Planning bank holidays in a company with shifts is a mix of logistics and fairness. If left to the last minute, it becomes an annual conflict. If planned with data and clear rules, it becomes an advantage: the team knows what to expect and coverage is assured.
1) Start with the year, not the week
In shifts, the annual calendar matters. Identify bank holidays, high-demand periods, and weeks at risk of undercoverage. With that map, the schedule stops being reactive.
Example: if you know that certain bank holidays are peak times for the business, do not improvise: plan reinforcements, define whether it is voluntary or rotational, and communicate with advance notice.
2) Define assignment criteria (fairness before preferences)
If criteria do not exist, people invent their own. Decide how working on bank holidays is distributed: rotation, volunteers, compensation, and limits. What matters is not the perfect criterion, but the consistent criterion.
Example: rotate 'major' bank holidays (Christmas, New Year, etc.) so they do not always fall on the same group. If the pattern is also published, conflict decreases.
3) Compensation and rest periods: make it visible
Working on a bank holiday usually implies financial compensation or equivalent rest, according to internal agreements. Whatever your model, it must be reflected: in the schedule, in the record, and in payroll.
Example: if a bank holiday is compensated with rest time, schedule that rest as an event, not as 'I will give it to you at some point'. That traceability avoids misunderstandings.
4) Multi-site: prevent each location from negotiating alone
In chains, the risk is that each location creates its own 'tradition'. Centralise rules and leave operational margin, but with control: same criterion, different coverage needs.
Example: one location may need more staff due to tourism, but the bank holiday rotation rule can be common. This provides both coherence and flexibility.
5) Win-win: predictability for the team, continuity for the business
For the business, planning bank holidays avoids collapse and reduces emergency overtime. For the employee, it provides certainty and a sense of fairness.
When the calendar is managed as an annual process and not as a last-minute dispute, bank holidays stop being a problem and become a normal part of the shift system.