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• Updated: Guide to Public Holidays & Saturdays as Working Days in Hungary

Updated: Guide to Public Holidays & Saturdays as Working Days in Hungary

• 29 Nov 2024 7:52 AM

There are many bank holidays, and some extra ‘rest days’ in Hungary this year. As you can see from the easy to read lists below, instead of having one free day in the middle of the work week, Hungarians usually prefer to have long weekends in exchange for a Saturday that would otherwise be a ‘rest day’.

Depending on which day of the week a bank holidays falls on, the previous or the following day is deemed to be a ‘rest day’ to make a long weekend for employees to enjoy.

In these cases, Saturday is usually declared a working day instead, to keep the number of work days the same during the year.

National holidays and rest days in 2024

7 December (Saturday): working day in exchange for a rest day on 24 December (Christmas Eve)
14 December (Saturday): working day in exchange for a rest day on 27 December (Friday)
24 December (Tuesday): Christmas Eve
25 – 26 December (Wednesday – Thursday): 1st and 2nd day of Christmas
27 December (Friday): rest day, so almost the entire week of Christmas is free (24 December – 29 December )
1 January 2025 (Wednesday)

Earlier:

1 January 2024 (Monday): New Year’s Day
15 March (Friday): commemoration of the revolution in 1848
29 March – 1 April (Friday – Monday): 4-day long weekend with Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday
1 May (Wednesday): Labor Day
19 & 20 May (Sunday and Monday): Pentecost
3 August (Saturday): working day in exchange for a rest day on 19 August (Monday)
19 August (Monday): rest day to create a 4-day long weekend (17 August – 20 August)
20 August (Tuesday): St. Stephen’s Day or the Day of the New Bread
23 October (Wednesday): commemoration of the revolution in 1956
1 November (Friday): All Hallows’ Day

Working Saturdays in Hungary in 2024

3 August – in exchange, 19 August will be a day off;
7 December – in exchange, 26 December will be a day off; 
14 December – in exchange, 27 December will be a day off.

Special days which are not public holidays

Around the end of the year there are two “short” days, when most employees are allowed to leave early, shops close around noon, and even public transport switches to night mode around 4 p.m.

In 2024 these are:

24 December, Christmas Eve (Tuesday in 2024, and already a rest day)
31 December, New Year’s Eve (Tuesday in 2024)

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