Police guides · officers in England and Wales
Working a bank holiday as a police officer
A bank holiday is paid at double time, in completed 15-minute blocks, with a 4-hour minimum. If you were told with fewer than 8 days' notice, you also get another day off.
These are the national rules for full-time constables and sergeants. Inspectors and above, part-time officers and police staff have different rules. Money examples use pay point 7 (£50,256 a year), before tax.
Which days count
The regulations say "public holiday", and for a police officer that means:
- Every bank holiday on the GOV.UK list for England and Wales, including the substitute days when Christmas or New Year falls on a weekend.
- Christmas Day and Good Friday.
- 26 December and 1 January when they fall on a Saturday or Sunday.
Example: in 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday and 26 December is a Saturday. Both count, and so does the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December.
What you're paid
Working a public holiday is paid at 1/16 of a day's pay for every completed 15 minutes. That's double time.
- A day's pay is your yearly basic salary ÷ 52 ÷ 5. At pay point 7 that's £193.29.
- One 15-minute block is £12.08, so an hour is £48.32.
- Only completed blocks count. 8 hours 8 minutes pays as 8 hours.
Examples, all before tax:
- An 8-hour Day on a bank holiday: 32 blocks, £386.58.
- A 10-hour shift: 40 blocks, £483.23.
- A 12-hour shift on a 4 on 4 off rota: 48 blocks, £579.88.
This is your pre-tax entitlement for the hours worked. It's a separate rule from overtime, which is paid at time and a third, and from a cancelled rest day, which is paid at time and a half.
The 4-hour minimum
If you're required to work fewer than 4 hours on a public holiday, you're paid for 4. There's no exception to this.
Example: called in for 45 minutes on Easter Monday. That's paid as 4 hours: £193.29, not £36.24.
This is the public holiday's own minimum. The 4-hour minimum for being called back between shifts was abolished in 2012, and the one for a short-notice rest day has an exception for an hour or less straight after a shift. Neither affects a public holiday.
Fewer than 8 days' notice
Notice changes what you're owed on top of the pay:
- Fewer than 8 days' notice: double time and another day off. You should be told which day within 4 days.
- 8 days' notice or more: double time.
- Fewer than 15 days' notice needs sign-off from an officer above chief superintendent.
Write down the date and time you were told. If you were told close to the 8-day line, ask your Fed rep how your force counts the days before you rely on either answer.
Time off instead
Within 28 days of the public holiday you can choose double the time off instead of the pay.
Example: an 8-hour shift on a bank holiday gives 16 hours of time off. That's a better rate than TOIL for overtime, which gives time and a third.
Shifts that cross midnight
A Night that starts on Boxing Day and ends on the 27th, or one that runs into New Year's Day, raises the question of which hours count as the public holiday. This guide doesn't settle that. Ask your duties office how your force treats it, and check the answer with your Fed rep.
Where this comes from
- Police Regulations 2003, regulation 3 (the definition of "public holiday"), legislation.gov.uk.
- Annex H paragraphs 1(d) and 1(e) (the allowance and the extra day off), 1(k) (the 15 days' sign-off), 3(c) (1/16 of a day's pay per completed 15 minutes) and 3(h) (the 4-hour minimum), GOV.UK.
- Annex F (pay scales), GOV.UK.
- UK bank holidays, GOV.UK.
This is general guidance, not legal or financial advice, and it isn't a decision by your force. If something matters, check it with your Federation rep.
Every bank holiday, worked out for you
SHFTRS knows which days on your rota are public holidays, records when you were told, and tells you what each one is worth as pay or time off. It's built by police, for police.