Working Days in Norway 2026 and 2027

The number of working days (arbeidsdager) in Norway changes from year to year. A year has 52 weeks and one or two extra days, and the public holidays (helligdager) fall on different weekdays each year, because Easter moves. This page counts Monday to Friday, subtracts the Norwegian public holidays that fall on a weekday, and multiplies by your daily hours. You can count a whole year, month by month, or any period between two dates. The dates of the holidays themselves are on the Norway public holidays calculator.

Working days per year, 2024 to 2030

In this period 2027 has the most working days (255) and 2028 the fewest (251), because the number of holidays that land on a weekend varies. A holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday gives no extra day off, and the Acts do not move it to another day (your contract could).

Worked example: 2026 and 2027

2026 has 261 weekdays. 8 public holidays fall on a weekday: New Year's Day (Thu 1 Jan), Maundy Thursday (Thu 2 Apr), Good Friday (Fri 3 Apr), Easter Monday (Mon 6 Apr), Labour Day (Fri 1 May), Ascension Day (Thu 14 May), Whit Monday (Mon 25 May), Christmas Day (Fri 25 Dec). That leaves 253 working days, or 1,897.5 hours at 7.5 hours a day. Take 25 weekdays of holiday and 228 days (1,710 hours) remain. May is the shortest month, with only 18 working days, and 22 in October. 2027 has 261 weekdays and 6 weekday holidays (New Year's Day (Fri 1 Jan), Maundy Thursday (Thu 25 Mar), Good Friday (Fri 26 Mar), Easter Monday (Mon 29 Mar), Ascension Day (Thu 6 May), Constitution Day and Whit Monday (Mon 17 May)), so 255 working days and 1,912.5 hours. That is 2 more days than 2026.

Working days are Monday to Friday minus public holidays. The holiday deduction does not check whether your holiday days already include a public holiday, so if you take leave over Easter the true number left is a little higher.

Counting between two dates

The between-dates tab counts weekdays and skips Norwegian public holidays, and by default it counts both the first and the last day. For 1 to 30 April 2026 that gives 30 calendar days, 8 weekend days and 3 weekday holidays, so 19 working days, the same figure as April in the monthly table (19). December 2026 has 31 calendar days, 8 weekend days and 1 weekday holiday (Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026), so 22 working days. Untick "Count the end date too" if you want to count up to, but not including, the last day, for example when you count nights.

Working time in Norway: what the law says

Normal working hours may not exceed nine hours in 24 hours or 40 hours in seven days (section 10-4 of the Working Environment Act, arbeidsmiljøloven). Hours can be averaged over several weeks under other rules of the Act. The 37.5-hour week is not a legal standard. It is a common agreement, and your contract or collective agreement (tariffavtale) decides. Some shift and rota work has a lower ceiling (38 or 36 hours a week), and time above your normal hours is overtime.

Section 10-10 also limits work on the eve of Sundays and holidays: work is to stop at 15:00 on Christmas Eve and on the Saturdays before Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday, and at 18:00 on the day before other Sundays and public holidays, unless the nature of the work requires it. Easter Eve and Whitsun Eve are Saturdays, so they do not affect a Monday-to-Friday count. Christmas Eve does when it falls on a weekday, as in 2026 (a Thursday): this calculator still counts it as a full day. The table of eves is on the public holidays page. Whether the rule also covers the eve of 1 May and 17 May is a question for the Labour Inspection Authority or your union.

Working days, holiday days and paid days are three different counts

• Working days here are Monday to Friday minus public holidays: the days a full-time employee on a weekday schedule is expected at work.
• Statutory holiday is counted in working days that include Saturdays, so the legal minimum of 25 days is four weeks and one day. If your contract gives you five weeks, that is 25 weekdays, the figure this calculator uses by default. Use the holiday pay calculator for holiday pay.
• Monthly-salaried employees are normally paid for public holidays, so their paid days are more than the days they actually work.

If you have just moved to Norway

Do not plan a year of work from your home country's calendar. Norway has 12 named holidays plus every Sunday. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday give most people a five-day Easter break, while Ascension Day and Whit Monday give long weekends in May. Do not expect a substitute day when a holiday falls on a weekend (your contract could give one). Shops are mostly closed on public holidays and Sundays, so plan errands for the day before. Check how your contract treats Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Holiday pay is earned in one year and paid the next, so in your first year you may have none to receive, even though you still have the right to the holiday itself: see the Norway holiday pay calculator. If you are giving or receiving notice, the notice period calculator counts calendar days, not working days. Related: Norwegian week numbers and the overtime pay calculator.

What this calculator does not cover

• Shift, rota, part-time and weekend schedules. It assumes Monday to Friday, five equal days.
• Time off given by your contract, collective agreement or custom on days that are not public holidays, such as Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.
• The early finish required by section 10-10 on the eve of holidays. A Christmas Eve on a weekday is counted as a full day.
• Sick leave, parental leave and other absences. Count those in the calculators for the relevant benefit.