Bank Holiday

A Bank Holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland. Although there is no legal right to time off on these days, the majority of the population not employed in essential services (e.g. utilities, fire, ambulance, police, health-workers) receive them as holidays; those employed in essential services usually receive extra pay for working on these days. Bank holidays are so called because they are days upon which banks are (or were) shut and therefore (traditionally) no other businesses could operate. Legislation allows certain payments to be deferred to the next working day.

Current Bank Holidays

It was then not until exactly a century after the 1871 Act that the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 was passed; it is still in effect today. The table below details the bank holidays specified in the 1971 Act; also listed are two additional bank holidays introduced since 1971, which are deemed bank holidays by the legal device of a royal proclamation every year. This same device is also routinely used to shift bank holidays that would otherwise fall on a weekend. (This is why diaries often have to resort to the phrase 'subject to confirmation' since theoretically there might not be such a royal proclamation.) The two additional days now routinely added since 1971 are New Year's Day and the Early May Bank Holiday (except in Scotland, where they are the Spring Bank Holiday and Boxing Day).

Related Topics:
1871 - 1971 - Royal proclamation - Spring Bank Holiday - Boxing Day

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Current Bank Holidays

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DateName

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1 JanuaryNew Year's Day

Related Topics:
1 January - New Year's Day

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2 January(Scotland only)

Related Topics:
2 January - Scotland

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17 MarchSt Patrick's Day (Northern Ireland only)

Related Topics:
17 March - St Patrick's Day - Northern Ireland

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The Friday before Easter SundayGood Friday

Related Topics:
Easter Sunday - Good Friday

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The day after Easter SundayEaster Monday (not Scotland)

Related Topics:
Easter Sunday - Easter Monday - Scotland

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First Monday in May¹May Day Bank Holiday

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Last Monday in May²Spring Bank Holiday (Whitsun)

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12 JulyBattle of the Boyne - Orangemen's Day (Northern Ireland only)

Related Topics:
12 July - Battle of the Boyne - Orangemen's Day - Northern Ireland

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First Monday in AugustSummer Bank Holiday (Scotland only)

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Last Monday in AugustSummer Bank Holiday (not Scotland)

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25 DecemberChristmas Day

Related Topics:
25 December - Christmas Day

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26 December or 27 December ³Boxing Day

Related Topics:
26 December - 27 December - Boxing Day

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• For one year only, 1995, this holiday was moved to the second Monday in May – i.e., from 1 May to 8 May – to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of VE Day.
• For one year only, 2002, this holiday was moved to 4 June. This caused it to follow a special, extra, bank holiday on 3 June making a four day weekend to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
• Strictly, Boxing Day is the first weekday after Christmas, so it cannot fall on a Sunday. If Christmas Day is a Saturday, then Boxing Day is the following Monday, although in practice, this nicety is often ignored since both the Monday and the Tuesday will be public holidays in addition to the normal weekend.