Substitute bank holiday rules — how they work in the UK
When a UK bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the government grants a substitute bank holiday on the next available weekday — usually the following Monday, or the following Tuesday if Monday is already a bank holiday.
How substitution works
The principle is set out in Royal Proclamation each year by the Privy Council. The substitute day:
- Carries the same legal status as the original holiday
- Falls on the next available weekday after the original date
- Skips other bank holidays — so if 26 December (Boxing Day) falls on a Sunday, the substitute is Tuesday 28 December because Monday 27 December is already the Christmas Day substitute
Worked examples
Christmas Day 2027 falls on a Saturday. The substitute is Monday 27 December 2027. Boxing Day 2027 falls on a Sunday; its substitute is Tuesday 28 December 2027.
New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday. The substitute is Monday 3 January 2028.
Christmas Day 2022 fell on a Sunday; substitute was Tuesday 27 December (Monday 26 was Boxing Day itself). Boxing Day’s substitute was Tuesday 27 — but because Christmas Day’s substitute was also that Tuesday, in practice we ended up with Christmas Day’s substitute on Tuesday 27 and Boxing Day’s substitute on Monday 26 (which was the actual Boxing Day, working as the bank holiday for itself), and a third bank holiday status on Tue 27. The Privy Council Proclamation sets the order explicitly each year.
Which holidays can have substitutes?
The bank holidays that have ever needed substitutes are those that fall on a fixed date:
- New Year’s Day (1 January)
- 2nd January (Scotland only)
- St Patrick’s Day (17 March, Northern Ireland)
- Battle of the Boyne (12 July, Northern Ireland)
- St Andrew’s Day (30 November, Scotland)
- Christmas Day (25 December)
- Boxing Day (26 December)
The moveable bank holidays — Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May, Spring and Summer bank holidays — can never fall at a weekend because they are defined as Mondays or, in Good Friday’s case, the Friday before Easter Sunday.
Pay treatment
The substitute bank holiday has the same contractual treatment as the original. If your contract gives you the bank holidays as paid time off, you get the substitute. For more detail, see bank holiday pay rules.
Cultural vs official date
There is sometimes confusion when the substitute date is, say, 27 December but the cultural celebration is still on 25 December. The legal bank holiday is the substitute date — banks close, statutory payment deadlines shift — but the social and religious observance stays on the original date.