The average month contains 21–23 working days, assuming a standard Monday-to-Friday week with no public holidays. The exact number shifts depending on the month, the year, and which public holidays fall on weekdays, so it's worth knowing the precise figure for each month rather than assuming a fixed number.
Whether you're processing payroll, planning project deadlines, or calculating annual leave entitlement, working days matter more than calendar days. This guide covers the full 2026 breakdown by month, explains how bank holidays affect your total, and includes specific figures for both UK and US working calendars.
The standard workweek
The standard workweek spans five days, but how this translates into working hours can vary depending on industries, roles, and schedules.
Overview of the 40-hour workweek
The 40-hour workweek, often called the "Monday to Friday work schedule," has been the backbone of labour markets for decades. In the US, it was formally established in 1938 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which set a precedent for working hours across many industries. Limiting employees to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week created the standard work week structure most full-time schedules still follow.
This standard isn't universal. Variations exist depending on roles, sectors, and company policies, but it remains the baseline for full-time employees and the foundation for most payroll and scheduling systems.
Variations across industries and roles
Not every business sticks to the traditional five-day, 40-hour model. Industry demands, time zones, and local regulations all shape how work schedules are structured.
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Shift work and rotating shifts: Healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing often rely on rotating shifts, overnight shifts, and flexible hours to keep operations running. Employees may work weekends or nights rather than a standard Monday-to-Friday pattern.
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Part-time employees: Many roles involve fewer working days or hours than the standard 40-hour setup. Part-time employees might work three or four days a week, which affects how you calculate average working days for specific teams.
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Remote work and flexible arrangements: Flexible schedules blur the traditional boundaries of a working week. Many businesses allow compressed hours or non-standard start and end times.
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Seasonal and contract roles: These often come with non-standard schedules and varying hours depending on project timelines.
These variations make a fixed "average working days per month" figure a starting point, not an absolute, especially once you factor in public holidays and bank holidays.
How many working days are in each month of 2026?
The number of working days in a month ranges from 20 (February) to 23 (March, May, August), based purely on weekday count with no public holidays removed. The table below shows the exact breakdown for 2026.
| Month | Total Days | Weekends (Sat–Sun) | Working Days (Mon–Fri) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 22 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 20 |
| March | 31 | 8 | 23 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 22 |
| May | 31 | 8 | 23 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 22 |
| July | 31 | 10 | 21 |
| August | 31 | 8 | 23 |
| September | 30 | 9 | 21 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 22 |
| November | 30 | 8 | 22 |
| December | 31 | 9 | 22 |
Weekends excluded. Public holidays not yet deducted; see sections below.
How many working days are in each month in the UK? (2026)
The UK has eight bank holidays in England and Wales in 2026 (nine in Scotland, ten in Northern Ireland). When deducted from the base weekday count, the effective working days per month look like this:
| Month | Base Working Days | UK Bank Holidays (England & Wales) | Effective Working Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 1 (New Year's Day, 1 Jan) | 21 |
| February | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| March | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| April | 22 | 2 (Good Friday 3 Apr, Easter Monday 6 Apr) | 20 |
| May | 23 | 2 (Early May Bank Holiday 4 May, Spring Bank Holiday 25 May) | 21 |
| June | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| July | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| August | 23 | 1 (Summer Bank Holiday, 31 Aug) | 22 |
| September | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| October | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| November | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| December | 22 | 2 (Christmas Day 25 Dec, Boxing Day 28 Dec) | 20 |
Total effective working days in 2026 (England & Wales): approximately 252, once all bank holidays falling on weekdays are removed.
Note: Scotland and Northern Ireland have additional bank holidays. Always check the official UK government bank holidays list for the most current dates.
If your team works variable schedules, Shiftbase's absence management automatically accounts for bank holidays and leave balances so your working day counts stay accurate without manual adjustments.
Impact of leap years on workdays
Every four years, a leap year adds an extra day to February, making it 29 days instead of 28. In a leap year, February can have 21 working days rather than the usual 20, depending on how the days fall. This also affects the total working day count for the year.
Employers should factor this in when calculating payroll, scheduling projects, or mapping out annual leave entitlement. Even one extra business day can shift project timelines and holiday planning.
How do public holidays affect the number of working days?
Public holidays reduce the effective working day count in any given month. How much they affect your total depends on which country and region you're in.
US federal holidays in 2026
The United States observes 11 official federal holidays each year. Some have fixed dates; others are tied to a specific weekday in a given month.
| Federal Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January (fixed) |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Third Monday in January |
| Washington's Birthday | Third Monday in February |
| Memorial Day | Last Monday in May |
| Independence Day | 4 July (fixed) |
| Labor Day | First Monday in September |
| Columbus Day | Second Monday in October |
| Veterans Day | 11 November (fixed) |
| Thanksgiving Day | Fourth Thursday in November |
| Christmas Day | 25 December (fixed) |
If a holiday falls on a weekend, its observance shifts to the nearest weekday. To calculate effective US working days for a given month, subtract both weekend days and any federal holidays that fall on weekdays.
November example:
- Total days: 30
- Weekend days: 8
- Federal holidays on weekdays: 2 (Veterans Day and Thanksgiving)
- Effective working days: 20
State-specific holidays (US)
Many US states observe additional holidays beyond the federal list; for example, Patriot's Day in Massachusetts (third Monday in April) and Cesar Chavez Day in California (31 March). These reduce working days further for employees in those states.
Practical steps for US employers:
- Check state-level holiday calendars and confirm whether holidays are paid or unpaid under local law
- Update payroll systems to reflect state holidays accurately
- Communicate holiday calendars to employees early so annual leave planning isn't disrupted
How do company policies affect working days?
Paid time off and leave policies
Annual leave, sick leave, and company-specific holidays all subtract from the effective number of working days in a month. Some companies offer additional days beyond statutory minimums; for example, a discretionary day off between Christmas and New Year. These reduce business days further and need to be factored into payroll and project planning.
In the UK, full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 28 days' annual leave per year (including bank holidays). In the US, leave entitlement varies by company policy rather than statute.
Flexible work arrangements
The growth of remote work and compressed schedules means "working days" no longer always means Monday to Friday. Some employees work four longer days; others work non-standard patterns across a seven-day week. For payroll and planning purposes, it's worth defining what counts as a working day for your specific team rather than assuming the standard model applies universally.
Why does the working day count matter for payroll and scheduling?
Accurate working day counts are the foundation of several core business processes.
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Payroll accuracy: Payroll calculations depend on the number of days or hours worked in a given period. Miscounting working days — especially around bank holidays or leave — leads to overpayments, underpayments, and correction cycles.
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Project scheduling: Realistic deadlines require knowing how many actual working days exist between a start date and end date. A month with several bank holidays has meaningfully fewer productive days than the table above suggests.
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Annual leave entitlement: Leave balances accrue and deplete against working days, not calendar days. Getting this wrong creates disputes and compliance risk, particularly in countries like the UK and Germany where statutory leave entitlements are legally enforceable.
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Employee wellbeing: Scheduling that doesn't account for working day variation can result in uneven workloads across months. Managers who plan against actual available days (not assumed averages) build more realistic, sustainable rosters.
Manage working days without the manual counting
Tracking working days across months, bank holidays, and varying leave policies is straightforward on paper, but it compounds quickly when you're managing a team. Forgotten bank holidays in payroll, leave balances calculated against calendar days instead of working days, schedules built without knowing who's actually available: these are the failure modes that eat time every month.
Shiftbase handles it automatically. Employee scheduling builds rosters against real working day availability. Time tracking captures actual hours worked and feeds them to payroll without manual correction. Absence management tracks leave balances against working days, not calendar days, and flags gaps in the schedule the moment they appear.
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