Is Monday a Bank Holiday?

LegacyUser

Hi all

I was wondering if anyone could clear this up for me. I work Full-time. I don't work bank holidays. My employer has stated that Monday is not a bank holiday and I will have to work it. I was under the impression that Monday is a bank holiday? He said it is a public holiday and not a bank holiday, so it is just like any other normal monday for me. Can anyone tell me is he right or is he pulling a fast one?

Many thanks

Eoin

See this thread.

I don't think the term "bank holiday" really means anything. It's not a public holiday anyway as it's not the 1st of January, though a lot of companies tend to give the next working day off.

Shelflife

My understanding of it is that jan 1st is a public holiday which everyone is entitled to benefit from. if you normally work sat and you have it off and are paid then you have got your entitlement and monday is a normal day for you.

if you work mon - fri then monday would usually become the entitlement day.

either way you are entitled to a paid day off or double time if you work on that day.

Glenbhoy

There are 9 public holidays in Ireland each year. Public holidays in Ireland (as in other countries) may commemorate a special day or other event, for example, St Patrick's Day (17 March) or Christmas Day (25 December). On a public holiday, sometimes called a bank holiday, most businesses and schools close. Other services, for example, public transport still operate but often with restricted schedules. The list of public holidays in Ireland each year is as follows:

New Year's Day (1 January)
St. Patrick's Day (17 March)
Easter Monday
First Monday in May, June, August
Last Monday in October
Christmas Day (25 December)
St. Stephen's Day (26 December)
Good Friday is not a public holiday. While some schools and businesses close on that day, you have no automatic entitlement to time off work on that day.

How is the date of Easter Monday determined each year?
Easter Monday is the only public holiday in Ireland (and other countries) that can vary significantly from year to year. The date of Easter moves every year within the international calendar for civil use. Broadly speaking, Easter should be the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after 21 March. This means that the earliest possible date for Easter Sunday in any year is 22 March, the latest is 25 April. Easter Monday will fall on the following dates between now and 2012: 5 April 2010, 25 April 2011, 9 April 2012.

Rules
Your entitlement to public holidays is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Most employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. One exception is part-time employees who have not worked for their employer at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

Employees who qualify will be entitled to either the public holiday off as paid leave or one of the following alternatives:

A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
An additional day of annual leave
An additional day's pay
The nearest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off
The Organisation of Working Time Act provides that you may ask your employer at least 21 days before a public holiday, which of the alternatives will apply. If your employer fails to respond at least 14 days before the public holiday, you are entitled to take the actual public holiday as a paid day off.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/leave_and_holidays/public_holidays_in_ireland.html

Rasmus

I think it is officially a bank holiday, in lieu of Saturday. Good question.

murrayp4

It is a bank holiday.

amen

It is not a bank holiday. It is a public holiday and you should be paid.

Banks may close on additional days during the year (bank holidays) and if you are not employed in a bank you do not get the holidays.

Public holidays are statutory holidays that apply to everyone in Ireland.

In practice most bank/public holidays coincide in Ireland.

Eoin

Monday is not the 1st of January. Today is the public holiday; however most employers do give the next working day off - but aren't obliged to.

Mrs OBumble

eoin wrote: »

Monday is not the 1st of January. Today is the public holiday; however moat employers do give the next working day off - but aren't obliged to.

Correct. And I think that Monday is a BANK holiday.

tenchi-fan

amen wrote: »

It is not a bank holiday. It is a public holiday and you should be paid.

Bank holiday is another name for public holiday. Officially, there is no such thing as a "bank holiday" (at least in Ireland).. legislation refers to "public holidays".

Eoin

No it's not. They just tend to coincide. As justmary said, Monday is a bank holiday but not a public holiday.

Shifty

Public holidays falling on a weekend:

Where a public holiday falls on a weekend, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. This occurs in 2010 when Christmas Day (25 December) falls on a Saturday and St Stephen's Day (26 December) falls on a Sunday. It also occurs in 2011 when New Year's Day (1 January) falls on a Saturday.

This means that Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December 2010, and Monday 3 January 2011 are not public holidays.



When this happens you are entitled to the normal alternative arrangements concerning employment and public holidays that is:

A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
An additional day of annual leave
An additional day's pay
The nearest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off.
Your employer can require you to attend work on those days.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/leave_and_holidays/public_holidays_in_ireland.html

tenchi-fan

eoin wrote: »

No it's not. They just tend to coincide. As justmary said, Monday is a bank holiday but not a public holiday.

I don't mean to be splitting hairs, but "bank holiday" doesn't have any official meaning, and legislation refers to it as a "public holiday". People use the terms "bank holiday" and "public holiday" synonymously.

As a result, Saturday 1st, a "public holiday", may also be known as a "bank holiday"

Monday 3rd is a day where the banks, like many other businesses, don't operate.

Had the op asked, "do banks open on Monday 3rd" the answer would be "no, they close in lieu of the public holiday on 1st January"

But the op actually asked "i don't work bank holidays. Is Monday a bank holiday?" The answer being, "You don't work public holidays, and Monday is not a public holiday."

Totally splitting hairs, but if people avoided the term "bank holiday" when they mean "public holiday" it would avoid confusion.

Eoin

The OP's phrasing is a bit confusing alright, but Monday is the bank holiday. Bank holiday might not exist in law, but it's not the same thing as a public holiday.

Karen23

Pubs open til 12.30 the Sunday before a bank holiday but tonight is 11.00pm closing as the 1st was the public holiday.

Mrs OBumble

tenchi-fan wrote: »

I don't mean to be splitting hairs, but "bank holiday" doesn't have any official meaning ....

Totally splitting hairs, but if people avoided the term "bank holiday" when they mean "public holiday" it would avoid confusion.

I think it does have a meaning to the banks though.

And I suspect that some folks have contract that say they don't work on "bank holidays" and mean just that.

What it boils down to is that every time someone answers a question in this area, they need to make the distinction.

'Tis painful, but the only way be clear.

Eoin

JustMary wrote: »

I think it does have a meaning to the banks though.

Exactly - Good Friday is normally a bank holiday, but not a public holiday. And I'm sure the banks closed a few days over Christmas, even if they weren't public holidays.