Working days per month in South Africa: 21.67 on average
A Monday to Friday month in South Africa has between 19 and 23 working days, depending on the weekdays it holds and the public holidays that land on them. For payroll, the number is 21.67: the average working days in a month across a full year.
Where 21.67 comes from
52 weeks × 5 days ÷ 12 months = 21.67 · or 4.333 weeks (BCEA s35) × 5 = 21.67
2027 has 251 working days on a five-day week, one more than 2026’s 250. The month-by-month counts are below.
Where the divisor gets tested
The number only matters when someone disputes a deduction or a leave payout. Could you show which divisor your payroll used for the last unpaid day, and that it was the same one used for everybody else?
The 2027 working-day calendar as a planner you can roster on
Free Excel planner for 2027 with the public holidays shaded and weekends greyed, so the working days in each month are visible at a glance. One row per employee; leave codes count themselves.
Page 1 of 1
- Excel
March 2027 has 20 working days: three public holidays fall in it.
Working days per month, 2026 and 2027
Monday to Friday, with every weekday public holiday taken out, including Sunday holidays moved to the Monday and the 4 November 2026 election day.
| Month | 2026 | 2027 | 2027 hours (8 a day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21 | 20 | 160 |
| February | 20 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 22 | 20 | 160 |
| April | 19 | 21 | 168 |
| May | 20 | 21 | 168 |
| June | 21 | 21 | 168 |
| July | 23 | 22 | 176 |
| August | 20 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 21 | 21 | 168 |
| October | 22 | 21 | 168 |
| November | 20 | 22 | 176 |
| December | 21 | 21 | 168 |
| Year | 250 | 251 | 2,008 |
March 2027 drops to 20 because it holds three public holidays: Human Rights Day (moved to Monday 22 March), Good Friday and Family Day. The dates are on the 2027 public holidays page.
Turn a salary into daily and hourly rates
Enter the salary and work pattern for each employee. The calculator applies 21.67 or 26 and the hours divisor, and emails the rate card as an Excel file you can hand to payroll.
Daily & Hourly Rate Calculator
Turn a monthly salary into the daily, hourly, overtime, Sunday and public-holiday rates South African payroll actually runs on - the “divide by 21.67” calculation, done properly, with the BCEA sections shown.
National minimum wage R30.23/hour from 1 March 2026. Domestic and farm workers are on the full rate; EPWP workers are on the separate lower rate. Figures are pre-tax.
Working hours per month: 173.33 or 195
The hours figure follows the same logic. Take the ordinary weekly hours, multiply by 52 and divide by 12:
- 40-hour week: 40 × 52 ÷ 12 = 173.33 hours a month.
- 45-hour week, the most ordinary hours section 9 of the BCEA allows: 45 × 52 ÷ 12 = 195 hours a month.
Use the figure that matches the hours in the employee’s contract. Using 195 for someone contracted to 40 hours understates their hourly rate by about 11%, and every overtime hour paid from it is short by the same amount.
Turning a monthly salary into a daily and hourly rate
Worked example: R15,000 a month, five-day week, 40 hours
| Daily rate | R15,000 ÷ 21.67 | R692.20 |
| Hourly rate | R15,000 ÷ 173.33 | R86.54 |
| Weekly wage | R15,000 ÷ 4.333 (BCEA s35) | R3,461.80 |
| One day unpaid leave | one daily rate | R692.20 |
| Overtime hour | R86.54 × 1.5, BCEA s10 | R129.81 |
The same daily rate is the basis for leave payout on exit and for public holiday pay. The daily rate calculator runs it for any salary, and for six-day weeks it divides by 26.
Four working-day cases, worked with numbers
On a salary of R18,000 a month, five-day week.
Two days of unpaid leave in April 2027
Daily rate R18,000 ÷ 21.67 = R830.64. Deduct 2 × R830.64 = R1,661.28, with the written agreement to the unpaid leave on file. Use 21.67, not April’s 21 actual days, so the deduction is the same in every month.
Started work on Monday 12 April 2027
Count the working days from 12 to 30 April: 14 (Freedom Day on the 27th is out). Pro-rata pay 14 × R830.64 = R11,628.96. Using the month’s 21 working days as the divisor instead (R857.14 a day) gives R12,000; pick one method in the policy and keep it.
Hourly rate for a 40-hour contract
R18,000 × 12 ÷ 52 ÷ 40 = R103.85 an hour. On a 45-hour contract it is R92.31. The divisor is the contract’s hours, not a site-wide 195.
Daily rate on a six-day week
R18,000 ÷ 26 = R692.31 (4.333 weeks × 6 days). A Saturday public holiday now takes a working day off this employee’s month, unlike the five-day employee next to them.
Six-day weeks, shift workers and part-timers
Retail, hospitality and security often work Monday to Saturday. For them, the year has 300 working days in 2026 and 301 in 2027, because Saturday public holidays now take a working day away, and the daily-rate divisor is 26 (4.333 weeks × 6 days) instead of 21.67.
- Shift workers on a rotating pattern: use the ordinary days in their cycle averaged over the year, and write the divisor in the contract.
- Part-timers on fixed days: multiply their days a week by 4.333. Someone working three days a week has 13 working days in an average month.
- Hourly-paid staff: pay the hours actually worked, and use the month’s real days only for planning the roster.
Four working-day mistakes in payroll
Using the month’s actual days for a salaried employee
A day of unpaid leave then costs more in a 19-day April than a 23-day July. Use 21.67.
Counting Saturday holidays off a five-day week
1 May and 25 December 2027 are Saturdays. They take nothing off a Monday to Friday month.
Using 195 hours for a 40-hour contract
The hourly rate comes out about 11% low, and so does every overtime hour.
Two methods in one business
Write the method in the payroll policy. Two employees on different divisors is the start of a pay dispute.
The divisor lives in one place
A spreadsheet holds the divisor in whichever formula someone last edited. Synthro records leave, unpaid days and overtime against each employee’s own work pattern, and sends them to payroll through the SimplePay integration, so the rate behind every deduction can be shown later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many working days are there in a month in South Africa?
Between 19 and 23 on a Monday to Friday week, depending on the month and its public holidays. In 2027 the range is 20 to 22. Payroll uses the average, 21.67 days, because a fixed monthly salary has to convert to a daily rate the same way every month.
Why is 21.67 used as the number of working days per month?
It is 52 weeks × 5 days ÷ 12 months = 21.67. Section 35 of the BCEA treats a month as four and one-third weeks, and 4.333 × 5 working days gives the same number. It is an average across the year, so it gives the same daily rate in every month.
How many working days are there in 2027 in South Africa?
251 on a Monday to Friday week: 261 weekdays less ten public holidays that fall on a weekday or move to one. Workers’ Day and Christmas Day fall on a Saturday in 2027, so they take nothing off a five-day week. On a six-day week (Monday to Saturday) the 2027 total is 301.
How many working hours are in a month in South Africa?
On a 40-hour week, 173.33 hours (40 × 52 ÷ 12). On the BCEA maximum of 45 ordinary hours a week (section 9), 195 hours. These are averages for converting a monthly salary to an hourly rate, not the hours in any particular month.
How do I calculate a daily rate from a monthly salary?
Divide the monthly salary by 21.67 for a five-day week, or by 26 for a six-day week. R15,000 ÷ 21.67 = R692.20 a day. The daily rate calculator does it for any salary and work pattern.
How do I calculate unpaid leave in South Africa?
Deduct one daily rate for each unpaid day: monthly salary ÷ 21.67 on a five-day week. For R15,000 a month, three days of unpaid leave is 3 × R692.20 = R2,076.60. The deduction needs the employee’s agreement to the unpaid leave, so get the dates approved in writing first.
Should I use the actual working days in the month or 21.67?
For a fixed monthly salary, 21.67, so a day of unpaid leave costs the same in February as in July. Actual days are right for employees paid by the day or hour, whose pay already moves with the calendar. Pick one method, write it in the payroll policy, and apply it to everyone.
How many working days are in December 2026?
Twenty-one on a Monday to Friday week. December 2026 has 23 weekdays, and the Day of Reconciliation (Wednesday 16 December) and Christmas Day (Friday 25 December) fall on two of them. The Day of Goodwill is a Saturday, so it takes nothing off a five-day week.
How many working days are in March 2027?
Twenty on a Monday to Friday week. March 2027 has 23 weekdays, and three of them are public holidays: Monday 22 March (Human Rights Day moved from Sunday), Good Friday on 26 March and Family Day on 29 March.
