Snow-covered old town with Christmas lights

New Year's Eve

Planning date Not a separate public holiday Falls on: Thursday No statutory holiday block

New Year's Eve falls on Thursday, 31 December in 2026. New Year's Eve itself is not a nationwide or cantonal public holiday; in Geneva, the same date is a public holiday as Restoration of the Republic.

Author
Ferien-Kalender.ch editorial team
Last checked
Source basis
official sources and editorial review
New Year's Eve 2026

Date, ordinary workday and Geneva distinction

New Year's Eve itself is not a Swiss public holiday.

Planning date. New Year's Eve falls on Thursday, 31 December 2026. New Year's Eve has no separate cantonal public-holiday scope. Only Geneva designates 31 December under the distinct holiday Restoration of the Republic.

Outside Geneva, Thursday may be a regular working day with employer-specific closing times; Friday, 1 January applies in all 26 cantons through cantonal rules.

Only Swiss National Day on 1 August has federal constitutional holiday status. New Year's Eve has no separate holiday status; Geneva's 31 December holiday is cantonal.

Date
31 December.
General rule
Not a separate public holiday
Normally a working day outside Geneva
Geneva
Restoration of the Republic
A distinct cantonal holiday on the same date
No statutory holiday block

Plan leave around the employer rule

Outside Geneva, 31 December remains a regular working day; only Geneva's Restoration of the Republic begins the four-day break.

Plan 31 December as a working day outside Geneva. Outside Geneva, 31 December remains a regular working day; only Geneva's Restoration of the Republic begins the four-day break.

Friday, 1 January applies in all 26 cantons through cantonal rules. Thursday leave or an early finish must come from the employer rule, except that Geneva has its separate Restoration of the Republic holiday.

Statutory block
no statutory holiday block
No New Year's Eve holiday block outside Geneva

Assumption: Monday-Friday working week.

New Year's Eve (2026-12-31) is not generally work-free in Switzerland; employer-specific exceptions can change the leave needed around this date.

No leave days are preselected. The proposed break around New Year's Eve (2026-12-31) crosses a year boundary. Review the two calendar years separately because this planner displays one year at a time.

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Published hours

Treat the year-end evening as a local operating plan

Custom, business hours and Geneva's holiday are separate.

Family toasting at a New Year's Eve dinner
New Year's Eve is an evening custom; Geneva's Restoration Day has a separate historical and legal basis.

Shops, hospitality, events, transport and fireworks follow published local hours and safety rules. An employer's early closing time does not turn 31 December into a public holiday.

Toasts, bells and private gatherings mark the year-end in many places. Geneva's Restoration of the Republic must still be identified as a distinct cantonal holiday, not a nationwide New Year's Eve rule.

Sources & further reading

  1. SECO: leisure and public holidays : Federal guidance distinguishing the nationwide holiday from cantonal holidays.
  2. Swiss Labour Act Art. 20a : Federal labour rule for canton-designated holidays.
  3. Federal Constitution Art. 110 : constitutional status of Swiss National Day.
  4. Historical federal compilation (2011) : Historical context only; not current scope authority.
  5. EDK school holidays : Cantonal school-holiday source.
  6. Canton of Geneva: official holidays : current official cantonal calendar for 2026.
  7. Federal Customs: holiday operations : Federal operations list; cantonal law controls holiday scope.
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