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Change non‑working days for an employee

Set non‑working days in an employment status so the Sage HR calendar and time off calculations work correctly for employees who don’t follow a Monday to Friday schedule.

Written by Julianna

By default, Sage HR treats Saturday and Sunday as non‑working days.

Some employees work weekends and take days off during the week. You can support this by updating their employment status.


Understand the difference

Employment statuses and working patterns serve different purposes.

  • Employment status controls which days appear as non‑working days on the Sage HR calendar

  • Working patterns control contract hours, overtime, and timesheet pre‑filling

📎 NOTE: Only employment status non‑working days appear on the Sage HR calendar.

How working patterns handle non‑working days

In a working pattern, a day counts as non‑working only when you enter no hours for that day.

Working patterns:

  • Pre‑fill timesheets using the employee’s current pattern

  • Help calculate contract hours and overtime

  • Don’t control calendar non‑working days


Override the default weekend days in an employment status

This setting applies to the employment status, not the working pattern.

  1. Select your name in the top‑right corner.

  2. Select Settings.

  3. Select Employee data.

  4. Select Employment statuses & Working patterns.

  5. Select the pencil icon next to the relevant employment status.

  6. Select Override default weekend days.

Saturday and Sunday are selected by default.

Set custom non‑working days

Select the days you want to mark as non‑working.

To make Saturday and Sunday working days, clear both options.

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