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Part of Days between dates: six honest answers to one simple-looking pair
Days between dates by country: the directory, with corrections
Counting days between dates across a border turns on the working week, whose closure list applies, the governing zone, and which endpoints count.
What to take away
Counting calendar days between two dates works anywhere on earth. Counting days between dates by country does not. A working day is a local fact, and the country name in the contract rarely settles it.
- Monday to Friday is a convention, not a law of nature.
- The country name is the weakest part of a cross-border deadline. The office that set the deadline decides which calendar governs.
- Store the working week, the closure list with its as-of date, the zone, and the endpoint convention next to the answer.
- Store the zone as a database identifier, not an offset. An offset is a number; a time zone is a rule about offsets over time.
- Where regional variation exists, name the region. Canada, the United States, Australia and Germany all run more than one closure list inside one border.
The directory, and what each entry corrects
| Country or bloc | What the rule is | The correction to carry |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Federal filing and remittance dates come from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and a date landing on a weekend or a public holiday moves to the next business day | Provincial holidays are not federal holidays. A Calgary office and a Montreal office close on different days |
| United States | Federal holidays are set by statute (5 U.S.C. 6103); state court rules are separate documents | A federal court deadline and a state court deadline in the same city can land two days apart |
| Quebec | The Civil Code of Quebec sets how time is counted, including the treatment of the first and last day | Quebec counting is not common-law counting, even for a contract signed in English |
| United Kingdom | Bank holidays are set separately for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | One UK counterparty can be open when another is shut |
| European Union | TARGET2 closing days govern settlement; national holidays do not all close the system | A euro payment can settle on a day the sender's own country is closed |
| Australia | Public holidays are declared by state and territory, and some are declared at short notice | A list captured in January can be wrong by March |
| Germany | Public holidays are set by Land, not by the federal government | Two German offices in one company can keep different calendars |
| Japan | National holidays include substitute holidays when one falls on a Sunday | A list without the substitute rule undercounts by one day a year or more |
| Gulf states | The rest pair is Friday and Saturday, or Friday alone, depending on the country and the sector | A Monday-to-Friday count run against a Gulf counterparty is wrong by a day a week |
| Saudi Arabia | The public-sector weekend is Friday and Saturday, changed from Thursday and Friday in 2013. Official holidays follow the Umm al-Qura calendar, so Eid dates shift about 11 days earlier each Gregorian year | A fixed Gregorian list of Saudi holidays will be wrong within a year |
| United Arab Emirates | Federal offices moved to a Saturday and Sunday weekend in 2022; many private firms followed. Public holidays are announced by the Cabinet | A UAE bank and a UAE ministry can keep different weeks |
| Mexico | The Federal Labor Law sets Sunday as the weekly rest day. Official holidays are published by the Secretaría de Gobernación (Segob) | Banks close on additional days that are not statutory holidays for private employers |
| Brazil | National holidays are set by federal law, including Lei 662/1949 and Lei 10.607/2002. Carnival and Corpus Christi are not federal holidays | State and municipal holidays add days that a federal list misses |
| India | Three national holidays are fixed: Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15), and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2). The central government notifies gazetted holidays each year, and states publish their own lists | A company in Mumbai can be open when a company in Chennai is closed |
| China | The State Council publishes the annual holiday schedule with make-up work days, moving weekends to create continuous breaks | A Chinese office may work a Saturday to offset a holiday week |
| Israel | The weekend for most offices is Friday and Saturday. Public holidays are set by law, and some are half days | A Sunday-to-Thursday count against an Israeli counterparty is wrong |
| Singapore | The Holidays Act sets public holidays. When a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday | A list without the Monday rule undercounts |
| South Africa | The Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994 sets holidays. When a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is a public holiday | A Sunday holiday shifts the count by one day |
| Indonesia | National holidays are set each year by a joint decree of three ministers. Many offices take a half day on Friday | A Friday deadline can miss a half day |
| South Korea | Public holidays are set by presidential decree, with substitute holidays for some dates | A list without substitute rules can undercount |
| Nigeria | The Public Holidays Act allows the federal government to declare holidays. Religious festivals follow the lunar calendar | Dates shift each year |
| Turkey | Public holidays are set by Law 2429. Religious holidays follow the lunar calendar | A Gregorian list will be wrong within a year |
Each row is a starting point, not a rule to apply. The authority named in the row publishes the current version, and that version is the one that counts.
Whose calendar governs each place
Country or bloc
- Canada
- CRA federal dates
- United States
- Statute 5 USC 6103
- Quebec
- Civil Code counting
- United Kingdom
- Four bank holiday lists
- European Union
- TARGET2 closing days
- Australia
- State and territory
- Germany
- Set by Land
Rule source
- Canada
- Provinces differ
- United States
- State courts separate
- Quebec
- Not common law
- United Kingdom
- One UK open, one shut
- European Union
- Settles on local holiday
- Australia
- Short-notice changes
- Germany
- Offices differ
Correction to carry
- Canada
- United States
- Quebec
- United Kingdom
- European Union
- Australia
- Germany
Variable one: the working week
Monday to Friday is a convention, not a law of nature. Elsewhere the rest days fall on a different pair, or there is one rest day rather than two, or the week includes a half day that counts for some purposes and not others.
Saudi Arabia moved its public-sector weekend to Friday and Saturday in 2013. The United Arab Emirates moved federal offices to Saturday and Sunday in 2022. Israel keeps Friday and Saturday for most offices. Mexico's Federal Labor Law sets Sunday as the weekly rest day.
The working week can also differ inside one country. Public offices and private employers do not always keep the same week. Banks and courts keep their own. A multinational's local subsidiary often runs the head office week rather than the local one. Export and trading desks work the week their customers work.
There is no reliable lookup for this. The only trustworthy source for a counterparty's working week is the counterparty. The range of practice is set out under workweek and weekend.
Variable two: whose closures
A national list, a regional list and a sector list are three separate documents. A deadline turns on exactly one of them, and which one depends on who set the deadline, not on where either party sits.
The lists move. Days get added, sometimes at short notice. A list captured months ago may no longer be current. Take it from the body whose deadline you are counting toward, and take it close to when you need it. Never from a general calendar page, this site included.
In the United States, federal holidays come from statute, while state court deadlines follow state rules. In Canada, the CRA publishes federal dates, but Alberta and Quebec add their own. In India, the central gazetted list and the state lists differ.
Variable three: where the day begins and ends
Two parties in different zones are on different calendar dates for part of every day. "By the end of the 14th" ends at two different instants, and the earlier one can be most of a day ahead.
For an interval of several working days this is usually noise. For the last day it is the whole question. A deadline written as a bare date is incomplete in any cross-border arrangement. A date needs a time and a zone before it points at a moment.
The IANA time zone database lists identifiers such as America/New_York and Asia/Riyadh. Those names carry the offset history, including daylight saving changes.
Variable four: which endpoints count
Whether the first day counts, whether the last day counts, and whether "clear days" means neither: these defaults differ between legal and commercial traditions. Two people can each apply the convention they have used their whole careers and land a day or two apart, with neither doing anything wrong.
The forward and backward cases behave differently, so agreeing a convention for one direction does not settle the other. Counting backwards has its own asymmetries.
Quebec's Civil Code treats the first and last day under its own rules. English common law often excludes the first day and includes the last. Those two defaults can differ by two days on a short interval.
Worked example: one start date, four answers
Start on Monday 3 March. The obligation is ten working days.
One sentence, four landing dates
Assumption set
- Mon-Fri, first day counts
- Fri 14 March
- Mon-Fri, first day excluded
- Mon 17 March
- Sun-Thu, first day counts
- Thu 13 March
- Mon-Fri, one closure inside
- Mon 17 March
Landing date
- Mon-Fri, first day counts
- 0
- Mon-Fri, first day excluded
- 3
- Sun-Thu, first day counts
- 1
- Mon-Fri, one closure inside
- 3
Days apart
- Mon-Fri, first day counts
- Mon-Fri, first day excluded
- Sun-Thu, first day counts
- Mon-Fri, one closure inside
Landing date
- Mon to Fri, no closures, first day counts
- Friday 14 March
- Mon to Fri, no closures, first day excluded
- Monday 17 March
- Sun to Thu week, no closures, first day counts
- Thursday 13 March
- Mon to Fri, one national closure inside the window, first day counts
- Monday 17 March
Days from the first answer
- Mon to Fri, no closures, first day counts
- 0
- Mon to Fri, no closures, first day excluded
- 3
- Sun to Thu week, no closures, first day counts
- 1
- Mon to Fri, one national closure inside the window, first day counts
- 3
Four honest readings of one sentence, five days apart at the extremes. None of them is anyone's error. They are four unstated assumptions meeting.
What to write into the agreement
Five lines close nearly all of it:
- Name the working days.Write out which days of the week are working days. Do not write "business days" and hope.
- Name the calendar's publisher and the region.A country name is not enough where regional variation exists. In Canada, write "CRA federal" or "Quebec". In Germany, write the Land.
- State the zone.Use a named zone rather than an abbreviation, and put it on every stated time.
- State the endpoint convention.Whether the first day counts, and whether the last does.
- State the actual date next to the interval."Within ten business days (by 17 March)" is the cheapest insurance in commercial drafting. If the interval and the stated date ever disagree, you have found a wrong assumption instead of a missed deadline.
What to ask before you agree anything
A short list, answerable in one email, worth more than any research you can do at your desk:
- Which days of the week is the relevant office open?
- Are there half days, and do they count as working days for deadline purposes?
- Whose closure list do you follow, and where is it published?
- Which office's calendar governs if we are in different places?
- What zone are your stated times in?
Ask about the relevant office, not the company. Large organizations contain several answers.
When calendar days are the better unit
There is an underused option in cross-border drafting: count calendar days instead.
Calendar days need no shared calendar, working-week agreement, or holiday list. They stay the same number everywhere and cannot drift when a list is amended.
The cost: a deadline may fall on a day one side does not work. A single fallback clause moves it to the next day both parties work, set by a named calendar.
For a long interval where the point is elapsed time rather than effort, calendar days plus a fallback is simpler and more reliable than business days plus four negotiated definitions. Working days earn their complexity when the interval represents work someone has to do. When it represents waiting, they usually do not.
Recording what you counted
Store the working week you used, the closure list and its as-of date, the zone, and the endpoint convention next to the answer. A date on its own cannot be checked, and six months later "how did we get this" is the only question anyone asks.
Common questions
Which of the four variables should be settled first?
The working week, because it is the only one that can move the answer by a day a week rather than by a day. What to pin down in an agreement is under how country calendars work.
If both sides count honestly and get different numbers, who is right?
Both, until the agreement says which calendar governs. That is a drafting gap rather than an arithmetic dispute, and it is settled by naming one calendar, or by naming the intersection or the union of the two.
Does the zone matter if the deadline is a whole day rather than a time?
Yes, because the zone decides which day a moment falls in. A submission at half past eleven at night is one date in the sender's zone and the next date in the receiver's, and the count changes with it.
When is a cross-border count better handled in hours?
When the obligation is really about response effort rather than elapsed calendar time. That machinery, including whose window applies, is under working hours.
