UK bank holidays 2024: How many and how often

The next bank holiday for 2024 will be New Year's Day in the UK.

As always, it depends on which country you call home. In England and Wales, you'll be treated to eight bank holidays. In Scotland, tick on one more for nine. And, in Northern Ireland, you can experience the most bank holidays at ten.

Most UK bank holidays happen on a Monday. This is mainly due to the 'substitute day' model, where a bank holiday that would otherwise happen on the weekend is transferred to the upcoming Monday. This typically leads to a large proportion of holidays happening on Monday, with the typical exceptions being Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Many employees in the UK will be thinking about how they can make the most out of their annual leave in 2024. For employers, they will need to plan around holidays to ensure they have enough people at work (and track those absences accordingly).

Some common methods include:

• Simply planning ahead - Knowing which bank holidays are happening in 2024, and when they are happening, is the first step. It helps immensely to plan ahead and scope out potential vacation days well in advance.

• Embrace 'bridge days' - Commonly referred to as 'bridge days' in other European countries, think about how you can partner your holiday with a bank holiday (effectively adding a 'free day' to the mix).

As an employer, you may even want to think about how you educate and promote around bank holidays for your employees. For many, this could be a teaching opportunity to help employees embrace wellbeing, enjoy much-needed time off and unplug.

The world of work is only becoming more complex. The last thing you should be worrying about is calculating holiday entitlements, tracking them or ensuring you are legally compliant. Allow us to help.

Personio is an all-in-one HR software that helps upgrade your people operations for now and the future. That includes a leave management software that can manage holiday requests, track every kind of leave (from emergencies to sicknesses and bank holidays) alongside all of your other core HR processes.

8,000+ customers in the UK and Europe trust us to help. Get in touch with one of our helpful HR experts today, or start your own free trial to give Personio a go right away.