The legal position is that there is no obligation on employers to give this (or any other) bank holiday and clients have a number of options:

• Do not give the bank holiday and continue to operate the business on that day
• Close the business on that day and give employees the additional day as a paid holiday on a one-off basis.
• Close the business on that day and give notice to employees that they will need to reserve one of their holiday days to cover this closure.

However, if you have previously given additional one-off bank holidays, e.g. the Golden Jubilee holiday in 2002, but do not intend to give the additional holiday on this occasion, your employees might claim that taking additional one-off bank holidays is 'custom and practice' within the business, and that not giving the additional day would be a breach of an implied term of their contract.

If you are in this position, please contact the Citation Helpline for advice on 0845 844 4848.