Working on a Bank Holiday: When 27 Degrees Doesn’t Mean a Day Off
It’s a Bank Holiday Monday. The sun is blazing, the thermometer reads 27 degrees, and the air smells faintly of barbecues, cut grass, and freedom. For most people, it’s a chance to sink into a deckchair, squeeze in one last trip to the coast, or enjoy an afternoon where time seems to stretch longer than the daylight.
But if you’re self-employed, there’s a good chance none of that applies. Instead, perhaps like me, you’re sitting at your desk, squinting at the glare on your laptop screen, and wondering if replying to emails with an ice cream in hand counts as work-life balance.
The illusion of freedom
Self-employment is often painted as the ultimate ticket to freedom. No boss, no rigid hours, no begging HR for annual leave. But here’s the catch: no holiday pay either. When you don’t work, you don’t earn.
A UK study shows that one in four freelancers take no annual holiday at all, and of those who do, 45% still carry work with them. It’s the sort of statistic that makes a sunny Bank Holiday feel less like a public celebration and more like a quiet reminder that you’re not quite part of the same rhythm as everyone else.
Why we don’t switch off
So why do so many self-employed people keep working when the rest of the country clocks off? The answers are depressingly familiar:
Fear of letting clients down.
Fear of losing clients to someone faster, cheaper, or more available.
The reality that when you’re your own payroll, HR department, and marketing team, the “out of office” message isn’t really an option.
It’s actually quieter and you get more done because everyone else is chillin’!
The irony is sharp. Many of us went self-employed to escape the nine-to-five and claw back some control. Yet 40% of freelancers now work more than 41 hours per week, with 15% grinding out over 51 hours. Control, yes. Balance, not so much.
The sun trap
There’s something especially cruel about working on a Bank Holiday when the weather is glorious. If it were raining, you’d barely notice the difference between your office and the outside world. But when it’s hot enough for sandals, you become acutely aware of the price of self-employment.
That’s when the justifications kick in: “I’ll take a day later in the week,” or “I’ll finish early and sit in the garden.” But let’s be honest, the to-do list rarely shrinks, and the day in the sun is unlikely to materialises. Although I am stopping once I finish this…
A shrinking workforce
Since 2020, the number of self-employed people in the UK has dropped from nearly 5 million to around 4.4 million. That’s not just a pandemic blip; it’s also a reflection of how tough the gig can be. The unpredictability, the lack of paid leave, the constant hustle – it wears people down.
And yet, for those of us who stick with it, there’s something addictive about the autonomy. We complain about missing the Bank Holiday, but we also know we can take a random Wednesday off if we choose. We just rarely do.
Freedom vs choice
The truth about self-employment is that freedom doesn’t always look like sun-loungers and cocktails. Sometimes freedom is choosing to keep working, even when everyone else is downing tools. Sometimes it’s about choosing security over spontaneity, income over leisure.
It’s not glamorous, and it’s certainly not Instagram-worthy, but it’s the reality for many of us. And maybe that’s okay. Because while we miss out on days like this, we’re also building something of our own, on our own terms.
So here’s to the self-employed who are working through the heat. May your emails be short, your Wi-Fi stable, and your resolve stronger than the smell of next-door’s barbecue.