UK Bank Holidays 2022 (England & Wales)

Easter Sunday was 17 April 2022. Easter Sunday isn't a bank holiday, but Good Friday (Friday 15 April 2022) and Easter Monday (Monday 18 April 2022) were. In Scotland, Easter Monday isn't a bank holiday.

The early May bank holiday was Monday 2 May 2022 and the spring bank holiday was Thursday 2 June 2022, across the UK.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the summer bank holiday was Monday 29 August 2022, the last Monday in August. In Scotland the summer bank holiday was Monday 1 August 2022, the first Monday in August.

Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, so the Christmas bank holidays were Boxing Day on Monday 26 December 2022 and Tuesday 27 December 2022, across the UK.

No. Bank holidays vary between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland has some different dates, and Northern Ireland has extra bank holidays. In 2022, England and Wales had 10 bank holidays. Scotland had 11: it added 2nd January and St Andrew's Day, had no Easter Monday and had its summer bank holiday on Monday 1 August 2022. Northern Ireland had 12: it added St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day).

Compare every date side by side

Bank holidays are public holidays in the UK, when banks and many workplaces close. In England and Wales there are usually 8 bank holidays a year, in Scotland 9 and in Northern Ireland 10. The government sometimes adds one for a special event, such as a coronation or a jubilee.

No. In the UK there's no legal right to time off on bank holidays. Full-time staff are entitled to 28 days' paid annual leave, and employers can count bank holidays as part of it or give them on top. What matters is that everyone gets their full 28 days, or the pro-rata equivalent for part-time staff.

Part-time staff have no legal right to bank holidays off, and neither do full-time staff. But the Part-Time Workers Regulations say part-time staff mustn't be treated less favourably. So if full-time staff get bank holidays on top of their annual leave, part-time staff should get a pro-rata share. Someone working 3 days a week would get 3/5 of them: 4.8 days out of 8 in England and Wales. That applies whether or not they usually work on the days the bank holidays fall.

It depends on the employment contract. Many employers give bank holidays on top of annual leave, and some include them in it. A contract that says "20 days plus bank holidays" gives them on top. One that says "28 days including bank holidays" counts them as part of the 28.

Not by law in the UK. Staff who work a bank holiday get their normal pay unless their contract says otherwise. Many employers pay time-and-a-half or give a day off in lieu.