A bank holiday is a day on which banks close — and, by extension, a day most of the country takes off. The term is British and Irish; elsewhere the same days are called public, statutory or federal holidays.

See Public Holiday Leave.

The gap between those two halves of the definition is the whole subject.

It isn’t a right to a day off

A bank holiday designates the day. It doesn’t give anyone a day off or extra pay.

The clearest statement of this came from a government announcing one. When Scotland created an extra bank holiday for June 2026, the official announcement noted that “there is no law requiring banks or any other businesses to close.”

UK guidance is equally plain: an employer “can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave,” and “bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave.” Whether an employee gets the day, gets it paid, or gets anything for working it is decided by the contract.

That catches out global employers constantly, because in most other countries the equivalent day is an entitlement.

United Kingdom

The governing statute is the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, and the days are assembled more strangely than the familiar list suggests. Schedule 1 lists only five days for England and Wales: Easter Monday, the last Monday in May, the last Monday in August, and the December days. Good Friday and Christmas Day aren’t in it — they’re common law holidays. New Year’s Day and early May came later. The eight days people recite come from three different legal sources, and the Act names fewer than half.

The lists differ by nation: England and Wales have 8, Scotland normally 9 (with 2nd January and St Andrew’s Day, no Easter Monday), Northern Ireland 10 (adding St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne).

Two mechanics matter in practice. When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute weekday is designated, normally the following Monday. And the Crown can create new ones by royal proclamation — used for royal occasions, and most recently for Scotland’s one-off holiday on 15 June 2026 marking the men’s World Cup. A proclamation can add a day at short notice, in one nation only.

United States and Canada

In the US, the federal holiday list works much like UK bank holidays: it binds federal employees and closes banks and government offices, but imposes no obligation on private employers to give the day, pay it, or pay a premium for working it. Contractual again.

Canada is the opposite, and this is where the assumption breaks. General and statutory holidays are genuine entitlements. Under the Canada Labour Code, federally regulated employees get 10 general holidays with holiday pay, and anyone required to work one must receive at least 1.5 times their regular rate plus the holiday pay. Ontario runs 9 public holidays with public holiday pay and premium pay; Quebec has 8. Other provinces follow the same model with their own lists — the constant is that the day carries a legal entitlement, not a contractual one.

Ireland and elsewhere

Ireland calls them public holidays in law and treats them as entitlements. Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 there are 10, and for each one a qualifying employee gets the employer’s choice of a paid day off, an extra day’s annual leave, an extra day’s pay, or a paid day off within the month.

Most countries follow that pattern. The UK’s contractual treatment is the outlier.

Frequently asked questions

Are you entitled to bank holidays off in the UK? Not automatically. It depends on the contract, and the days can be counted within the 5.6 weeks statutory leave.

Do you get paid extra for working a bank holiday? Not in the UK unless the contract says so. In Canada, premium pay is statutory.

How many bank holidays are there in the UK? Eight in England and Wales, normally nine in Scotland, ten in Northern Ireland.

Bank holiday or public holiday — what’s the difference? In UK practice, little. But “bank holiday” is the legal term there and carries no employment entitlement, whereas Ireland’s and Canada’s do.

This entry is general information, not legal advice. Holiday entitlements vary by country, US state and Canadian province, and bank holiday dates change year to year.