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Bank holiday entitlements

Employees scheduled to work on a bank holiday are entitled to an additional day’s pay for it, explains The HR Company’s Linda Ward

As a new year begins, it’s important that both employers and employees are aware of bank holiday entitlements in Ireland. There are nine in total in the Irish calendar each year, some that take place on specific dates annually, and others where the dates vary from year to year:

1. New Year’s Day (1 January)

2. St Patrick’s Day (17 March)

3. Easter Monday (variable)

4. First Monday in May (variable)

5. First Monday in June (variable)

6. First Monday in August (variable)

7. Last Monday in October (variable)

8. Christmas Day (25 December)

9. St Stephen’s Day (26 December)

If an employee works on a bank holiday, they are entitled to their payment for hours worked on the bank holiday, plus an additional day’s pay.

To determine the additional day's amount, it should be based on one-fifth of the employee’s weekly pay (an average of their day’s pay or the fifth of their weekly pay is calculated over the 13 weeks they worked before the bank holiday).

If the employee normally works on the day the bank holiday falls, they are entitled to their normal day’s pay for the day, in addition to the bank holiday off.

If an employee does not normally work on the day the bank holiday falls, and is not required to work on the bank holiday, they are entitled to one-fifth of their normal weekly wage.

When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, an employee does not have an automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off. As an employer, you can request employees to attend work on those days. When this happens, an employee is still entitled to one of the above entitlements nonetheless.

As an employer, it is also recommended that you inform the employee in advance of the need to work on the week day after the bank holiday.

The following examples are helpful to understand the statutory bank holiday entitlements under Irish employment legislation.

Employee A

Employee A is required to work on St Stephen’s Day. On a typical working day, Employee A earns €100 for the day. By working on the bank holiday, they are entitled to receive the typical day’s pay, as well as an additional €100 for working on the bank holiday. So Employee A receives €200 for working on the bank holiday.

Employee B

Employee B typically works Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Usually, they are scheduled to work on the day a bank holiday falls; however, this time, they are not required to work on that day.

Employee B

should receive their typical day’s pay for that day. For example, if Employee B gets €200 on a typical working day, but the business is closed on the day of the bank holiday, they will still receive their typical day’s pay.

Employee C

This example is the one that can cause the most confusion. Employee C works Wednesday to Friday and receives €100 per day in remuneration. If a bank holiday falls on a Tuesday, even though Employee C never works that day, they still have the right to benefit from the bank holiday in some way. They are entitled to be paid a certain amount as a benefit for the bank holiday (one-fifth of their standard weekly pay). So if Employee C earns €300 per a three-day week (Wednesday to Friday), they are entitled to receive an additional €60 during a week when a bank holiday falls on a Monday or Tuesday.

For more information contact business development manager Linda Ward on tel: 01 291 1877 or visit thehrcompany.ie.

This article appears in the January/Feb 2022 Issue of Professional Beauty & HJ Ireland

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This article appears in the January/Feb 2022 Issue of Professional Beauty & HJ Ireland