diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2205a6c..3a690fa 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -779,16 +779,16 @@ Contains information about the system's current time and date. Passed as an argu
 
 #### Properties
 
+* `date` - `Date` instance representing the current system datetime (preferred, the other properties are derived from this one and provided for backward compatibility purposes)
 * `year` - short representing current system year
 * `month` - short representing current system month (where 1 is January, 2 is February, etc.)
 * `day` - short representing current system day of the month
-* `dayOfWeek` - short representing current system day of the week (where 0 is Monday and 6 is Sunday)
+* `dayOfWeek` - short representing current system day of the week (where 0 is Sunday and 6 is Sunday)
 * `hour` - short representing current system hour (24-hour time where 0 is midnight, 13 is 1PM, etc.)
 * `minute` - short representing current system minute
 * `second` - short representing current system second
 * `millisecond` - short representing current system millisecond
 * `adjustForDST` - bool indicating whether the system should adjust for daylight saving time or not
-* `date` - `Date` instance representing the current system datetime (convenience, constructed from the above properties)
 
 ### SLSetSystemTime
 
diff --git a/messages/SLGetSystemTime.js b/messages/SLGetSystemTime.js
index a1597ea..6ad8fd4 100644
--- a/messages/SLGetSystemTime.js
+++ b/messages/SLGetSystemTime.js
@@ -17,18 +17,18 @@ exports.SLGetSystemTime = class SLGetSystemTime extends SLMessage {
   decode() {
     super.decode();
 
-    this.year = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.month = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.dayOfWeek = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.day = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.hour = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.minute = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.second = this.readUInt16LE();
-    this.millisecond = this.readUInt16LE();
+    this.date = this.readSLDateTime();
+    this.year = this.date.getFullYear();
+    this.month = this.date.getMonth() + 1; // + 1 is for backward compatibility, SLTime represents months as 1-based
+    this.dayOfWeek = this.date.getDay(); // should probably be tweaked to adjust what days are 0-6 as SLTime and Javascript start on different days of the week
+    this.day = this.date.getDate();
+    this.hour = this.date.getHours();
+    this.minute = this.date.getMinutes();
+    this.second = this.date.getSeconds();
+    this.millisecond = this.date.getMilliseconds();
+
     var adjustForDST = this.readInt32LE();
     this.adjustForDST = adjustForDST === 1;
-
-    this.date = new Date(this.year, this.month - 1, this.day, this.hour, this.minute, this.second);
   }
 
   static getResponseId() {
diff --git a/messages/SLMessage.js b/messages/SLMessage.js
index 5fe3718..89dab34 100644
--- a/messages/SLMessage.js
+++ b/messages/SLMessage.js
@@ -165,6 +165,20 @@ exports.SLMessage = class SLMessage extends SmartBuffer {
     this.writeInt16LE(date.getMilliseconds());
   }
 
+  readSLDateTime() {
+    let date = new Date();
+    date.setFullYear(this.readInt16LE());
+    date.setMonth(this.readInt16LE() - 1);
+    this.readInt16LE();
+    date.setDate(this.readInt16LE());
+    date.setHours(this.readInt16LE());
+    date.setMinutes(this.readInt16LE());
+    date.setSeconds(this.readInt16LE());
+    date.setMilliseconds(this.readInt16LE());
+
+    return date;
+  }
+
   static slackForAlignment(val) {
     return (4 - val % 4) % 4;
   }
diff --git a/test/slmessage.spec.js b/test/slmessage.spec.js
index 7fc5737..ee67215 100644
--- a/test/slmessage.spec.js
+++ b/test/slmessage.spec.js
@@ -189,4 +189,19 @@ describe('SLMessage utilities', function() {
     assert.equal(decodedMsg.readUInt16LE(), 5);
     assert.equal(decodedMsg.readUInt16LE(), 0);
   });
+
+  it('decodes SLTime as Date', function() {
+    let msg = new SLMessage();
+    let date = new Date(2021, 8, 6, 22, 8, 5);
+    msg.writeSLDateTime(date);
+    let decodedMsg = new SLMessage(msg.toBuffer());
+    let decodedDate = decodedMsg.readSLDateTime();
+    assert.equal(date.getFullYear(), decodedDate.getFullYear());
+    assert.equal(date.getMonth(), decodedDate.getMonth());
+    assert.equal(date.getDate(), decodedDate.getDate());
+    assert.equal(date.getHours(), decodedDate.getHours());
+    assert.equal(date.getMinutes(), decodedDate.getMinutes());
+    assert.equal(date.getSeconds(), decodedDate.getSeconds());
+    assert.equal(date.getMilliseconds(), decodedDate.getMilliseconds());
+  });
 });