Working days or business days?
Working days are the days actually worked, usually Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. French business days (« jours ouvrables ») run Monday to Saturday, excluding public holidays. You can choose which weekdays are worked (4-day week, Saturday work…).
Public holidays
11 statutory holidays in mainland France; Easter and the holidays based on it (Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday) are recalculated every year. Alsace-Moselle adds Good Friday and St Stephen's Day; overseas departments add the abolition of slavery. Whit Monday may be worked (solidarity day).
Is the last day counted?
It depends on the convention, which is why results differ between sites. Tick or untick “Count the last day”.
How to use it
- Difference between two dates: enter a start and an end date. You get calendar days, working days (Monday to Friday excluding holidays) and business days (Monday to Saturday excluding holidays, as used in France), plus the gap in weeks, months and years. Tick “count the last day” for leave or a contract that includes the end date.
- Add or subtract a duration: start from a date and add calendar, working or business days, weeks, months or years.
- Choose the zone for public holidays: metropolitan France, Alsace-Moselle (Good Friday and 26 December added), Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion or Mayotte (abolition of slavery day). Say whether the “solidarity day” is worked.
- Age and date facts: exact age in years, months and days; weekday, ISO week number, day of the year.
- Countdown to an event, with a shareable link.
- Year calendar: holidays, possible bridge days and working days per month, to print or export to a calendar (.ics) or a spreadsheet.
Examples
- 2026 in metropolitan France: 252 working days and 303 business days. Nine public holidays fall on weekdays.
- 10 working days from Friday 18 December 2026: with Christmas and New Year, the deadline is Tuesday 5 January 2027.
- From 1 to 31 March: a 30-day gap, but 31 days if you count both the first and last day (a rental or sick leave, for instance).
- Adding one month to 31 January: the result is moved to the last day of February (28 or 29), as banks and most software do.
Calendar, working and business days
- Calendar days: every day, weekends and holidays included.
- Working days (jours ouvrés): days actually worked, usually Monday to Friday. French employees get 25 working days of paid leave a year.
- Business days (jours ouvrables): Monday to Saturday excluding holidays, still used for some French leave rules (30 business days a year).
How are holidays computed?
Fixed holidays (1 January, 1 and 8 May, 14 July, 15 August, 1 and 11 November, 25 December) are straightforward. Movable ones depend on Easter, computed with the Meeus-Jones-Butcher algorithm: Easter Monday (+1 day), Ascension (+39) and Whit Monday (+50). For a legal or contractual deadline, always check the specific rules of the applicable text (for example, a deadline ending on a weekend or holiday may be extended).
Guide written and checked by Erwan Hautot · updated 5 November 2026.