Jubilee is no holiday

Nearly two thirds of small businesses are refusing to give staff an extra day’s holiday to honour the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this summer. Some 62 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plan to either open as usual or force staff to take the extra day off out of their holiday entitlement, according to a poll by business support specialist.

Around three quarters say they are against the government using additional bank holidays as a way of celebrating national events such as the Jubilee and last year’s Royal Wedding. The government has moved the Whit bank holiday back a week to June 4 and declared a special bank holiday on June 5 to create a four-day weekend marking the Jubilee.

Most people don’t begrudge the celebration of 60 years as Monarch but these are companies that are already hard-pressed to make ends meet and simply cannot afford another day’s lost business.

While most businesses still aim to close or operate on reduced staff for the day of the bank holiday itself, many employers are not bound to give staff the day as paid leave.

APA