In the United Kingdom, public holidays are days on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed.

[3] Before 1980, collective agreements widely included public holidays as part of a standard entitlement to time off.

Additional days have been allocated for special events, such as royal weddings, coronations, and jubilees.

Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.

[8] New Year's Day did not become a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland until 1 January 1974.

[10] Each year's date was announced in Parliament on an ad hoc basis, to the despair of the calendar and diary publishing trade.

[11] The rule seems to have been to select the weekend of the last Saturday in August, so that in 1968[12] and 1969[13] Bank Holiday Monday actually fell in September.

[citation needed] In fact, the average number of non-weekend holidays in such countries is only marginally higher (and in some cases lower) than the UK.

[26] The Act does not provide for a bank holiday to be suppressed by royal proclamation without appointing another day in its place.

Likewise, if people are required to work on a bank holiday, there is no statutory right to an enhanced pay rate nor to a day off in lieu, although many employers do give either or both.

This has resulted in a number of local authorities creating a public holiday on Easter Monday.

[citation needed] This has resulted in many banks now providing only a limited service on 2 January, with most members of staff still entitled to the holiday.