Extra day off for thousands next year due to rare bank holiday rule

There are currently ten bank holidays a year.

With exact dates of bank holidays being flexible (but generally Mondays), others such as New Year's Day and St Patrick's Day can fall any day of the week, including weekends.

When this happens, workers are entitled to an extra day's pay and an additional day of annual leave or a paid day off on an alternative date.

Also, it just so happens that one of these rare bank holidays is due in 2026.

St Stephen's Day next year falls on a Saturday, and so workers nationwide will be entitled to that replacement day off or compensation.

Citizens Information stated: "If the public holiday falls on a day which is not a normal working day for that business (for example, on Saturday or Sunday), you are still entitled to benefit for that public holiday.

"However, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work."

The government has further confirmed that employers must offer either a paid day off within a month of that day, an additional day of annual leave, or an additional day of pay.

The rule will come into play even further for 2027 when both Christmas Day and St Stephens Day land on the weekend.

Depending on your employer's arrangements, workers could receive two additional days off.

We won't complain!