Every country has certain days as holidays earmarked as bank holidays or public holidays. On these days majority of the workers do not work as all workplaces, organization-both private and government and all banks remain closed. These are the holidays the Government of a country declares in order to mark an important event in the nation's history or to celebrate the important festivals of the land. In England and Wales, the public holidays are total eight in number, while in Scotland there are nine bank and public holidays. In Northern Ireland, the government awards ten bank and public holidays. The bank holidays are given over and above the statutory holidays. Hence, if an employee is getting 28 day's statutory holidays, he or she would get 28 more holidays as public holidays with the total number of holidays amounting to 36.

The public holidays are legal holidays which an employer cannot deny to his or her employee, even if these holidays are not mentioned as ones in the contract. There is a provision of special rules for shop-workers in England and Wales working in large shops (over 280 square meters). A person working in such types of shops enjoys a holiday on the public holiday of Christmas, irrespective of which day it falls on. Whether the employee will be paid for this day or not is decided by the employment contract. If a person is being denied his or her rights over bank holidays, he or she could take the help of an adviser.

There are a number of differences between the bank holidays in scotland and bank holidays in uk. The Scottish does not have the Easter Monday as a bank holiday.Bank holidays do not hold as much importance in Scotland as in the other parts of the world. In Scotland the bank holidays do not necessarily translate into public holidays, instead there remains a tradition of public holidays based on local tradition and determined by local authorities. In 1996, the Scottish banks decided to correspond their own holidays with the rest of the United Kingdom, and so as a consequence that 'bank holidays' in Scotland are neither public holidays nor the days on which banks are closed.

bank holidays in india are the days when the whole public is on holiday. All bank, offices and schools remain closed on these days. The Independence Day, Republic Day and Diwali are some of the most important bank holidays in India. The Government of India is very strict on observing certain public holidays, for e.g. a person running his or her office on Independence Day could be fined heavily. The bank holidays in usa are of a different nature. They are not exactly public holidays, but are federal holidays. The bank holidays are according to the system of working days-Monday to Friday. Mondays are when the US mostly has its bank holidays, except for Christmas, Veteran Day, Thanks Giving Day and Independence Day. The bank holidays are days when people relax, go out shopping or spend time with their dear ones.