2011 United Kingdom Bank Holidays / Public Holidays

In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, workers are not automatically entitled to time off on a public holiday. Time off can be provided for in an employment agreement or by expending annual leave.

Owing to the fact that England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not formal subdivisions of the United Kingdom, each country have different set of public holidays (more commonly called as bank holidays in UK).

A bank holiday is a public holiday in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population not employed in essential services (e.g. utilities, fire, ambulance, police, health-care, public transport workers) receive them as holidays; those employed in essential services usually receive extra pay for working on these days. The first official bank holidays were the four days named in the Bank Holidays Act 1871, but today the term is colloquially used for public holidays which are not officially bank holidays, for example Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Increasingly, there are calls for public holidays on the patron saints’ days in England, Scotland and Wales (Northern Ireland already has St Patrick’s Day as a holiday). An online petition sent to the Prime Minister received 11,000 signatures for a public holiday in Wales on St. David’s Day; the Scottish Parliament has passed a bill creating a public holiday on St. Andrew’s Day although it must be taken in lieu of another public holiday; campaigners in England are calling for a bank holiday on St. George’s Day; and in Cornwall there are calls for a public holiday on St. Piran’s Day.

List of Bank Holidays dates for Year 2011 observed in the countries of the United Kingdom

Special UK 2011 Public Holiday
Friday, 29 April 2011 – Royal Wedding 2011
Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry on Friday 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. It will be marked by a public holiday across the UK.

England and Wales 2011 Public Holidays
There are currently eight permanent bank holidays in England and Wales, an additional one on 2011 (UK Royal Wedding) and an additional one in 2012, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

^Monday, 3 January 2011 – New Year’s Day
Friday, 22 April 2011 – Good Friday
Monday, 25 April 2011 – Easter Monday
Friday, 29 April 2011 – Royal Wedding Day
Monday, 2 May 2011 – May Day Bank Holiday
Monday, 30 May 2011 – Spring Bank Holiday
Monday, 29 August 2011 – Summer Bank Holiday
*Monday, 26 December 2011 – Christmas Day
*Tuesday, 27 December 2011 – Boxing Day

Northern Ireland 2011 Public Holidays
In Northern Ireland, there are currently 10 permanent bank holidays – the same eight as in England and Wales, plus St Patrick’s Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

^Monday, 3 January 2011 – New Year’s Day
Thursday, 17 March 2011 – St Patrick’s Day
Friday, 22 April 2011 – Good Friday
Monday, 25 April 2011 – Easter Monday
Friday, 29 April 2011 – Royal Wedding Day
Monday, 2 May 2011 – May Day Bank Holiday
Monday, 30 May 2011 – Spring Bank Holiday
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 – Battle of the Boyne 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011 – Summer Bank Holiday
*Monday, 26 December 2011 – Christmas Day
*Tuesday, 27 December 2011 – Boxing Day

Scotland 2011 Public Holidays
There are nine statutory bank holidays across the whole of Scotland. There are also other public or local holidays which can be determined by local authorities, based on local tradition. Since 2007, St Andrew’s Day has been an alternative, voluntary public holiday, which can replace an existing local holiday.

^Monday, 3 January 2011 – New Year’s Day
^Tuesday, 4 January 2011 – Second of January
Friday, 22 April 2011 – Good Friday
Friday, 29 April 2011 – Royal Wedding Day
Monday, 2 May 2011 – May Day Bank Holiday
Monday, 30 May 2011 – Spring Bank Holiday
Monday, 1 August 2011 – Summer Bank Holiday
Monday, 30 November 2011 – St. Andrew’s Day
*Monday, 26 December 2011 – Christmas Day
*Tuesday, 27 December 2011 – Boxing Day

Is 3rd January 2011 a bank holiday?
Monday 3rd January 2011 is a bank holiday in lieu of Saturday, 1st January 2011 .

Is 4th January 2011 a bank holiday?
Tuesday 4th January 2011 is a bank holiday in lieu of Sunday, 2nd January 2011 in Scotland only.

Is 26th December 2011 a bank holiday?
Monday 26th December 2011 is a bank holiday in lieu of Sunday, 25 December 2011 .

Is 27th December 2011 a bank holiday?
Tuesday 27th December 2011 is a bank holiday in lieu of Monday, 26 December 2011 .

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