On my querying, the management has this to say: The company already provides 8 Festival Holidays ( as per UK Bank Holiday List) , and as such these National Holidays cannot be paid unless the staff is summoned to work. However, in my tenure of 9+ years with the company, I observe, in the last three to five years only these and other similar cost-cutting practices are followed; earlier, National Holidays used to be paid holidays along-with the regular UK Bank holidays. I wonder if the Inspectorate authorities are not in the know of such practices followed in a large company, employing huge work-force. I have worked in reputed Indian leading manufacturing companies in the past for 25 years, in Mumbai and other locations, never have I found such a blatant violation or insult to the Government of India/state government guidelines on observing National holidays in India.