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Business Day Calculator

Switzerland Business Day Calculator

Last reviewed: October 14, 2026 · Holiday data: July 23, 2026

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Calculate working days in Switzerland with eight holidays preselected: the Bundesfeiertag on 1 August, the one holiday federal law fixes, and seven cantonal days. The 26 cantons set their own lists, so the eight are a shared set rather than any one canton's calendar. The holiday list below shows in how many cantons each day is a canton-wide holiday, and the canton pages linked further down apply one canton's own days.

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How Switzerland Business Days Are Defined

The calculator counts Monday to Friday and leaves out Saturday, Sunday and the eight holidays below. For a payment or a contractual deadline, the Code of Obligations decides what a closed day does: under Article 78, a due date or the last day of a period that falls on a Sunday or on a public holiday recognised at the place of performance moves to the next working day, unless the parties agreed otherwise. Which holidays count therefore depends on the canton where the obligation is performed, not on a national list. Article 78 does not name Saturday; for periods set by federal law, or by an authority under it, the Federal Act of 21 June 1963 on the running of periods on Saturdays treats a Saturday like a recognised holiday, as note 40 to the Code records.

Sources for these rules

Checked October 8, 2026. All sources

Switzerland Public Holidays

The eight days the calculator excludes, with the number of cantons in which each one is a canton-wide holiday:

  • Neujahrstag / New Year's Day (1 January): all 26 cantons
  • Karfreitag / Good Friday (variable): 24 cantons, not Ticino or Valais
  • Ostermontag / Easter Monday (variable): 17 cantons
  • Auffahrt / Ascension Day (variable, Thursday): all 26 cantons
  • Pfingstmontag / Whit Monday (variable): 17 cantons
  • Bundesfeiertag / Swiss National Day (1 August): all 26 cantons
  • Weihnachten / Christmas Day (25 December): all 26 cantons
  • Stephanstag / Boxing Day (26 December): 13 to 15 cantons, depending on the year

Federal law fixes one holiday, 1 August, and lets each canton treat up to eight further days like Sundays (Article 20a of the Labour Act); the cantons set the rest. The counts come from each canton's own act, listed below, with Graubünden's Ruhetagsgesetz (BR 520.100, Article 2) naming exactly these eight days. Only canton-wide days are counted: a day a canton leaves to its districts or communes is not. Because the calculator excludes all eight, in a canton that keeps fewer it treats a working day as closed. How we determine holidays →

Sources for these dates

Checked October 8, 2026. All sources

Pair these tools with Swiss B2B workflows

Article 104 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (Obligationenrecht) sets statutory late-payment interest at 5% per annum. Article 102 decides when it starts: where the parties fixed a Verfalltag the debtor is in default once that day closes, and where they did not the creditor has to send a Mahnung first. The Late Payment Interest Calculator computes the running balance for any Swiss invoice; the Invoice Due Date Calculator stages the underlying payment term against the federal holiday calendar.

Sources for these rules

Checked September 10, 2026. All sources

Business days by canton

Zürich →Bern →Vaud →Genève →St. Gallen →Luzern →Ticino →Uri →Schwyz →Obwalden →Nidwalden →Glarus →Zug →Basel-Stadt →Basel-Landschaft →Schaffhausen →Appenzell Innerrhoden →Thurgau →Valais →Neuchâtel →Jura →Fribourg →Solothurn →Aargau →Appenzell Ausserrhoden →

Graubünden is the only canton without a page here: its canton-wide holidays are the eight days this calculator already uses (Ruhetagsgesetz, BR 520.100, Art. 2), and the communes may designate further confessional holidays as local rest days (Art. 3). Aargau sets its holidays district by district (EG ArR, SAR 961.200, § 6): besides the federal 1 August, only Neujahr, Karfreitag, Auffahrt and Weihnacht apply in every district, and its page counts those five days. The list of Appenzell Ausserrhoden (bGS 822.11, Art. 7) has the same days as this calculator, except that the second Christmas day is not kept when Christmas falls on a Monday or a Friday.

Sources for these rules

Checked October 8, 2026. All sources

Sources and verification

Official source: Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft SECO (seco.admin.ch) (opens in a new tab)

Cross-checked against this source on July 23, 2026.

See all official sources →

For informational purposes only

This calculator provides general estimates based on business day counting rules. It does not constitute legal advice. Deadlines in legal, regulatory, or contractual matters may be subject to jurisdiction-specific rules, court orders, or statutory exceptions. Always verify critical deadlines with a qualified professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which holidays are included for Switzerland?
The calculator preselects the federal Bundesfeiertag on 1 August and seven cantonal days: Neujahrstag, Karfreitag, Ostermontag, Auffahrt, Pfingstmontag, Weihnachten and Stephanstag. Canton by canton, Neujahrstag, Auffahrt, Bundesfeiertag and Weihnachten are canton-wide holidays in all 26 cantons; the others are not, and the list above gives each one's count. Each year's dates from 2024 to 2028 are on this site's Switzerland holiday pages. For one canton, open its page; the Advanced options add any other date.
What is the Switzerland workweek?
The calculator counts Monday to Friday as working days, leaves out Saturday and Sunday, and removes the eight holidays listed above.
Why is the Swiss calendar federal only, not cantonal?
Federal law fixes one holiday in Switzerland: 1 August, the Bundesfeiertag. Every other holiday is cantonal, and Art. 20a of the Arbeitsgesetz lets each canton treat up to eight further days as equivalent to a Sunday, so the cantons' lists genuinely differ. This calculator counts 1 August together with seven cantonal days: Neujahrstag, Karfreitag, Ostermontag, Auffahrt, Pfingstmontag, Weihnachten and Stephanstag. Read canton by canton from each canton's own act, only Neujahrstag, Auffahrt and Weihnachten of the seven are canton-wide holidays in every canton: Karfreitag is not one in Ticino or Valais, and Easter Monday, Whit Monday and 26 December are missing from several cantons' lists. Other days are kept in some cantons and are not in this set, Allerheiligen, Fronleichnam and 2 January among them. Each canton page applies that canton's own list.
How does Switzerland handle weekend-falling holidays?
This calculator uses each holiday's actual date and adds no substitute day when one falls on a weekend. Federal law fixes only 1 August and, through Art. 20a of the Arbeitsgesetz, lets each canton equate up to eight more days with Sundays; the rest is cantonal law. One cantonal rule runs the other way: Appenzell Ausserrhoden does not keep the second Christmas day when Christmas falls on a Monday or a Friday (bGS 822.11, Art. 7). For a payment or a contractual deadline, Article 78 of the Code of Obligations moves a due date that falls on a Sunday or on a holiday recognised at the place of performance to the next working day.

Switzerland working days by month

Working-day counts, calendar grids, and Swiss federal holidays for each of the next 13 months.

October 2026November 2026December 2026January 2027February 2027March 2027April 2027May 2027June 2027July 2027August 2027September 2027October 2027

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Related resources

Holidays in Switzerland 2024 →Holidays in Switzerland 2025 →Holidays in Switzerland 2026 →Holidays in Switzerland 2027 →Holidays in Switzerland 2028 →Working days in 2026 →Business vs calendar days →Due dates on weekends or holidays →Business days in a year →Hiring International Contractors →