DateAndTimeCalculator.org

Working Days Between Dates

Count working days between two dates, excluding weekends and public holidays for your country. Shows exactly which holidays were excluded.

Last reviewed: 30 July 2026

Which days to count

National holidays only. Regional, state and company holidays are not included. Calendar last reviewed 30 July 2026.

Weekend days

Ticked days are treated as non-working. Change these if your week does not run Monday to Friday.

How this calculation works

Every date in the range is examined in turn. A day counts as a working day unless it falls on one of the weekday you have marked as the weekend, or it appears in the public holiday calendar for the country you selected.

Which endpoints count

Both endpoints are counted by default. If today is Monday and the deadline is Friday, you have five working days, not four. Untick an endpoint when you want the elapsed reading instead — for instance when a notice period starts the day after notice is given.

Public holidays and substitute days

Holidays are generated from their published rules rather than from a fixed table, so the calendar stays correct for future years. The rules differ by country in ways that matter:

  • UK and Ireland — a holiday falling at a weekend creates a substitute weekday. When Christmas Day is a Sunday and Boxing Day a Monday, the Christmas substitute moves to the Tuesday.
  • United States — a Saturday federal holiday is observed on the Friday before, and a Sunday holiday on the Monday after.
  • Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands — no substitute is given. A holiday at the weekend is simply lost.

The result lists every holiday it found in your range, and marks any that already fell at a weekend so you can see they cost you nothing.

Worked example

Thursday 24 December 2026 to Thursday 31 December 2026, England and Wales

  • Eight calendar days in total.
  • Friday 25 December is Christmas Day.
  • Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th are the weekend.
  • Monday 28 December is the substitute for Boxing Day, which fell on the Saturday.
  • That leaves the 24th, 29th, 30th and 31st: four working days.

Boxing Day itself is not deducted twice — it was already a Saturday. Only its substitute Monday costs a working day.

Data and limitations

  • National holidays only. Holiday calendar last reviewed 30 July 2026.
  • Half-day closures, company shutdowns and industry-specific non-working days are not included.
  • Results are for general planning. Confirm any deadline that carries a legal or contractual consequence against the relevant official calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Are both the start and end dates counted?

By default yes, because the usual question is "how many working days do I have to get this done", and that includes today. Untick either box to exclude that endpoint. The result always states which reading it used.

Which public holidays are included?

National holidays for the country you choose. Regional, state, provincial and company holidays are not included — Scotland and England differ, US states add their own days, and German states observe holidays the national calendar does not. Check your local calendar if a deadline is contractual.

What if a holiday falls on a weekend?

It costs you nothing, because the day was already excluded. In the UK and Ireland a substitute weekday is created instead, and that substitute is the day deducted. In Germany, France, Spain and Italy no substitute is given, so a Saturday holiday simply disappears.

Can I use a weekend other than Saturday and Sunday?

Yes. Tick whichever days are non-working for you. A Friday–Saturday weekend is standard across much of the Middle East, and shift patterns often use a single rest day. Your choice is remembered for the other calculators on this site.

Why does my answer differ from another calculator?

Almost always because of endpoint counting or the holiday calendar. Check whether the other tool counts both endpoints, and whether it is applying the same country and the same substitute-day rules.