As of: February 25, 2024, 7:43 p.m
By: Fabian Schlüter
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The year 2024 has one more day than previous years.
It's a leap year.
But that doesn't mean you have to work an extra day.
Hamm – The year 2024 is a leap year.
There is one more day than in other years, February 29th.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean that you actually have to work an extra day in a leap year.
And: Why and since when do leap years even exist?
And in which years do leap years fall?
2024 is a leap year - why that doesn't mean you have to work more
If there is one more day in the year, that should actually mean that there is also one more working day.
But in fact it's not like that at all: in 2024, for example ,
according to the Federal Statistical Office, the average number will fall by around half a working day compared to the previous year, reports
wa.de.
One reason for this is that public holidays and weekends are different than in 2023. The Federal Statistical Office breaks it down in more detail.
In 2024 there will be an average of 248.8 working days nationwide.
That's 0.6 days less.
Because in 2023 there were 249.4 working days.
“In the first quarter of 2024, despite the leap year, there will be a nationwide average of 1.6 working days fewer than in the same quarter of the previous year, due to the early Easter holidays,” says a statement from the Federal Statistical Office.
Back this year: February 29th.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
2024 has one more day: Why are there leap years?
Leap years exist because a year does not have exactly 365 days, but rather 365 days, five hours and 49 minutes.
That's how long it takes the Earth to orbit the sun once.
To compensate for this overhang, the leap year was invented.
So 365 days become 366 days every four years.
The 366th day of the year is always February 29th.
This has no effect on public holiday dates.
Leap years exist in all years that can be divided by four.
After 2024 there will be another leap year in 2028.
Every 100 years, however, a leap year is omitted in order to be as close to the orbital time as possible.
That's why years like 2000 must be divisible by 400 to be leap years.
The leap year was introduced in 45 BC because the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wanted to eliminate the inaccuracy of the previous Roman lunar calendar in his calendar reform.
However, he made a mistake: Since the human calendar was 10 days ahead of the actual date until the year 1600, Pope Gregory XIII moved the date back ten days in 1582 and added the exception mentioned above added.
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Of course, the one extra day a year can also be filled with free time.
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