Let’s abolish public holidays in the UK – I have a better idea

It is the August holiday 2023 and I am once again stuck in my home office.

It was humid and cloudy outside – certainly not the right weather to lure me to the beaches near my home on the south coast.

But even in bright sunshine I would never have dared to do it.

Most of the time I am in a quiet, rural area close to the South Downs National Park with good access.

But when I want to take advantage of this good connection, most routes, especially the M27 and the A3, are overcrowded eight days a year with visitors who want to make the most of a long weekend.

Last year I worked all day on Monday. For the estimated 4.2 million self-employed and freelance workers like me, the decision to do so is often a no-brainer.

Like the Dowager Countess of Grantham’s immortal question from Downton Abbey: “What is a weekend?”, many freelancers could be forgiven for asking: “What is a holiday?”

Since we are not entitled to vacation time, many of us have to work to make ends meet.

Unless I get any urgent last-minute invitations from family or friends, that’s exactly what I’m going to do this year – and I’m happy with my decision!

Anyone who lives on these islands will know that the weather on British bank holidays is at best mediocre (at worst downright brutal) and brings chaos: crowds clogging the motorways, overcrowded public events and railway works.

In May this year, on our last bank holiday weekend, the RAC predicted that 20 million of us would take to the streets. Considering this is just one day tacked onto the weekend, it seems incredible to me that so many would voluntarily subject themselves to all this crowd and traffic stress at the same time.

However, I am not suggesting for a second that we should do away with paid holidays altogether – especially when you consider that England and Wales are among the countries with the fewest holidays in Europe, with just eight per year. Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has a whopping ten.

I wonder why we continue to dictate to large sections of the population when they should have a paid day off.

Isn’t it time we were allowed to vote?

I understand that in a factory – which cannot function without half the workforce – it is not always possible to let employees take every day off. Bosses need to be able to plan shifts and safety issues in advance.

In other situations, however, it seems completely unfair to force people to take a mandatory day off.

Considering that employers can include these holidays in statutory holiday entitlements, employees should be more likely to have the opportunity to work on a holiday and take another day off.

Most people understand why Christmas and Boxing Day are public holidays in the UK. But many would certainly prefer to have an extra day off to celebrate Eid rather than having a mandatory day off because of the Spring Bank Holiday. Perhaps they would prefer to celebrate Diwali rather than Easter Monday.

Or maybe they just want to have a day off at a time of their choosing for vacation, family time, or self-care to catch up on life without having to justify the reason with an “official” vacation.

Some companies, such as energy company OVO, have a flexible policy where employees can choose whether or not to work on certain public holidays and then take another day off at their own discretion.

In April last year, the results of a new study were published which found that almost three-quarters of UK workers (72%) would like flexible holiday arrangements.

Just over 50 percent said the main reason was to attend other special occasions such as weddings, while over a third wanted to use the free time for religious and cultural events and 31 percent said they would use it to save money for travel abroad.

As it turns out, of all the holidays, employees in the UK would most like to swap the Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May.

Meanwhile, the auditing, tax and consulting firm Grant Thornton, which also offers flexible holiday hours, estimates that around 20 percent of its workforce now choose this way of working.

I know some people will argue that it would be too difficult to change and wonder what would happen to a workplace if everyone wanted to have the same day off, for example during a World Cup on a key weekday.

But clever employers have already made provisions for such situations.

Take, for example, the recent Euro final between England and Spain: supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s closed their stores an hour early so their staff could watch the match, and fitness company Gymshark announced on LinkedIn that its UK-based staff would have the Monday after Sunday’s match off.

Besides, there are 365 days in a year. I can’t imagine that in many organizations masses of employees would choose the same day.

For freelance authors like me and probably for many other professional groups, holidays are more of a hindrance – they are often just normal working days with additional stress.

I feel like there are fewer people to reach for a quick quote. And then there’s the flood of out-of-office replies to our panicked emails, which can be a problem when you’re on a tight deadline.

And while most councils and charities have out-of-hours helplines, other services, such as HMRC’s telephone helpline, are closed on bank holidays. Ironically, for some people this may be the only time to look after their tax affairs.

If it were up to me, I would keep Christmas and Boxing Day and give workers in as many industries as possible the choice of whether or not to work on the other holidays and take the time back when it suits them.

I hope more employers start doing this because I believe it would lead to a happier workforce that could take days off that are more meaningful to them and their lives.

If I had a temporary job, I would work through the rainy spring holidays and New Year’s Day – and then take a few sunny Fridays off in September. There’s nothing better than enjoying the last rays of sunshine on a deserted beach before we slowly turn into autumn.

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