What counts as a business day
A business day is a weekday that is not a public holiday. In the US and UK that means Monday to Friday, minus the holidays that fall on those days. A year has 260 to 262 weekdays, depending on which weekday it starts on and whether it is a leap year. Federal and bank holidays then remove about 8 to 11 more. The rest, usually around 250, are the days that payroll, shipping estimates, legal notice periods and “allow 5 to 7 business days” promises are measured in.
Holidays that fall on a weekend do not cost a second day, because the rules move them. In the US a Saturday holiday is observed on the Friday before and a Sunday holiday on the Monday after. In England & Wales a weekend holiday gets a substitute weekday, normally the next Monday. When Christmas and Boxing Day both fall on a weekend, the substitutes are Monday and Tuesday. The calculator uses the observed and substitute dates, because those are the days offices are actually closed.
Counting a range vs counting to a deadline
The two tabs answer different questions, and they treat the start date differently on purpose:
- Count working dayscovers a period: “how many working days are there in October?” or “how many days of leave does 3 to 14 March use?” Both ends count by default, because a period from the 3rd to the 14th includes both days. Untick the box if your rule excludes the end date.
- Find a deadlinecounts forward or back from an event: “respond within 10 business days of receipt”. The day of the event is day zero, and counting starts the next business day. One business day after a Friday is Monday, and 5 business days after a Monday is the next Monday.
Where business-day rules show up
- Payments and banking. ACH and BACS transfers settle on banking days, so money sent on a Friday before a holiday Monday may not arrive until Tuesday.
- Employment. Notice periods, pay dates that move when they fall on a holiday, and leave balances are usually counted in working days. A two-week holiday that spans a bank holiday uses one day less of leave.
- Consumer rights and refunds. Many refund policies and statutory response times are given in business days. A “14-day” promise and a “10 business day” promise are often about the same length.
- Shipping. “Ships in 3 to 5 business days” for an order placed on Thanksgiving means the following Tuesday at the earliest and Thursday at the latest.
If you only need calendar days between two dates, the days between dates calculator is quicker. To move a date by months or years, use the date calculator. If you are working out how many hours a salary covers, the hourly-to-salary converter uses a standard 2,080-hour year (260 weekdays × 8 hours) that you can compare with the working-day totals above.
What the calculator does not know
It covers national public holidays only. Not included: US state holidays (for example Cesar Chavez Day in California or Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts), Scottish and Northern Irish bank holidays (Scotland takes January 2 and St Andrew’s Day, and Northern Ireland takes St Patrick’s Day and July 12), school holidays, and company shutdown days. The day after Thanksgiving is a holiday for many US employers but is not a federal one. Future one-off holidays, such as the UK’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, are added once they are announced. If your workplace has extra days off, subtract them from the result.