Don’t be a Coronation Chicken - Pay Calculations for the Bank Holiday explained.

As you will all be aware, the Government has announced that there will be an additional bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 for the King’s Coronation.

As on previous national occasions in 2022 (e.g., the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday 3 June and her Funeral on Monday 19 September), the DfE has amended the (Education (School Day and School Year) Regulations 1999 to permit schools to close on 8 May 2023 by reducing the total number of days schools must be open across the whole year and giving staff and students an extra day off .

The DfE amended the STPCD 2022-23 in respect of the Queen’s Funeral in September 2022 so that schools’ annual teaching days in 2022 to 2023 were reduced from 190 to 189 (+5 INSET days) and the 1265 hours of ‘directed time’ were reduced to 1258.5 hours for this year.  For the King’s Coronation bank holiday, annual teaching days have been further reduced from 189 to 188 (+5 INSET days) and the 1258.5 hours of ‘directed time’ have fallen to 1252 hours for this year.

The law protects part-time workers from being treated less favourably than their full-time colleagues. Where full-time workers enjoy an additional bank holiday; part-time workers should also benefit pro-rata in relation to their part-time hours. Where a school closes for an additional bank holiday on a day when a part-time worker does not usually work, the employer must adjust the part-timer’s pay or adjust their working days and any directed time to enable them to benefit from the public holiday. Similarly, employers must ensure that they do not disadvantage term-time only (TTO) workers.

For support staff, Part 2, paragraph 7.1 of the Green Book states that all employees will be entitled to a holiday with a normal day’s pay on the additional bank holiday (pro-rata for part-time employees). Part 4.12, paragraph 13.1 provides: “TTO employees are entitled to a pro-rata allocation of public holidays that occur during the leave year. This entitlement is unaffected by whether the public holiday occurs on a normal working day for the employee. This will be accounted for in the pay calculation”. Part 4.12, paragraph 13.2 further provides: “If the Government announces an additional public holiday(s), a TTO employee’s pay should reflect the additional public holiday or an additional period of paid leave during term-time could be granted.” 

The NJC issued a letter to schools on 3 December 2022 providing guidance on how additional bank holiday should be accounted for regarding TTO staff. This letter also takes into account the NJC pay agreement to increase the annual leave entitlement for all staff employed on NJC conditions by one day from 1 April 2023.

The NJC recognises that because of the different remuneration arrangements in place in individual organisations, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to whether, and how, to adjust TTO pay and leave entitlement to take account of the additional bank holidays. However, all employers will need to ensure that part-time staff are provided with a pro-rata entitlement for the additional bank holiday.

For most TTO employees, this additional bank holiday will be the second to occur in their current leave year (the first having been the Queen’s State Funeral on Monday 19 September 2022). However, there could be examples of TTO employees for whom this additional bank holiday is the third in their current leave year (the first having been for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday 3 June 2022 and the second for her Funeral on Monday 19 September 2022).

The vast majority of TTO staff are contracted to work either 38 or 39 weeks per year (190 or 195 days for staff working Monday to Friday). One additional bank holiday reduces the working year to 189 or 194 days; two additional bank holidays means 188 or 193 working days and three additional bank holidays means 187 or 192 working days. The NJC advises that one approach to providing the additional bank holiday entitlements would be to make no adjustment in the remuneration arrangements for these TTO employees where the bank holidays fall on their normal working days. This will provide these TTO employees with paid leave for the bank holidays as they will receive the same pay but work one (two or three) day[s] less.

However, for some TTO employees, whether they will receive paid leave due to the bank holidays will depend on their working pattern. Where a part-time employee would have been at work on the day of the bank holiday they should continue to receive their usual equated pay for this time. This will give them the appropriate pro-rated paid leave for the additional bank holidays. But, what about part-time TTO employees whose working pattern mean that they are still working for the full number of days/hours for which they are contracted to work annually because none of their working days fall on the bank holidays, or only some of them? They will need to be given additional pro-rata paid leave entitlement to reflect the additional bank holidays that do not fall on their normal working days.

The NJC letter provides detailed calculations in the circumstances where a TTO employee is not working on one, two or three of the bank holidays, but be warned: the maths is complicated! The worked examples in the NJC letter focus on a TTO employee working 3 days a week for 39 weeks of the year where their FTE enjoys 36 days annual leave entitlement. The table below summarises the additional paid annual leave entitlement in these circumstances. But remember, because of the different remuneration arrangements in place in individual organisations, there is no one-size-fits-all!

It is always advisable to seek legal advice regarding individual circumstances, particularly where working patterns vary amongst TTO staff and ‘one size’ doesn’t fit all.

Where academies employ their teaching staff on STPCD conditions and their support staff on Green Book conditions, the above guidance applies equally to them. Where staff are not employed on STPCD or Green Book conditions, the position regarding the extra day will depend on the contract of employment - if it states that staff are entitled to all bank holidays, the employer will be bound to grant the additional day.  The table below sets out the most commonly used clauses relating to bank holidays and explains whether staff are entitled to an extra day’s paid leave for additional bank holidays.

The trade union position is unsurprisingly that all staff in academies should be treated in the same way as staff employed on STPCD or Green Book terms and as such should be granted the additional paid days, or their pro-rata equivalent, even where different terms apply. In practice, given the current climate regarding recruitment and retention this may prove to be the most appropriate way forward.

Should you require further advice and support on any of the matters raised in this blog, please contact JustPeople HR.