Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday on Monday, September 19, 2022.

Marking the final day of the period of national mourning, individuals, businesses, and other organisations will be able to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign.

As previously discussed at the Jubilee, there is no statutory entitlement to time off, the bank holiday will operate in the same way as other bank holidays.

The Government says, “This is a matter for discussion between individuals and their employer”.

Are you entitled to this day off?

This will depend on the wording of the relevant agreement; this is usually the contract of employment but may be an employee handbook or similar.

Who is entitled?

Whilst you will already have a robust process in place for bank holidays, contracts need to be reviewed to factor in this additional leave.

If the contract of employment states that employees are entitled to 20 days plus bank holidays, then your staff will be entitled to the additional day.

If the contract of employment states that employees are entitled to 20 days plus 8 bank holidays, then your staff will not be entitled to the additional day.

If the contract of employment states that employees are entitled to 28 days or 5.6 weeks including bank holidays, then your staff will not be entitled to the additional day.

It is likely that you may have some variation to this, and perhaps even different arrangements for different parts of your workforce. Should your employees be entitled to the additional bank holiday in line with the terms of their contract, but you do not wish to offer this, it is vital that you seek legal advice.

Gov UK released some guidance to support employers throughout this period. You can read more information here.

Working pattern and entitlement

If you don’t ordinarily work a Monday, you won’t be eligible to select another day as a non-working day unless your contract explicitly states that this is allowable.

In terms of payment, there are no statutory rules regarding extra pay should you have to work on Monday 19 September. This is a matter for the employee and employer – your contract of employment is the best starting point.

Real Time Information (RTI)

Businesses must also consider the impact on HMRC reporting timelines. As of yet, no alternative arrangements for EPS filing requirements have been confirmed. We must therefore prepare to ensure these are completed by the last working day before 19 September, this will be Friday 16 September 2022.

BACS & payment administration

Any business with payment deadlines may also need to be aware of BACS deadlines for paying employees. If accommodations cannot be made in the short timeframe available, it would be advisable to send communications out to those affected. Remember, contractual obligations do 

still stand so you may need to process payments earlier than normal to accommodate your policies and procedures.

Employers may need to review and consider changing the payment date to the earlier Friday 16 September 2020. Payments sent with a credit date of 19 September will credit into accounts on Tuesday 20 September 2022.

Equally, as an additional processing day is now required in the BACS cycle, Payroll may need to process earlier.

For those who use direct banking via faster payment, your platform may still be operational, and you should liaise directly with your bank or building society.

What should I do?

As an employer, we would encourage you to always review your contractual policies first although we would encourage employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work.

Schools will be closed across England on the day of the Queen’s funeral. This will allow youngsters to watch the televised service and pay their respects, Government sources have revealed. Naturally, this may impact childcare requirements across the UK. The Scottish Government has issued national guidance to all 32 councils, it is expected that all local Government schools and nurseries will be closed with only essential services being partially operational.

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to get in touch with myself, a member of our Payroll team or your usual Johnston Carmichael adviser.