How to count working days between two dates in the UK
Counting working days comes up all the time: notice periods, invoice terms, project deadlines and holiday allowance. The method is simple, but bank holidays catch people out.
Step 1: count the weekdays
Put your two dates into the date calculator. It shows the total days and the number of weekdays (Monday to Friday) between them. It counts from the start date up to, but not including, the end date, so if you want to include the last day, set the end date one day later.
Step 2: take off bank holidays
Bank holidays are different in each part of the UK:
| Nation | Bank holidays a year | Extra or different days |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 8 | Easter Monday, late August |
| Scotland | 9 | 2 January, early August, St Andrew's Day; no Easter Monday |
| Northern Ireland | 10 | St Patrick's Day (17 March), Battle of the Boyne (12 July) |
When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute day is usually given on the following weekday, so check the official list for the year on GOV.UK.
A worked example
Say you hand in four weeks' notice on Monday 30 November 2026. Four weeks later is Monday 28 December. That's 20 weekdays, but Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall in that time. Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, so the substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December. Only Christmas Day falls inside the four weeks, so you'd work 19 days.
Calendar days or working days?
Always check which one applies. Notice periods in employment contracts are usually in weeks or calendar months. Many invoice terms, such as "30 days", mean calendar days unless they say otherwise. Legal and court deadlines have their own rules, so check carefully.
Count your dates now
Use the date calculator to count the days between any two dates, or to add or subtract days from a date.