If a part-time or shift-working employee is not scheduled to work on a bank holiday, are they entitled to an additional day's holiday?

Employers must ensure that part-time employees receive their pro rated holiday entitlement and that they are not treated less favourably than full-time employees (under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000).  

Where an employer provides entitlement to paid time off on bank holidays, part-time employees who do not normally work on Mondays (when most bank holidays fall) would not benefit from as many bank holidays as other employees, if they are not allowed time off in lieu.

To avoid treating a part-time employee less favourably, the employer could look at how many bank holidays the part-time employee will benefit from in light of the days of the week they work. If this results in a shortfall in their entitlement, the employer should allow them additional holiday in lieu to take at another time.

Any disadvantage can usually be avoided by giving part-time employees a pro rated entitlement for paid bank holidays, irrespective of whether they normally work on the days on which bank holidays fall. The employee would then use this entitlement to book time off if a bank holiday falls on a working day, or at another time as part of their general annual leave entitlement, if a bank holiday falls on a non-working day.

The same approach can be taken for shift workers and employees on compressed hours, to ensure that they receive their full annual leave entitlement and are not disadvantaged by their working pattern.