The Scottish government simply does not have the power to give people across the country – including those working in the private sector or in parts of the public sector controlled by the UK government – an extra, specified day off work.
Decisions on whether or not to give staff the day off are for individual employers to take.
In general, bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave by employers.
An employer can choose to include bank holidays as part of a worker’s statutory annual leave.
Employment contracts tend to specify that employers have a certain number of days off every year – inclusive of bank holidays.
Nor is there any reason why private business would need to close. There are no restrictions on opening hours on bank holidays.
Even the major Scottish high street banks do not close on Scottish bank holidays now – they observe English bank holidays, to stay in line with their sister businesses south of the border.
School holidays are already set for the coming year by individual councils. Some may consider whether to look at giving the special bank holiday as a day off, but there are also rules on how many days schools need to open for to consider.
