The autumn half-term, the national saint’s days of England, Scotland and Wales, and New Year’s Eve are the most popular choices for the three new bank holidays that the TUC is campaigning for, according to the results of an online vote in which many members of the Guild participated in.

The TUC and the Guild believes that bosses are wrong to say we cannot afford extra time off. Figures supplied by the TUC show that the UK economy could quite comfortably absorb the creation of three new public holidays to bring the UK into line with the EU average of 11 days a year.

More than four in ten (41 per cent) of the 19,469 people who voted online in the WorkSMART poll said that a Monday in late October would be their most preferred date for a new bank holiday. Almost a third (32 per cent) opted for St George’s, St Andrew’s and St David’s Days, and just over one in ten (11 per cent) for New Year’s Eve.

Other suggestions included International Women’s Day (8 March), Trafalgar Day (21 October) and Armistice Day (11 November). Only one per cent of the respondents thought that the UK did not need any additional bank holidays.

When the Working Time Directive introduced a legal minimum of four weeks holiday in 1998, six million workers saw their annual leave increase, a third of whom (including the majority of security workers) had never before been entitled to any holiday. The TUC has calculated that this phasing in of additional annual leave meant that by the autumn of 1999 an extra 45.1 million days holiday had been taken, the equivalent of introducing 2.1 new bank holidays.

By looking at the performance of the UK economy from the two years from autumn 1997 - it grew by six per cent in real terms and 833,000 additional jobs were created - the TUC concludes that the UK can afford the introduction of new bank holidays.

Commenting on the poll results, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'In the past, bosses have wildly exaggerated the costs of introducing more bank holidays, but our calculations suggest that the UK can well afford to bring in extra days. If we all were able to take a few extra days off work, rather than losing out, employers would benefit from less-stressed, more contented, productive staff.
John Haywood, Director of the Guild of British ecurity Officers said 'In the case of the majority of private security personnel, there would be negligable costs for the security officers employer as these costs would be recovered through re-negotiating contracts with their clients'.

'The TUC welcomes Labour’s Policy Forum decision that ministers are committed to change the law so that bank holidays are taken in addition to annual leave, as they are throughout the rest of Europe. But we want the Government to go further and introduce three extra public holidays. It would be a real vote winner.'

The TUC believes that there are several reasons why the granting of additional bank holidays would have no impact upon the economy:

• On a bank holiday, the activities of the millions of people not in work have a positive effect upon other areas of the economy, with retail and tourism sites doing a roaring trade. In 2001, when the UK was hit by the foot and mouth epidemic, representatives from the tourism and hospitality industry lobbied the Government for a special bank holiday that autumn to stimulate trade.

• Between 1997 and 1999, UK productivity grew by 4.6 per cent, whilst the number of contracted hours worked fell by 0.7 per cent, showing that when extra days holiday are granted there is not a negative impact on output. The granting of additional public holidays merely gives back a small slice of the benefits of increased output to employees.

• Work-related stress costs the UK £4.4 billion a year, so it makes sense to give people working excessive hours a few extra days off. Extra bank holidays would have a positive impact on staff motivation, recruitment and retention.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

In the UK, there is currently no statutory right to take a bank holiday off, to be paid for taking it off, or to be paid a premium rate for working on bank holidays. As a result one in eight workers (or just over three million people) find themselves losing out.

When it comes to European bank holidays, only the Netherlands gives its workers as few public holidays as the UK, but Dutch workers benefit from more annual leave. With 11.35 days the average across the 25 European states, Slovakia with 18 has the most, closely followed by Cyprus on 14. Malta, Spain and Portugal grant their workers 14 days each year.

Following pressure from the TUC in the 1970s, the 1974-79 Labour Government introduced two additional bank holidays: New Year’s Day (1974) and May Day (1978). Since then a number of ‘one-off’ public holidays have been created to celebrate special events like the 1981 Royal Wedding and last year’s Golden Jubilee.

Between 28 May and 13 August 2004, 19,469 people voted in the WorkSMART ‘search for a new bank holiday’ online vote. To find out more about the arguments for and against the creation of specific new bank holidays, visit www.worksmart.org.uk