Leisure Sector Update: Bank Holidays: 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025

Welcome to the Harrison Drury Leisure Sector Newsletter. Your regular update on legal developments across the leisure, hospitality and tourism sector. Our aim is to keep you informed, prepared and ahead of the curve with insights tailored to support you and your business.

It is usually the case that in England and Wales there are 8 bank holidays in each 12-month period. With Easter falling later in 2025, there will only have been 7 bank holidays between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

Employers with a holiday year from January to December can continue as normal. However, employers with a holiday year from April to March, with workers who are only entitled to the statutory minimum holiday entitlement of 28 days, may have an issue to address.

Employers in this situation should check their contracts:

• If the employment contract states “28 days including bank holidays”, there’s no issue as long as 8 bank holidays have not automatically been deducted from 2024/2025 holiday entitlement.
• If the employment contract states “20 days plus bank holidays”, there is an issue as workers would only receive 27 days’ holiday for 2024/2025, which falls short of the statutory minimum.

If you have identified an issue, then the solution is to give workers an extra day’s leave before 31st March 2025 (or allow them to carry one over).

We have a team of solicitors across a range of legal disciplines all with significant experience in supporting businesses in the leisure sector. Meet our leisure sector team to see how our team can help support you. If you wish to subscribe to our leisure newsletter, please do so here.