Bank Holiday
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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.
It has been noted (for example in an essay published by the Fabian Society) that the number of holidays in the UK is relatively small compared to the number in many other European countries. There have been calls for an increase in the number, and particularly for recognizing April 23 (St George's Day) in England, March 1 (St David's Day) in Wales, and November 30 (St Andrew's Day) in Scotland to have a public holiday on the feast day of the relevant patron saint. St Patrick's Day is already a bank holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. There are also calls for new national bank holidays such as one to represent the United Kingdom, British Day (possibly part of Gordon Brown's new Britishness policy) and also one to represent the European Union, making Europe Day a bank holiday, and one to represent the monarchy such as the Queen's birthday (as in Australia) or coronation.
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History of Bank Holidays
Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about thirty-three saints' days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was drastically reduced to just four: Good Friday, 1 May, 1 November, and Christmas Day.
In 1871, the first legislation relating to bank holidays was passed when Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holiday Act 1871 which specified the days as in the table set out below. Sir John was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket and was firmly of the belief that Bank Employees should have the opportunity to participate and attend matches when they were scheduled. Included in the dates of Bank Holidays are therefore dates when cricket games are traditionally played between the villages in the region where Sir John was raised. Scotland was treated separately because of its separate traditions; for instance, New Year or Hogmanay is a more important holiday there.
| England, Wales, Ireland | Scotland |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | |
| Good Friday | |
| Easter Monday | |
| Whit Monday | First Monday in May |
| First Monday in August | First Monday in August |
| Boxing Day / St Stephen's Day | Christmas Day |
Note that Good Friday and Christmas Day were not specified for England, Wales and Ireland because they were already recognized as common-law holidays there.
In 1903, the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act added 17 March, Saint Patrick's Day, as a bank holiday for Ireland only.
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 New Year's Day and Boxing Day, introduced since 1971. These are deemed bank holidays by the legal device of a royal proclamation every year. (This is why diaries often have to resort to the phrase 'subject to confirmation' since theoretically there might not be such a royal proclamation.)
This same proclamation is routinely used to shift bank holidays that would otherwise fall on a weekend. In this way, public holidays are not 'lost' in years when they coincide with weekends (which will already be a day off for many people.) These deferred bank holiday days are termed a 'bank holiday in lieu' of the typical anniversary date.
| Date | Name | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2 January | 2nd January | No | Yes | No | No |
| 17 March | St Patrick's Day (also Republic of Ireland) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| The Friday before Easter Sunday | Good Friday | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| The day after Easter Sunday | Easter Monday | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| First Monday in May¹ | May Day Bank Holiday (or Early May Bank Holiday in Scotland) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Last Monday in May² | Spring Bank Holiday (Whitsun) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| First Monday In June | June Bank Holiday | No | No | No | Yes |
| 12 July | Battle of the Boyne - Orangemen's Day | No | No | Yes | No |
| First Monday in August | Summer Bank Holiday | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Last Monday in August | Summer Bank Holiday | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Last Monday in October | October Bank Holiday | No | No | No | Yes |
| 25 December | Christmas Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 26 December or 27 December ³ | Boxing Day (St Stephen's Day in the Republic of Ireland) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- 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.
Scotland
A number of peculiarities apply to bank holidays in Scotland. Firstly, it is noteworthy (and a considerable surprise to many) that Easter Monday is not a bank holiday although is observed by many. Also, although they share the same name, the Summer Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday of August in Scotland and the last elsewhere in the UK.
More importantly, bank holidays have never assumed the same importance in Scotland. Whereas they have effectively become public holidays elsewhere in the UK, in Scotland there remains a tradition of public holidays based on local tradition and determined by local authorities. To complicate matters further, in 1996, Scottish banks made the business decision to harmonize their own holidays with the rest of the UK. Thus bank holidays in Scotland are neither public holidays nor the days on which banks are closed.
Republic of Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, the term Public Holiday is used officially, though bank holiday is used colloquially.
As in Scotland, Good Friday is not a Public Holiday (again a surprise to many), though banks and public institutions are closed. The Summer Bank Holiday is also the first Monday in August rather than the last. A June Bank Holiday takes the place of the Spring Bank Holiday. Easter Monday and St Patrick's Day both qualify as National Days in the Republic.
Where Public Holidays fall at the weekend, an employee is entitled (at the employer's choice) to one of the following: a day off within a month, an additional day's paid annual leave or an additional day's pay. The Public Holiday does not move to the next weekday. The usual practice is, however, to take the day off on the next available weekday.
United States
In the United States, banks are generally closed on all Federal Holidays, but the term bank holiday refers specifically to emergency bank closures mandated by executive order or act of Congress to remedy financial crises. The holiday mandated by the Emergency Banking Act of 1933 is perhaps the most notable of these.