The States of Guernsey and States of Jersey have both announced that Monday 19 September 2022 is to be a public holiday to coincide with the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
What this means in practice is slightly different in Jersey and Guernsey.
Jersey
In Jersey, the States of Jersey passed an amendment so that the 19 September 2022 has been formally named as a public holiday under the Public Holidays and Bank Holidays (Jersey) Act 2010.
Businesses do not need to shut, but they are required to ensure that employees receive their statutory right to a day's paid leave. This means that employers in Jersey are required to either give employees the 19 September 2022 off as a paid day's leave, give employees another paid day's leave in lieu or pay the employee double time for working on the public holiday.
There is one nuance to this, which is where a contract of employment says that employees will get “x” days of holiday including bank holidays. In that situation, provided employers are allowing their employees to take the minimum statutory holidays (3 weeks and the 11 days public holiday declared this year) then there will be no requirement to grant an extra day. For a full time employee, this will be 26 days' leave. So employers should review their contracts to ensure that their employees are receiving their full statutory holiday allowance.
Guernsey
In Guernsey, the employer's options will depend on the wording of the employment contract. 19 September 2022 is a public holiday and so if the contract states that the employee is entitled to paid time off on public holidays, the employer cannot require the employee to work. If the contract states that the employee is entitled to “x” days of holiday each year in addition to public holidays, the employee is entitled to the day off in addition to their normal holiday entitlement.
However, as in Jersey, if the contract states that employees will get “x” days of holiday each year including public holidays, the employer could count 19 September 2022 towards the employee's annual holiday entitlement. If the contract states that the employee can be scheduled to work on public holidays then the employer could require them to work on 19 September 2022, unless the employee takes the day off as holiday.
In some cases, the workplace may decide to close even though it opens on other public holidays. Where this is the case, the employer will need to decide whether to count 19 September 2022 towards the employee's annual holiday entitlement (assuming it has the right to direct when employees take holiday) or whether it is prepared to grant the day off in addition to the employee's normal holiday entitlement.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
