Can you tell me if bank holidays are included in the 5.6-week holiday entitlement? My employer says the entitlement is only 20 days, with the other eight days being used to cover bank holidays.
Your employer is right in a sense, unless your contract or custom and practice in the firm would lead you to think differently. There’s no statutory entitlement to take bank holidays, so if you don’t work them but still get paid they can be included in your annual holiday entitlement. It’s not quite true to say that “the other eight days are used to cover bank holidays”, although that may be one way of explaining it. You’re entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday, which amounts to 28 days if you work a five-day week.