Can I do this by using scalar on the hash value directly without creating the unecessary array?

Given the way the data is organized, you can avoid the temporary array by counting the number of commas in a (hash) value then adding 1.

Instead of

  @array = split /,/, $cant_make_day{$elim_key};
  $length = @array;
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try   $length = 1 + $cant_make_day{$elim_key} =~ tr/,/,/; This assumes that you never allow an empty ("") value in your hash.