UK 
United States
According to top secret operational plans for the death of Her Majesty, obtained by Politico, the long-reigning Monarch’s funeral will instead being designated as a “Day of National Mourning”.
Although essentially a bank holiday in all but name, Politico reports that an extra day off will not be granted if the somber event is to take place on a weekend or on an existing bank holiday.
Furthermore, the leaked plan, which is officially named Operation London Bridge and has until now been shrouded in secrecy, stated that if the Queen’s funeral falls on a weekday, the Government does not plan to order employers to give employees the day off, but that it will instead leave the matter to be decided between businesses and their staff.
The current plan is to stage Queen Elizabeth’s funeral ten days after her passing, according to the documents.
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'Headache for HR’
Leaving it up to bosses to decide if they should give staff a ‘day off’ could cause a headache for both employers and HR – especially as any such decision will have to be made within a short time frame.
It’s a problem that HR has had to consider, alongside company bosses, before, earlier in the summer.
With England reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2020, rumours abounded that a ‘last minute’ bank holiday could be planned for the nation.
Whilst many liked this fact, planning such a day off would cause a headache for the function, as one HRD told HR Grapevine at the time.
In fact, Vicki Field, an independent HR practitioner, previously explained to HR Grapevine that any last-minute bank holiday could cause problems – something that other practitioners should bear in mind after the Queen’s death.
She said: “It doesn’t give a lot of time for managers / communications teams / HR to tell employees the plans for the next day. Planning logistics and company-wide communications is the last thing that most people want to have to think about if England do take the cup.
“It would turn into a complicated situation where some people get the message and turn up to work, others stay off – and no one really knows what is going on.”
Not available to all industries
Field also previously added that any last-minute days off would not be able to be taken for many industries.
She said many businesses – including retail, medical and transport services and hospitality – would need to remain open.
Field continued: “Whilst it’s a nice idea, probably best for each company to plan – and this is where the flexibility to work from home can help, if that’s possible.”
That said, for those want to take time off for the ‘Day of National Mourning’, they might want to plan ahead and take annual leave.
This is where HR can come in – being flexible with last minute requests for holiday where possible.
Last-minute considerations
Jeanette Branagan, Complex Case Consultant at Moorepay, previously shared several key considerations for employers and people teams with HR Grapevine if a company decides to give staff time off with short notice, advice that could be applied in the event of the Queen’s death.
She warned: “Remember, to enforce holidays you must give twice as much notice as the time you require staff to take. This means you will have to give two days’ notice if a bank holiday is announced (or if you make the decision internally to close the business for the day.)
“There’s no statutory right for employees to have bank/public holidays off work and should you require an employee to work on a Bank Holiday, there’s no legal requirement to enhance pay – it will come down to what is written in the contracts of employment.”
The Work-Life Gap Report 2026
Work-life pressure is universal. The outcomes aren’t.
The Work-Life Gap Report 2026 reveals a clear, measurable divide between organisations where care disruption impacts performance - and those where it’s absorbed through the right support.
Built from employee data across organisations and benchmarked against the wider working population, this report shows where performance holds, where it erodes, and what makes the difference.
If you’re making - or influencing - decisions around wellbeing, flexibility or family support, this report gives you the evidence to do it with confidence.
What you’ll get from the report:
Clear comparisons showing how outcomes differ with and without practical support
Evidence linking work–life support to reliability, productivity, retention and career progression
A simple framework for understanding everyday, predictable and unexpected pressure
Practical data and framing you can lift directly into business cases and leadership discussions
Queen well liked
HR might want to also consider the possibility that they could contend with sickies on the ‘Day of Official Mourning’ if they don’t designate the state funeral as a day off.
With the Queen being the most popular royal – stats from YouGov show she is liked by 75% of people – some might not want to work on the day of her state funeral.
Claire Brook, Employment Law Partner at legal firm Aaron & Partners told HR Grapevine: “If an employee fails to attend work this would amount to unauthorised absence and could be deemed to be gross misconduct and could result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.”
Paul Morris
While employers are not obliged by the announcement to give time off, if contracts of employment state that public holidays are not worked then they must abide by their contractual obligation. That is to say, a day off should be awarded or, if required to work on the day, time off in lieu and/or overtime rates of pay.
Emma