How the count works
The calculator walks through every date in the range. Saturdays and Sundays are dropped (or Sundays only on a six-day week), and so is any public holiday that lands on a day that would otherwise be worked. Both the start and end dates are included unless you untick them, so Monday to Friday of one week gives five working days and Monday to the following Monday gives six. All dates are handled as plain calendar dates, so there is no time-zone drift around midnight.
The Sunday rule in the Public Holidays Act
South Africa has twelve public holidays a year under the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994. The Act adds one rule that changes the count: whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday after it is a public holiday as well. In the years covered here that gives National Women's Day on Sunday 9 August 2026, Human Rights Day on Sunday 21 March 2027 and Day of Goodwill on Sunday 26 December 2027, each followed by a Monday off. There is no matching rule for Saturdays. Human Rights Day (21 March 2026), Day of Goodwill (26 December 2026), Workers Day (1 May 2027) and Christmas Day (25 December 2027) fall on a Saturday, which costs a Monday to Friday business nothing but takes a day off a six-day week.
Worked example: March and April 2027
Easter falls early in 2027, close to Human Rights Day. From 1 March to 30 April 2027 there are 61 calendar days and 45 weekdays. Four public holidays land on weekdays: Human Rights Day (observed) on Monday 22 March 2027, Good Friday on Friday 26 March 2027, Family Day on Monday 29 March 2027 and Freedom Day on Tuesday 27 April 2027. That leaves 41 working days. A project plan that assumed 45 working days over those two months would be almost a week short.
SARS business days and the December break
SARS counts a business day as any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. For objections and appeals under Chapter 9 of the Tax Administration Act it also leaves out 16 December to 15 January, both days inclusive, so dispute deadlines stretch over the holidays. From Monday 14 December 2026 to Friday 22 January 2027 there are 27 ordinary working days, but only 7 business days for a dispute deadline. Tick the 16 December option above to count these periods.
Other SARS periods use ordinary business days, with no December break. A company that receives a final demand for an outstanding return has 21 business days to file before SARS starts charging the monthly late-return penalty. For a demand dated 1 December 2026, the add-days tool above puts the 21st business day on Monday 4 January 2027, after skipping Day of Reconciliation, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Deadlines that move for weekends and holidays
Some deadlines move earlier rather than later. Employees' tax, UIF and SDL must be paid within seven days after month end, and when the seventh is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday the payment is due on the last business day before it. In March 2027 the seventh is a Sunday, so the February EMP201 payment is due on Friday 5 March 2027. The SARS deadline checker lists the adjusted dates for each tax.
Leave, notice and payroll
An employee who takes 21 December 2026 to 8 January 2027 off is away for 19 calendar days but only 13 working days. Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on weekdays inside the period, while Day of Goodwill falls on a Saturday. To check how much leave an employee has built up, use the leave calculator; to work out the last day of a resignation or dismissal, use the notice period calculator. For hourly pay, the monthly table above shows how many working days each month has, which you can feed into the hourly rate converter.
Years covered
Holidays are loaded for 2024 to 2027, taken from the government's published list, with the Sunday rule applied. Ranges that run past 2027 still exclude weekends, but the calculator flags the missing year so you do not rely on a count that ignores its holidays. A once-off public holiday, such as an election day, is only known once it is announced, so check gov.za if your range includes an election year.
Frequently asked questions
How many working days are there in 2026?
251 on a Monday to Friday week, after taking out the public holidays that fall on weekdays. On a six-day week, counting Saturdays, there are 301.
How many working days are there in 2027?
251 from Monday to Friday, or 301 on a six-day week. Two holidays fall on a Sunday in 2027, Human Rights Day and the Day of Goodwill, so the Mondays after them are public holidays too.
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, is Monday off?
Yes. The Public Holidays Act says that whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday. The calculator already includes those Mondays.
What happens when a public holiday falls on a Saturday?
Nothing moves. The Act only shifts Sunday holidays, so a Saturday holiday costs a five-day business no working days. If your staff work Saturdays, tick the six-day option and the Saturday holiday comes off the count.
Does SARS count the December holidays as business days?
For most purposes SARS counts any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. For objections and appeals under Chapter 9 of the Tax Administration Act, the days from 16 December to 15 January are also left out. Tick that option to count a dispute deadline.
Are the start and end dates included?
By default, yes: Monday to Friday of the same week is five working days. Untick either box to leave that date out, which suits periods that only start running on the day after an event.
Which years does the calculator cover?
Public holidays are loaded for 2024 to 2027. Weekends are counted for any year, but if your range runs into a year outside that list the result will not exclude that year's holidays, and the calculator warns you.