Fixed-date public holidays, such as Christmas Day, sometimes land on a Saturday or Sunday. Some countries then give a weekday off instead, some do not, and some do it only for certain holidays. If you count working days, this matters: a substitute day removes a working day that would otherwise be available.
This article explains the general idea and gives examples from three countries. The rules differ by country, region and employer, so treat the examples as illustrations and check the official government holiday list for the place and year you need.
The terms you will see
- Substitute day (common in the UK and Australia): a weekday, usually the following Monday, that becomes a holiday because the original date fell on a weekend.
- Observed holiday (common in the US): the day on which a holiday is treated as taking place for time-off purposes, when that differs from the actual date.
- Additional holiday: a term some Australian jurisdictions use for an extra weekday declared alongside a weekend holiday.
United States: federal observed holidays
For most US federal employees (those working Monday to Friday), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) gives this rule:
- If a federal holiday falls on a Saturday, it is observed on the preceding Friday.
- If it falls on a Sunday, it is observed on the following Monday.
Examples:
- Independence Day, Saturday 4 July 2026, is observed on Friday 3 July 2026.
- Christmas Day, Saturday 25 December 2027, is observed on Friday 24 December 2027.
- Independence Day, Sunday 4 July 2027, is observed on Monday 5 July 2027.
When New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday, the observed day moves back to Friday 31 December of the previous year.
Caveats:
- This rule is for federal employees on a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule. OPM publishes separate “in lieu of” rules for other schedules, such as a Tuesday-to-Saturday week, and some holidays have their own exceptions.
- States set their own holidays for state employees, and they do not always match the federal list.
- Private employers decide their own holiday policies. Many follow the federal pattern, but there is no general requirement for them to do so.
- Banks and financial markets publish their own schedules. For example, the Federal Reserve Banks stay open on the Friday before a Saturday holiday (the Federal Reserve Board itself closes), and close on the Monday after a Sunday holiday.
United Kingdom: substitute bank holidays
In the UK, when a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute weekday is normally declared, usually the following Monday. When two holidays fall on the same weekend, such as Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the substitutes run on consecutive weekdays.
Examples:
- In 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday and Boxing Day is a Saturday, so in England and Wales Monday 28 December 2026 is the substitute for Boxing Day.
- In 2027, Christmas Day is a Saturday and Boxing Day a Sunday. In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Monday 27 December 2027 is the substitute for Christmas Day and Tuesday 28 December 2027 is the substitute for Boxing Day.
Check GOV.UK for the official list before relying on these dates.
Points to keep in mind:
- England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own bank holiday lists. Scotland, for example, has 2 January and St Andrew’s Day, and Northern Ireland has St Patrick’s Day and 12 July.
- There is no statutory right to paid leave on bank holidays. Whether you get them off, and whether they count towards your annual leave, depends on your contract.
The official list for each part of the UK is published on GOV.UK.
Australia: it depends on the state or territory
Australia’s public holidays are set by each state and territory, so weekend rules differ across the country. When a holiday falls on a weekend, some jurisdictions add a weekday holiday and others do not, and the approach can differ between holidays.
Anzac Day in 2026 shows this clearly. It fell on Saturday 25 April. According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory also had a public holiday on Monday 27 April, while the other states and territories did not.
Check the Fair Work Ombudsman or the relevant state or territory government for official lists, as some holidays apply only in certain regions.
Why this matters when counting working days
Substitute days are easy to miss if you keep a holiday list of fixed dates only. Common problems include:
- Counting the weekend date and forgetting the weekday. The weekend date does not reduce working days in a Saturday–Sunday week. The substitute does.
- Applying one country’s rule to another. The US moves Saturday holidays to Friday; the UK usually moves them to Monday.
- Assuming a substitute always exists. In some countries and for some holidays, nothing is moved.
Worked example
You need to count working days in England from Monday 21 December 2026 to Thursday 31 December 2026, inclusive.
- There are 9 weekdays in that range.
- Friday 25 December is Christmas Day: subtract 1.
- Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December, so it does not affect weekdays, but its substitute, Monday 28 December, does: subtract 1.
That leaves 7 working days. Forget the substitute and you would wrongly count 8. (Because this range includes both the start and end dates, tick both “Include” boxes if you check it in our calculator.)
Checking the result
The working days calculator covers 41 countries, and its holiday data includes substitute and observed days where the country defines them, such as Monday 28 December 2026 in England and Monday 27 April 2026 in New South Wales, Western Australia and the ACT. A holiday that lands on a weekend is counted once, as a weekend day, so it is never deducted twice. Rules change and data can lag behind announcements, so for anything important, compare the result with the official list. This article is general information, not legal or employment advice.