Do weekends count for the 88 days?
Short answer
Yes. The 88 days are calendar days, weekends included, as long as you work a normal full week for that job. If you work fewer days or hours than a full-timer, your weekends count in proportion, so it takes longer than 88 calendar days.
Weekends are the question everyone asks first, because “88 days” sounds like 88 days of work. It isn’t. It’s 88 calendar days, and the weekends inside a normal working period count too.
What Home Affairs says
“‘3 months’ is taken to mean a period equivalent to the 3 shortest ‘calendar’ months of the year, that is, a minimum period of 88 calendar days, including weekends or equivalent rest days during your period of employment.”
Home Affairs, specified subclass 417 work
The same page adds the second half of the rule: you must do “the same number of normal work days or shifts as a full-time employee in that role and industry would normally work” in those 88 days.
So two things have to be true:
- At least 88 calendar days pass from your first counted day to your last.
- Inside that time, you do as much work as a full-timer in your job would.
Full-time: every day counts
If you work a normal full week, the weekend comes with it. Home Affairs’ example:
“Karsten works 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) for this whole period and is paid the correct legal wage. Karsten has met the 3-month specified work requirement.”
He worked from 1 December to 26 February: 88 calendar days, 5 days a week, done.
Casual or part-time: weekends count in proportion
If you work less than a full-timer, your weekends still count, but only in proportion to how much you worked. Home Affairs’ example of Kim, who works 2 days a week for 3 months, says she “will need to work a proportionately longer period”.
The practical way to measure it is your payslip hours. A normal full-time week in Australia is 38 hours, so:
| Hours in a week | Days it counts as |
|---|---|
| 38 or more | 7 |
| 30 | about 5.5 |
| 19 | 3.5 |
That’s why a casual job can take four or five months to reach 88 days. How casual work is counted goes into more detail.
Rosters and rest days
The official text says “weekends or equivalent rest days”. If your job runs on a roster that’s normal for the industry, the rest days between your shifts count the same way weekends do, as long as you’re paid for the period. The Home Affairs example is a full-time contract with 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, which counts as 28 days.
What doesn’t help
- Working every day doesn’t make it faster. One calendar day counts as one day at most, and you can’t finish in fewer than 88 calendar days.
- Unpaid days off don’t count. That includes rain days when you weren’t paid.
Check your own numbers
The quickest way to see where you are is to put your payslips into the 88-day calculator. It counts the weekends for you, and shows the maths month by month.
Questions people also ask
If I work Monday to Friday, do Saturday and Sunday count?
Yes. A normal full week of 5 days counts as all 7 calendar days, weekend included. Home Affairs' own example (Karsten) works Monday to Friday for 88 calendar days and has met the requirement.
I'm casual and only work 3 days a week. Do weekends count?
Only in proportion. You need as much work as a full-timer does in 88 days, so 3 days a week takes longer than 88 calendar days. Payslip hours are the easiest way to work it out: 38 hours is a normal full week.
Do weekends count if I'm on a roster like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off?
Home Affairs says a roster counts in full if it's standard practice in the industry, you're on a full-time contract and you're paid for the whole period. For example 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off counts as 28 days.
Can I finish my 88 days faster by working 7 days a week?
No. You can't complete the requirement in less than 88 calendar days (179 for a third visa), and one calendar day never counts as more than one day.
Sources
General information, not immigration advice. Aussie Days is independent and not affiliated with the Australian Government. Always check the official Home Affairs pages before you rely on anything here.
Keep reading
I work casual. How do my 88 days count?
Casual and part-time work counts for your 88 days, in proportion to a full-time week. How to count it from payslip hours, with the official Karla example.
Counting daysHow many hours is 88 days? Is there a 30 or 35-hour rule?
There's no official hours rule for the 88 days, but 38 hours is a full week. That makes 88 days about 478 hours. What the 30 and 35-hour 'rules' really are.
Counting daysDo public holidays, sick days and rain days count for 88 days?
Paid public holidays and paid sick days count towards your 88 days. Unpaid days off, including rain days, don't. The official rule and what to do about it.