Employers will no longer be allowed to include Bank Holidays in annual leave if Labour wins the general election, Tony Blair has announced.
The plans will benefit two million workers currently forced to take Bank Holidays as part of their annual holiday entitlement.
Writing in the Daily Mirror, Blair said the move would benefit mainly low-paid workers and women. He said people can lose more than a week of paid leave under the current law.
“A third term Labour government will help those still missing out by ensuring Bank Holidays come on top of the right to four weeks’ paid holiday,” Blair wrote. “This Labour government, which gave everyone the right to paid holidays for the first time, is determined to take action.”
According to TUC research, 400,000 full-time workers still receive less than 12 days of paid leave each year.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said the move showed the government “had listened to people at work”.
“This could be the last Easter Bank Holiday that millions of UK workers are forced to take as part of their annual leave,” he said.
The proposals are part of Labour’s People at Work mini-manifesto.
