Working at Christmas? Check your ho-ho-holiday pay entitlement

You may be entitled to an enhanced payment for working on a festive bank holiday this year, or for working on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day

With the end of the year fast approaching, days can merge and the Christmas calendar can get confusing, especially when it comes to bank holidays.

While friends and family with 9-to-5 jobs are enjoying festive frolics, it is not unusual for nursing staff to find themselves working at least one bank holiday shift.

Check your contract of employment

Whether you’re a full-time member of staff or work part time, you may be entitled to bank holidays in your contract, so you could be owed an enhanced payment, or time off in lieu, if you do work on one.

• RELATED: Holiday entitlement: how much leave you can take and when

This year, as Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Sunday, the calendar is slightly more complicated.

It means 25 December and 1 January are not bank holidays, so instead we get a substitute on the next working day.

What about working on Christmas Day or New Year's Day?

NHS Employers’ guidance states: ‘[This year] 25 December and 1 January shall be treated as normal Sundays. Tuesday 27 December and Monday 2 January shall be treated as paid public holidays instead.’

So if your contract states you get an extra payment for working a shift on bank holidays, you’ll only get these if you work on Boxing Day, 27 December and 2 January.

However, it is worth asking your employer if you’ll be getting any enhanced payment for working on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, or whether it would be a Sunday shift rate.

• RELATED: Christmas on a budget: money-saving tips for nurses

What are your entitlements?

There is actually no statutory obligation for employers to pay more for working on a Sunday or a bank holiday.

However, many employers do, including for staff working an agency or bank shift.

‘Everything you need to know should be included in your contract of employment,’ says the RCN.

RCN advice on bank holidays

Working on bank holidays: know your rights

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