Knowing how many working days there are in a month is pretty useful. It gives you a good idea of how your time will be divided when planning your work schedule or mapping out projects and deadlines.

Below, we’ll give you the average amounts, and show you how to calculate exact figures for the year or month you’re considering.

For clarity, a working day is usually taken to mean any day between Monday – Friday, when businesses are traditionally open.

A calendar day, however, is literally any day of the week; Monday to Sunday.

Here’s how it all works.

How the number of working days in a month varies

The number of working days in each month can vary quite a bit because of public holidays and personal leave, but on average, you can expect approximately 20 to 22 working days every month. This assumes a traditional Monday to Friday workweek.

Calculating the exact number of working days in a particular month takes a bit more effort. You need to consider factors such as public holidays, which can differ depending on where you live in the UK.

To determine the baseline number of working days in a month, begin with the standard five-day work week, which excludes weekends. Here's a basic calculation:

  • Mondays to Fridays: 5 days per week
  • Weeks per month: Typically 4 to 5 weeks
  • Baseline working days per month: 20 to 23 days

Adjust for public and bank holidays

Looking at specific months, you’ll need to adjust that figure to account for public and bank holidays, which vary by country. The entire UK shares specific holidays like New Year's Day and Christmas Day, but the constituent nations have different public holidays too, like Northern Ireland’s St. Patrick's Day in March.

And the positioning changes each year. If Christmas Day falls on a weekday, that would reduce the number of business days for that month. Keep an eye on the yearly calendar for the exact dates of these holidays, as they’ll impact the total number of working days in various months.

In order to look at a specific person’s working days in a month, there are a few more bits to look at. It depends on how many days they’re scheduled for in total, and how many days’ annual leave they want to take.

The maximum number hours you can work in a week is 48, according to the Working Time Regulations. The amount of hours in a working day varies of course, so there’s no particular maximum number of days you can work in a month. (You could technically work every day in a month if it was only 1.5 hours a day, but that would be a very strange thing to do.)

Company policy comes into play here as well. Some companies offer more holidays than the statutory minimum, and full-time workers will have different work schedules compared to part-time colleagues.

As well as these, flexible working hours could further adjust the number of working days in a month, especially for those on zero-hours contracts, seasonal workers, or anyone else who doesn’t work a 40-hour work week.

Manual calculations

To manually calculate working days, you begin with the total number of days in the month and then subtract any non-working days. In a standard calendar year, it’s fairly simple to work out. Here's a quick breakdown:

  • Start date to end date: Note the calendar date when the month starts and ends.
  • Weekends: Deduct the weekend days which usually total 8 in a full four-week month.
  • Public holidays: Subtract any public holidays.
  • Leap year: Add an extra day in February if it's a leap year.

This will give you the exact number of working days in that particular month.

You can make your own business days calculator in Excel by using the ‘NETWORKDAYS’ function, which tells you which days in a date range are working ones. (But it wouldn’t be very Timetastic of us to recommend Excel...) In most cases, looking at a calendar and doing some maths is a quicker way to figure it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Calculating the number of working days in a month is important for payroll, staff scheduling, and monitoring a healthy work-life balance. Here are some FAQs to help shed some light on things.

What's the average number of working days in a given month?

A month typically has around 20 to 23 working days, depending on the number of weekdays and the occurrence of public holidays. To count the average working days in a month, remember that most months have more working days than weekends.

How many working hours are there in a month?

If you're curious about the number of working hours you’d get, a typical full-time work schedule involves around 160 to 176 hours per month, depending on the exact number of working days.

Just multiply the number of working days by 8 (or 7.5, or however long your work day is) and you’ll get the exact number of hours.

Are Saturdays included in the count of working days in a month?

Saturdays are usually considered non-working days unless your job involves weekend shifts or is dictated by sector-specific practices.

How do the working days in a month vary each year?

The number of working days varies due to leap years and the shifting dates of public holidays. Each year, you'll need to look at a calendar to determine the specific number of working days.

Can you tell me the number of working days in each month for the current year?

The figure for each month can be found using a working days calculator online or simply by referencing a business calendar, which typically marks out all public holidays and weekends.

Here's a simple list of working days for each month in 2024 in England. It accounts for public holidays, along with the day of the week they fall on, and notes additional dates in Ni and Scotland:

  • January: 22 working days (New Year's Day (Monday))
  • February: 21 working days (No public holidays)
  • March: 21 working days (Good Friday (Friday), but NI has St Patrick’s Day on the 17th which means Monday 18th is a substitute bank holiday)
  • April: 21 working days (Easter Monday (Monday))
  • May: 21 working days (Early May Bank Holiday (Monday), Spring Bank Holiday (Monday))
  • June: 20 working days (No public holidays)
  • July: 23 working days (No public holidays apart from in NI which has the 12th)
  • August: 21 working days (Summer Bank Holiday (Monday), and Scotland has an extra Bank Holiday on the 5th)
  • September: 21 working days (No public holidays)
  • October: 23 working days (No public holidays)
  • November: 21 working days (No public holidays)
  • December: 20 working days (Christmas Day (Wednesday), Boxing Day (Thursday))

In England, 2024 has 254 total working days because it’s a leap year. In 2025, there will be 253.

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