Calculator Guide

How to use the Hong Kong working day calculator

Find a deadline, count the days between two dates, or link several periods together. This guide explains the settings and how to check your answer. For worked examples, see Use Cases. For holiday dates and explanations of court rules, see Articles.

Open Calculator

Follow the guide from choosing a calculation to checking the answer.

Last reviewed: October 2026

Step 1

Choose what to calculate

At-a-Glance

Deadline finds a date by counting forward or backward
Days between counts the days between two dates
Sequential links periods so one ends where the next starts

Choose one of the three options under Calculation type. The settings below change to suit your choice.

Deadline

Enter a start date and a period to find the date before or after it. You can also use court rules for a supported court deadline.

Days between

Enter two dates to count the working days or calendar days between them.

Sequential

Link two or more periods. Each period starts on the date calculated for the one before it.

Check what your deadline requires

Check the rule, order, contract or policy for the date to count from, the length of the period and which dates to leave out. The calculator needs those details to give you the right answer.

Try it as you read

The three choices appear at the top of the form.

Open the calculator

Working-week choice

Decide whether Saturday counts

At-a-Glance

Weekend treatment lets you choose which weekend days to skip
Saturday and Sunday skips both weekend days
Sunday only (SFBC contract definition) lets Saturday count

When you count working days with court rules off, choose Weekend treatment to match your rule or contract. Calendar days include weekends, so this field is hidden for those counts.

Skip Saturday and Sunday

Start Monday 2 March 2026, exclude the start date, include the deadline date and add 5 working days. The result is Monday 9 March. Saturday 7 March and Sunday 8 March are skipped.

Let Saturday count

Keep the same start date, five-day period and date-inclusion settings, but choose Sunday only (SFBC contract definition). The result is Saturday 7 March, which counts as the fifth working day.

Follow your contract's working-week definition

SFBC refers to the Standard Form of Building Contract. Choose its Sunday-only option only when that definition applies. General Holidays are still left out of the working-day count with either weekend option.

Try a count that includes Saturdays

See how the contract's working-week definition changes the answer.

Open the SFBC example

Related Resources

SFBC construction example

A construction contract example in which Saturdays count

Everyday calculations

Count working days or calendar days

At-a-Glance

Use Deadline when you know the start date and period
Use Days between when you know both dates
Choose whether the first and last dates count

For an ordinary Deadline, leave Use court rules off. Choose Days between if you already know both dates. Then work through the settings below.

Hong Kong calculator set to one calendar month from 15 September 2026, with both dates included — Calendar days selected with Months as the unit and both dates included. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Start date / End date

Enter the date to count from. With Days between, enter the end date too.

Direction

For Deadline, choose Forward to add the period or Backward to subtract it from the start date.

Counting method

Choose Working days to skip the selected weekend days, General Holidays and any closures you select. Choose Calendar days to count every date.

Number / Unit

For Deadline, enter the length of the period in Number. Working-day counts use days. For calendar-day deadlines, Unit also offers weeks and months.

Weekend treatment

Choose Saturday and Sunday to leave out both weekend days. Choose Sunday only (SFBC contract definition) when that definition applies and Saturdays should count.

Holiday calendar

The calculator uses Hong Kong's General Holiday calendar. There is one calendar, so no Jurisdiction selector is needed.

Additional excluded periods

Choose the extended Lunar New Year closure only if your organisation or project observes it. Leave this as None otherwise.

Dates to include

Tick Include the start date if the first date counts. Use Include the deadline date for the last date in a deadline calculation, or Include the end date for Days between. Follow the wording of your rule or agreement.

Example: five Hong Kong working days

Choose Deadline, Working days and Forward, then enter the starting date and 5 in Number. Set Weekend treatment and Dates to include to match your rule or contract. After calculating, open Calculation details and Non-working dates to check the settings and dates used.

Does Monday count as day one?

Start on Monday 2 March 2026 and add three working days, skipping Saturday and Sunday. With Include the start date off and Include the deadline date on, Thursday 5 March is day three. Include the start date too, and Wednesday 4 March is day three.

If both checkboxes are off, the deadline follows the third counted day. The result is Friday 6 March.

Example: one calendar month

Choose Deadline, Forward and Calendar days. Enter 15 September 2026 as the Start date, set Number to 1 and Unit to Months, and tick both date-inclusion checkboxes. The result is Wednesday 14 October 2026. Weekends and General Holidays count within that calendar month.

Try a calendar-month count

Follow the settings and result for a one-month notice period.

Open the calendar-month example

Related Resources

Working days and calendar days

Worked examples showing why the counting method matters

Employment notice example

A notice period counted in calendar months

Court rules

Calculate a court deadline

At-a-Glance

Choose Deadline, then turn on Use court rules
Periods of 7 days or less use working days; longer periods use calendar days
Review How this will be counted before calculating

Choose Deadline and turn on Use court rules. Check that the High Court and District Court rules shown apply to your deadline. The calculator sets the counting method and date-inclusion choices according to those rules.

Court rules set to a five-day Hong Kong filing period — A five-day court filing count, with the August option above the inputs and the counting summary below. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Court jurisdiction

The court rules are fixed as High Court and District Court — RHC/RDC Order 3. RHC and RDC refer to the Rules of the High Court and Rules of the District Court. Use the information icon to check what is covered.

Start date

Enter the date to count from: the event date when counting backward, or the date that starts the period when counting forward. Check any service or deemed-service rule before entering it.

Number / Unit

Enter the number of days stated in the applicable rule or order. The unit is days. Periods of seven days or fewer skip Saturdays, Sundays and General Holidays. Longer periods count calendar days.

Direction

Choose Backward for a notice period before an event, or Forward for a filing period after its starting date. Check the selected Court rule under How this will be counted to make sure it applies.

Exclude Summer Vacation (August)

Select this only when the applicable High Court pleading rule leaves out August. See the next section for an example.

Check how the days will be counted

Below the inputs, How this will be counted shows the court rule, counting method, direction and dates to include. The Closed-day rule explains what happens if the calculated deadline falls on a day the court is closed. Review the summary after changing the number of days or direction.

Court rules set the first- and last-date choices for you. Check the applicable rule, any special order and the filing method before relying on the result. Check actual Judiciary arrangements if a gale warning or Black Rainstorm affected the period.

Why eight days can finish before seven

Start on Wednesday 7 January 2026 and choose Forward. A seven-day court filing count uses working days and ends on Friday 16 January. Change only Number to 8 and the count uses calendar days, ending on Thursday 15 January. The longer count finishes earlier because it includes the weekend. Check the counting method as well as the date.

Try a court deadline

Follow a short filing period from the starting date to the result.

Open the court filing example

Related Resources

Court filing example

A complete short-period court example

Court rules and weather warnings

What happens when weather disrupts a court day

Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A)

Official Hong Kong e-Legislation text

Rules of the District Court (Cap. 336H)

Official Hong Kong e-Legislation text

Judiciary: Order 3 short-period summary

Official practical summary of the days excluded from periods of 7 days or less

Topic

Use the optional August exclusion

Leave out August when the applicable High Court pleading rule requires it.

August exclusion

Apply the August exclusion only when the rule calls for it

At-a-Glance

Use this only when the applicable High Court pleading rule excludes August
It leaves 1 to 31 August out of the count
Leave it off for court steps that do not have this exclusion

With court rules on, select Exclude Summer Vacation (August) only when the applicable High Court pleading rule excludes August. This option does not mean that all Hong Kong courts are closed for the month.

What changes in the result

Count five days forward from Thursday 30 July 2026. With the August option off, the result is Thursday 6 August. With it on, the count skips August and ends on Friday 4 September. Check the calculation details to confirm that the exclusion was applied.

Compare the control

See the same period with the optional exclusion off and on.

Compare the August results

Related Resources

August pleading walkthrough

Compare the same filing period with the optional control off and on

Topic

Choose closures and link periods

Choose any extended Lunar New Year closure and set up periods that follow each other.

Sequential calculations

Link periods and choose closures

At-a-Glance

Each tab holds the settings for one period
The previous result becomes the next period's start date
Choose the counting method and exclusions separately for each period

Choose Sequential when one period starts on the date calculated for the previous period. For example, you can link a review period to an approval period. Each can use working days or calendar days and its own settings.

Review of two linked Hong Kong working-day periods — Two linked periods, with the Approval period tab open. Select each tab to review its settings. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Allow for an extended Lunar New Year closure

For working-day counts, Additional excluded periods lets you choose Extended Lunar New Year closure (New Year's Eve to the seventh day). Use it only when your organisation or project excludes that whole period. It is an extra closure, separate from General Holidays. Otherwise choose None. In Sequential, make this choice separately for each period.

Enter the Start date.
Use the edit icon to name the first period.
Choose its Counting method, then enter the Number, Unit and Direction.
Choose whether to Include the start date and Include the deadline date.
For working days, check Weekend treatment and Additional excluded periods.
Select Add another period and set up the next tab. It will count from the previous period's result.
Use Move left or Move right to put the periods in the required order.
Open each tab and check its settings before selecting Calculate.

Use one period when the next trigger is uncertain

If the next period starts only after service, approval, payment or another event, calculate it separately once you know that event's date.

Try two linked periods

Add two periods, then compare their settings before calculating.

Open Sequential

Results

Check what the result actually counted

At-a-Glance

The headline gives the result date or the number of days
The timeline and calendar show how the period runs
Non-working dates lists the individual dates in the period

Check the result date or day count, then open the details to make sure the calculation used the settings you intended.

Hong Kong court filing result with date, timeline and calendar — A completed result showing the headline date, calculation method, timeline, calendar and review controls. Select the image to open the full-size view.

1. Open Calculation details

Check the dates, number of days, counting method and direction. For working days, also check Weekend treatment and Additional excluded periods.

2. Check the timeline and calendar

Follow the date range to see which days were counted or skipped. Use the calendar to inspect individual dates.

3. Open Non-working dates

Review the dates and their reasons. Calendar-day counts can include weekends and holidays even though they appear here. Check the counting method before assuming a listed date was skipped.

4. Check court adjustments

With court rules on, check the rule beneath the result date. If the result says Closed-day adjustment applied, read the explanation to see why the deadline moved.

Select Export to PDF to keep a record of the result and its settings. Check that the selected rules apply to your situation before using or sharing it.

Practise reading a result

Use the court example to check the method, calendar and non-working dates.

Check a completed result

Topic

Troubleshooting

Check common reasons for a different date or an unexpected count.

Troubleshooting

Fix a result that does not look right

At-a-Glance

For a one-day difference, check whether the first and last dates count
A larger difference often points to working days versus calendar days
Check the working week, extra closures and any weather disruption

Off by one day

Check Include the start date and Include the deadline date (or Include the end date for Days between). With court rules on, check Dates to include under How this will be counted; the court rules set these choices for you.

Off by several days

Recheck Counting method, Weekend treatment and Additional excluded periods. Then open Non-working dates.

Court result changed method

Check Number. Court periods of seven days or fewer use working days; eight days or more use calendar days.

A counting method is unavailable

Court rules set the counting method from the period length. For an ordinary Deadline calculation, turn off Use court rules to choose it yourself. In Sequential, choose the method on each period's tab. The available units depend on that method.

Weather disrupted the date

Check the Judiciary's arrangements for the affected day. Future gale warnings and Black Rainstorm closures are not included in advance.

The rule is unclear

Check the rule or contract, or obtain advice, before choosing the settings.

Try the correction

Change one setting at a time and compare the result.

Return to the calculator

Related Resources

Hong Kong calculation articles

Source-based explanations of common Hong Kong date rules