A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, other European countries such as Switzerland, and a colloquialism for a public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although banks close and the majority of the working population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract.
在英国、英联邦国家或其他如瑞士这样的欧洲国家，银行假日是公众假期，而银行假日也是爱尔兰对于公共假期的口头表达。在银行假日期间，法律并没有规定所有的人都可以休假，但是由于银行关门，绝大部分工人都会休假，如果他们在这几天仍在工作的话，他们会根据他们的劳动合同获得一笔额外的收入。
Bank holidays are often assumed to be so called because they are days upon which banks are shut, but days that banks are shut aren't always bank holidays. For example: Good Friday and Christmas Day are not bank holidays, they are common law holidays. The dates for bank holidays are set out in statute or are proclaimed by royal decree . In England and Wales a bank holiday tends automatically to be a public holiday, so the day is generally observed as a holiday.
之所以会采用“银行假日”这个称呼是因为在这些天中，银行都会休业，但不是所有银行休业的日子都被称之为银行假日。例如，银行在耶稣受难日以及圣诞节也会关门，但这两个节日并不是银行假日，而是一般的法定假期。银行假日的具体放假时间都在英国法规或者皇家法令里有注明。在英格兰与威尔士，银行假日通常都会成为公众假期，所以这天一般都被称之为假期。
