday policy, or a collective agreement. Some employers offer TOIL or a substitute day off, while others treat bank holidays as normal rota days. The most reliable sign is whether there is a written rule and a consistent HR record.
Is it always 20 days plus bank holidays?
No. Some employers set 28 days, inclusive of bank holidays, while others use 20 days plus bank holidays. Both can end up around the same total in many years, but they work differently. The key difference is how many days you can choose freely without bank holidays reducing your balance.
What if I never work Mondays and miss most bank holidays?
A well-run policy avoids disadvantage by pro-rating bank holiday entitlement into your overall allowance, often in hours, or by offering an equivalent allocation. If your employer does not adjust for non-working days, you can end up with an uneven benefit depending on your pattern and the organisation’s approach.
Do I get extra pay for working bank holidays?
Only if your contract or policy provides it. There is no automatic entitlement to enhanced rates for bank holidays. If enhancements exist, they usually appear in a pay scale, payroll rate code, or written rota premium rule, and they should be applied consistently within the same role type.
Do bank holidays count for zero-hours or casual workers?
Holiday is often accrued based on hours worked rather than allocated as a fixed number of days. Bank holidays may be treated as normal days unless the contract offers a specific bank holiday benefit. If you do not usually work that day, you may not receive paid time off for it.
Can an employer exclude bank holidays from holiday entitlement?
Yes, an employer can choose not to treat bank holidays as paid days off, as long as statutory annual leave is still provided. Some roles work bank holidays as normal days, and leave is taken at other times. The determining factor is contract and policy wording, not the date itself.
What happens with an extra one-off bank holiday?
It depends on contract phrasing and policy definitions. Some employers treat a one-off bank holiday as an additional paid day off, while others deduct it from the existing allowance under an inclusive model. Check whether the contract refers to “all bank holidays” or “the usual bank holidays”.
Author Note
Written from a practical review of holiday clauses, HR handbooks, HRIS leave records, rotas, and payslips across office, retail, and shift workplaces. The focus is plain-language interpretation of common wording and standard HR processes so readers can check their own entitlement confidently, without legal advice.
