UK Bank Holidays 2026/27

Last month, the Government published dates for UK Bank Holidays from now through to the end of 2027.  You can access their list here.  However, you will notice that if a holiday year runs between 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, there will be ten public bank holidays not the usual eight, as the table below illustrates.  

So why does this matter?  Well, it may not; but you will need to check the wording within your contract of employment to check whether you are contractually obliged to give these additional two days paid leave to all workers (pro-rated for part time workers).  Failing to give workers their full entitlement to paid annual leave risks unpaid wages and breach of contract claims. 

So, check the contract of employment, because if for instance, the wording is “your entitlement to paid annual leave is 20 days, plus bank holidays” then the worker would need to be given just that – 20 days, plus the 10 bank holidays in the 2026/2027 holiday year.  In this instance, the contract doesn’t limit the amount of bank holidays to be given.   The employee for the holiday year of April 2026 to March 2027 must receive 10 paid Bank Holidays. 

So how would this be managed?   If your business always closes on a Bank Holiday, this is perhaps easier to manage as your workers would automatically be given the paid time off.  However, they would still require 20 days of normal paid annual leave agreed through the usual holiday booking process. 

The challenge comes when your business remains open on a Bank Holiday.  If an individual works a bank holiday, they will tend to receive a day off in lieu of a later day.  An employer still has operational discretion as to how to manage annual leave, it just must ensure the full entitlement is given. 

If on the other hand, the contract states “your entitlement to paid annual leave is 28 days including bank holidays” this is easier, because it allows you to count these additional two days as part of the contractual 28 days that you provide.  You would not be required to give additional paid time off for this anomaly and they would receive the 28 days.