The UK is currently in a national mourning period, following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the afternoon of Thursday 8 September 2022, aged 96.
Supermarkets and leading brands across grocery retail have paid tribute to the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, who served the nation for more than 70 years – an achievement celebrated earlier this year by the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
After much speculation, King Charles III confirmed that Monday 19 September 2022 – the day of the Queen’s funeral – will be a national bank holiday, applying to schools, businesses and services across all parts of the UK.
Although there is no official guidance that supermarkets should shut their doors on the day, the government said: “Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses.”
It also added that there are no statutory rules regarding extra pay on bank holidays and discussions should be had between employers and their staff with regard to holidays, reclaiming leave and pay.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, all major supermarkets have announced that they will be either closing stores for the full day, or operating a restricted service by opening some hours after the service itself has taken place.
Smaller convenience stores and petrol forecourts are typically remaining open for the duration.
However, many supermarket and warehouse employees will still be working while the stores are closed, leading to some criticism of an ‘us and them’ divide. So how are supermarkets ensuring they hit the right note?
Pay, holiday and time in lieu
There is no automatic statutory entitlement to bank holidays as annual leave, especially in retail. Instead, it’s down to employers’ discretion and – ultimately – the wording in each employee’s individual contract.
If a contract states employees are entitled to “all bank and public holidays” or “all public holidays” as paid leave, the employer must grant next Monday as an extra day off. However, the contract does not mention bank holidays, then employers can require employees to work.
Asda has confirmed that all colleagues who had been contracted to work while the stores are closed will receive their normal pay, despite not being needed instore. Additionally, any colleagues who will be working when the stores reopen at 5pm will be paid double time for the rest of the day.
According to M&S, the day of the funeral will be treated as any bank holiday. As a result, those who were scheduled to work will receive their normal pay, whether their stores are open or not.
“Colleagues working in the small number of stores in London and Windsor which will open before and after the funeral will receive normal bank holiday pay,” it added.
According to Tesco, any staff still working on Monday staff be doing so purely on a voluntary basis. Employees who do choose to work will be paid a premium hourly rate, in line with the supermarket’s normal bank holiday pay.
Those who were due to be working but now aren’t, will still be paid, the Big 4 grocer revealed.
With many convenience stores still remaining open despite the last-minute bank holiday, many members of staff will still have to work during the service itself.
Symbol group retailer the Co-op confirmed to Grocery Gazette that employees will get an extra day’s paid holiday added onto their annual allowance if they choose to work on the bank holiday.
Supermarket closures
Many retailers, including all major supermarket chains, have chosen to close their stores next Monday.
Unlike other significant bank holidays or nationwide events, supermarkets will not expect to see a corresponding significant uptick in sales of food and drink sales. As such, closing for the day is likely to represent a significant loss of income for many.
Royal Warrant holder Waitrose was the first UK grocer to confirm it will be closed on the day, while other major supermarkets initially proposed a partial closure between 10am and 2pm.
Sainsbury’s then announced it would be closing all its larger supermarkets for the entire day, with all other supermarkets quickly following suit.
The John Lewis Partnership COO Andrew Murphy said the group was “deeply saddened” by the death of Her Majesty The Queen and would be “closing stores on the day of her funeral as a mark of respect, and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our Partners and customers.”
A limited number of Waitrose stores on the route of the funeral procession will remain open to serve those who attend. These branches will close for the funeral service itself.
Big 4 grocers Sainsbury’s and Tesco will both close their larger stores for the day, with smaller Tesco stores remaining open from 5pm-10pm and branches in central London staying open to help those attending the funeral.
Tesco UK CEO Jason Tarry offered his “deepest condolences” to the Royal Family while announcing the planned closures which had been made, “in order for our colleagues to pay their respects”.
Symbol group retailer the Co-op’s CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq also announced that the convenience stores would be closing for the day “as a mark of respect” and “to give our colleagues, customers and members time to reflect and mourn”.
A number of Co-op stores within central London and towards Windsor will remain open during the day to serve the hundreds of thousands of customers who will be in the capital to be part of the funeral.
Frozen food retailer Iceland has also the decision to shut all of its stores on the day – allowing employees to “grieve in their own way” – as have Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and Asda.
Online-only grocer Ocado has announced it will be cancelling all deliveries on Monday, allowing employees to “pay their respects on this day of national mourning”.
Business as usual
While stores and consumer-facing businesses are being closed across the country, it’s business as usual for some members of staff.
Despite Lidl closing all stores across the UK as a “mark of respect and in honour of Queen Elizabeth II”, it has been revealed that warehouse workers for the discount supermarket are not also getting the day off.
“We all work hard to get the stock to the shops; it’s only for one day and all of us are very upset because we we can’t pay our respects,” one warehouse worker told DevonLive.
“I have spoken to a lot of colleagues who are thinking of ringing in sick next Monday.”
“As confirmed stores will all be closed, but other than that it will be treated like any other bank holiday,” Lidl told Grocery Gazette.
A spokesperson said: “While our warehouses will remain open for logistical purposes, line managers will be liaising closely with their teams to help ensure that those who wish to take time off are able to do so.
“In addition, all colleagues will gain an additional day of leave within their holiday entitlement for this year, meaning that those who work on this bank holiday will be able to take holiday on another day.”
Lidl also added that “help” will be given to those staff members who want to watch the funeral and those who are choosing to work will be awarded an extra day’s holiday leave.
Although not entirely unexpected, the sudden death of Queen Elizabeth II has still come as a shock to many. Businesses have been forced make decisions and react quickly – all while treading extremely carefully in order to avoid any missteps during the period of national mourning.
While the financial implication of next Monday is likely to be significant, the potential damage from not hitting the right tone could be even greater.
