Bank Holiday working: understanding Police Regulations

24 May 2024

The Federation regularly receives a flurry of enquiries around the Bank Holidays.

To try to answer the usual queries, please read this Q&A.

Q. What can I claim for working on a Bank Holiday?

A. This depends on how much notice you are given that you are required to work.

• If you are given eight days or more notice, then payment or TOIL (your choice) at double time for the hours worked
• If you are given seven days or less notice, then payment or TOIL (your choice) at double time for the hours worked plus a day off in lieu.

Travel time of 1 hour (30 minutes each way) is applicable but only up to a total of 6 hours for duty and travel. So, if you work 5.5 hours you can claim half an hour travel, but once you work 6 hours or over you can no longer claim travel.

Q. I had to remain at work at the end of my night shift going into a Bank Holiday what can I claim?

A. If you are required to remain at work past 07:00 after a night shift, going into a Bank Holiday you are entitled to claim a minimum of four hours’ payment or TOIL (your choice) at double time, even if you work less than four hours.

If you are required to remain on duty for more than four hours, you are entitled to claim payment or TOIL (your choice) at double time for the hours worked.

Q. What happens if I am off sick on the Bank Holiday?

A. It has been agreed that if you are booked as sick on the Bank Holiday then the sickness should apply to the whole rostered duty so any TOIL deducted for that day can be given back. This will not happen automatically so it will require the individual to request this via shared services. No certification is required.

Q. I have had TOIL deducted for Bank Holidays where I would normally work more than eight hours why is that?

A. Everyone is given public holiday leave for a Bank Holiday. This over-rides anything else for that day. Meaning if you were due to work you start with public holiday leave and if you were on a rest day you are also shown as public holiday leave and given a rest day in lieu (as you cannot be on a rest day or a normal working day on a Bank Holiday, for everyone it is public holiday leave).

Public holiday leave is the same for all officers and is pro rata. This means that a full-time officer gets the full statutory eight hours public holiday leave for that day. If you were rostered for a shift that was exceeds eight hours then you owe the Force the remaining hours. This is because leave is calculated in hours and not days as this is the fairest way to do it. The same way that an RDIL is worth eight hours so if you use it for a day that is over eight hours you have to make up the difference.

Those who work shifts longer than eight hours often feel this is unfair, however, it isn’t. It is the same as when you book a day’s annual leave you have to use more hours. This is because the reason you work longer shifts is because you get more rest days. If you look at the converse, officers who work five x eight-hour shifts with two days off would feel aggrieved if on a public holiday they were getting public holiday leave and getting an eight-hour shift off while someone was getting the same public holiday leave and getting a twelve-hour shift off.

Leave and over-time on a Bank Holiday are totally separate, because the above applies whether you work or not. Although the default is public holiday leave for everyone, the Force must still ensure that it maintains minimum staffing and if it would have been a working day according to your shift pattern you can be required to work. Due to the cost implications in most departments the Force defaults to minimum staffing and eight-hour shifts with no cross over.

However, even if you work in excess of eight hours this does not impact on the hours you owe for the public holiday leave deficit. You would just be paid for any hours you work at double time. So, if the Force did ask everyone to work their normal shifts on a public holiday they would be paid double time for the hours they work. However, they would still owe any hours over the eight given to everyone for public holiday leave to make up the remaining hours of their shift.