Holidays and bank holidays

The Christmas Day (Trading) Act prevents shops, except for small convenience stores, from trading on 25 December. Although the legislation allows small convenience stores to trade, Usdaw is urging retailers not to open any stores on Christmas Day. You should check your trading hours to see whether or not your store will be open.

Some employers require staff to make up lost hours, use holiday entitlement or take unpaid leave for the hours when stores are closed. Usdaw is urging employers to pay staff their normal wages for any contracted hours when stores are closed over Christmas and New Year.

For some workers, working on a designated public holiday is voluntary. For others, working on some or all public holidays is part of the contract. The position on whether working on a public holiday is voluntary is usually explained in your contract, the staff handbook or outlined in agreements between the employer and the Trade Union. Usdaw believes any stores opening on a bank holiday over the festive period should be staffed by volunteers.

There is no automatic right to enhanced pay if you work on a public/bank holiday. The pay rate for working these days depends on your contract of employment and any Union/Company agreements. The pay rates for working on a public/bank holiday are usually explained in the staff handbook or in other communications to staff. Further information can usually be found in your staff handbook.

There is no automatic legal right to paid time off on a public holiday. Your position in relation to working/time off on a public holiday will depend on your terms and conditions of employment.

This will depend on the arrangements at your employer. Some employers will move the bank holiday to a weekday where it falls on the weekend. However, as retail is a 7 day a week operation, many retailers choose to keep the bank holiday on the weekend. 

These are not public holidays so they are normal working days. Normal Sunday rules will apply if they fall on Sundays.

Unless your contract states otherwise, working overtime is voluntary and should be agreed mutually between you and your manager.

We receive many queries about cold workplaces in the winter months. Our guide to working in cold weather contains useful advice on what you and your employer can do.

Usdaw runs the Freedom From Fear campaign every year. As part of this campaign, the Union holds a Respect for Shopworkers Week in November to promote the message that ‘abuse is not part of the job.’ We would advise anyone who experiences threats, violence or abuse to report it. Only by reporting it will we be able to tackle the problem.