Working days calculator

Count the working days between two dates

This working days calculator counts the business days between a start date and an end date. It takes out Saturdays, Sundays and the public holidays of the country you pick, then shows the calendar days, the number of weekend days and every holiday in the period by name.

Use it to check a notice period, a payment term of “30 business days” or the billable days in a contract. A second mode works the other way round: give it a date and a number of business days, and it returns the due date.

How to use it

1. Under “Public holidays of”, pick a country. On this page the default is the United States; “United Kingdom (England and Wales)”, “Ireland”, “Canada (federal holidays)” and eight more are in the list, plus “No public holidays”.
2. Under “Working days”, untick the days you do not work. Monday to Friday is ticked by default.
3. On the “Between two dates” tab, enter a “Start date” and an “End date”. “Include end date” is ticked by default; untick it to stop counting the day before.
4. On the “Date + N business days” tab, enter a “Start date”, choose “Add” or “Subtract” and type the “Number of business days”. The start date itself is never counted.

How holidays are handled

US federal holidays follow the federal rule: a holiday that falls on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before, one that falls on a Sunday on the Monday after. In 2026, Independence Day is a Saturday, so the calculator marks Friday, July 3 as the day off. UK bank holidays use substitute days instead: Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, so Monday, December 28 is the bank holiday. Ireland and Canada move fixed-date holidays to the next weekday in the same way. Easter-based holidays (Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday) are worked out from the date of Easter for each year.

Some worked examples for 2026, with the end date included:

• United States, January 1 to December 31: 365 calendar days, 104 weekend days, 11 federal holidays on weekdays, so 250 working days.
• England and Wales, same year: 253 working days.
• US, Wednesday, November 25 plus 3 business days: Thanksgiving is skipped and the due date is Tuesday, December 1, 2026.
• England, Thursday, December 24 plus 2 business days: Christmas Day and the Boxing Day substitute are skipped, so the answer is Wednesday, December 30.

US federal holidays in 2026

State holidays, such as Patriots' Day or the day after Thanksgiving, are not included. If your employer works on Columbus Day, add one day back to the result.

Frequently asked questions

Is the start date counted?

Yes. Between two dates, the start date always counts and the end date counts when “Include end date” is ticked. In the due-date mode the start date is not counted: one business day after an ordinary Thursday is the Friday.

What is the difference between working days and calendar days?

Calendar days count every day, weekends and holidays included. Working days, also called business days, count only the ticked weekdays that are not public holidays. A period of 14 calendar days usually holds 10 working days.

Can I count Saturdays as working days?

Yes, tick “Saturday” under “Working days”. The result also shows a separate figure for Monday to Saturday minus holidays, which some countries use for legal deadlines.

Are past years handled correctly?

Current rules are applied to every year, with known changes built in: Juneteenth from 2021 and the special UK bank holidays of 2011, 2012, 2020, 2022 and 2023. For an older period, check the list of holidays shown under the result.