Working days in Poland 2026: month by month, with working hours
Poland has 253 working days and 2,008 working hours in 2026. A month-by-month table, why August and December have fewer hours than working days suggest, and how to count working days between any two dates.
Poland has 253 working days in 2026, and the full-time working time norm is 2,008 hours. July has the most working days (23). January, February, May and November have the fewest (20 each). August and December have 8 hours less than their working days suggest, because 15 August and 26 December fall on a Saturday.
For any date range, the working days calculator gives the numbers instantly, and the whole year is on the working days and hours in Poland 2026 page.
Working days and hours in Poland 2026 by month
| Month | Working days | Hours (full time) | Public holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20 | 160 | 1 Jan (Thu), 6 Jan (Tue) |
| February | 20 | 160 | none |
| March | 22 | 176 | none |
| April | 21 | 168 | 6 Apr Easter Monday |
| May | 20 | 160 | 1 May (Fri); 3 May and Pentecost on Sunday |
| June | 21 | 168 | 4 Jun Corpus Christi (Thu) |
| July | 23 | 184 | none |
| August | 21 | 160 | 15 Aug on a Saturday |
| September | 22 | 176 | none |
| October | 22 | 176 | none |
| November | 20 | 160 | 11 Nov (Wed); 1 Nov on Sunday |
| December | 21 | 160 | 24 Dec (Thu), 25 Dec (Fri), 26 Dec on a Saturday |
| 2026 | 253 | 2,008 |
Hours are for a full-time job with a one-month settlement period. For part time, scale them down; for longer settlement periods, add up the months in the period.
How to count working days yourself
Three steps:
- Count the Mondays to Fridays in the period.
- Subtract the public holidays that fall on them. A holiday on a Saturday or Sunday changes nothing here.
- When counting from one date to another, decide whether both end dates count. That is the usual reason two people get answers one day apart for the same period.
Example: September 2026 starts on a Tuesday and ends on a Wednesday. There are 22 weekdays and no holidays, so 22 working days and 22 x 8 = 176 hours.
Why August has 21 working days but only 160 hours
Working days and the working time norm are two different numbers. Article 130 of the Polish Labour Code lowers the norm by 8 hours for every public holiday that falls on a day other than Sunday. Saturday is not Sunday, so a Saturday holiday takes 8 hours off the norm without removing a working day.
In practice the employer has to give employees another day off within the same settlement period. In 2026 this happens twice:
- 15 August (Assumption Day, Saturday): 21 working days in August, but a norm of 160 hours, one working day fewer,
- 26 December (second day of Christmas, Saturday): 21 working days in December, a norm of 160 hours.
The mechanism, with examples and edge cases, is covered in working days versus the working time norm.
What is left of 2026
November: 11 November (Independence Day) falls on a Wednesday. Two days of leave on 12 and 13 November give five days off, Wednesday to Sunday. 1 November is a Sunday, so it changes neither working days nor hours.
December: Christmas Eve has been a public holiday since 2025, and in 2026 it falls on a Thursday. 24 to 27 December is four days off without using leave. On top of that comes the day off owed for 26 December falling on a Saturday, which the employer schedules. If it lands in the week after Christmas, four days of leave are enough to be off from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day, and 1 January 2027 is a Friday.
For next year, see public holidays in Poland 2027.
What these numbers are used for
- Hourly pay: rate x norm gives the month's pay. The same job pays for 184 hours in July and 160 in December, a three-day difference.
- Deadlines in working days: "14 working days" skips weekends and public holidays, so in December it ends later than the calendar suggests.
- Overtime: overtime is measured against the hours norm, not the number of days. Adding up the hours themselves is covered in how to count working hours.
- The household budget: a month with 20 working days means fewer commutes and lunches out than one with 23. In Ordiarion the monthly budget sits next to the calendar, so the difference is easy to plan for.