Linklaters allows lawyers to switch bank holidays amid D&I push

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Lawyers at Linklaters LLP will be offered new flexibilities around when they take their bank holidays under the firm’s new holiday scheme.  

From 1 May, the firm’s UK employees will be permitted to take up to three bank holidays in the same holiday year at a time that works for them. The move is part of the firm’s efforts to grant its employees the “flexibility to observe religious and cultural observances that are important to them without taking annual leave”.  

Linklaters stated these changes emulate the firm’s commitment to inclusivity, removing the demand for workers to take off public holidays that may have no cultural or religious significance to them.  

Angela Ogilvie, chief HR officer, said: “We know that flexibility and agility at work is important to our colleagues, and it supports our inclusive culture. This scheme reflects the diversity of cultural and religious events celebrated across the firm.” 

The bank holidays included in the firm’s new scheme are August bank holiday, Good Friday and Easter Monday. Although employees can’t exchange Good Friday or Easter Monday this year as they fall before the schemes start date in May 

Linklaters joins a number of other companies that have previously introduced bank holiday swap schemes: Deloitte introduced a similar approach for its UK employees last year; and consumer goods giant Unilever also rolled out an initiative in 2021 to allow workers to trade national days off for days with a cultural significance to them in its Australia and New Zealand offices.