Many Filipino professionals do work US hours, which means an evening or a night shift in Manila. UK mornings overlap a Philippine afternoon, so a UK company often needs no night shift at all. Agree the hours in the contract, including what happens when the clocks change.
Browse roles for the seat, and customer service if the job is live coverage. The region comparison is Philippines vs Latin America. How you talk once the hours are set is in communication with virtual assistants.
What time is it in the Philippines versus the US East Coast and the UK?
Philippine Time is UTC+8, one zone for the country. New York is UTC−4 on Eastern Daylight Time and UTC−5 on Eastern Standard Time. London is UTC+1 on British Summer Time and UTC+0 on Greenwich Mean Time. The gaps below are arithmetic from those offsets.
Sources, checked for this article: timeanddate on the Philippines (Philippine Time, 8 hours ahead of UTC), timeanddate on London (BST until 02:00 on Sunday 25 October 2026, then GMT), and timeanddate on New York (EDT until 02:00 on Sunday 1 November 2026, then EST). The New York page also says New York is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles, so Pacific time is three hours behind New York on that clock.
| Offset | When it changes in 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Manila | UTC+8 all year | No change described on the Philippines page |
| London | UTC+1 (BST) now | Back to UTC+0 at 02:00 on 25 October 2026 |
| New York | UTC−4 (EDT) now | Back to UTC−5 at 02:00 on 1 November 2026 |
| Los Angeles | 3 hours behind New York | Same clock-change date as New York, from that page’s gap |
While both sides are on summer time, Manila is 12 hours ahead of New York (UTC+8 minus UTC−4). A New York 09:00 is 21:00 in Manila. A New York 17:00 is 05:00 the next morning in Manila. So a US Eastern 09:00 to 17:00 day is 21:00 to 05:00 Philippine time during EDT.
After New York falls back to EST on 1 November 2026, Manila is 13 hours ahead. The same 09:00 to 17:00 Eastern day is 22:00 to 06:00 in Manila.
While London is on BST, Manila is 7 hours ahead. A UK 09:00 is 16:00 in Manila. After 25 October 2026, London is on GMT and Manila is 8 hours ahead, so UK 09:00 is 17:00 in Manila. The UK table with more rows is in hiring a Filipino assistant from the UK.
Central and Mountain time are not given their own fetched pages here. Most of the US that observes daylight saving moves with New York, one hour and two hours behind. Arizona and a few other exceptions do not. Look up the city on timeanddate before you put it in a contract.
Will a Filipino assistant work a night shift for US hours?
Often yes, if you agree it and you treat it as a night shift. Put the hours and the monthly price in the same agreement. Rekruuto’s published prices are the monthly fee for the role: most seats start at $1,800 a month, and the AI specialist starts at $2,500. If a person needs different hours, ask before you assume the calendar.
A US East Coast afternoon is a kinder overlap than a US morning. New York 12:00 to 17:00 during EDT is 00:00 to 05:00 in Manila, which is still night, but a shorter night if the rest of their work is earlier in the Philippine evening. Some teams take a two or three hour overlap at the end of the US day and leave the rest async. That is a design choice. Write it down.
UK companies rarely need this. A Philippine 16:00 to 20:00 covers a UK morning in summer. Ask for that before you ask for a UK late afternoon, which lands after midnight in Manila.
Health and retention are real, and they are not a statistic in this article. A permanent night shift is harder than a shared afternoon. If coverage must be overnight, rotate the painful hours, keep the workload predictable, and do not add meetings at both ends of their sleep. Managing a remote team is the management piece. The clock does not replace it.
Which roles need full overlap, and which work better async?
Live customer conversations need overlap with the customers. Bookkeeping, design, editing, and building automations need a short overlap and a written handoff. They do not need someone awake for your entire day.
| Role | Overlap that usually works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Customer service and a receptionist | Several hours inside your customers’ day | The work arrives when customers write |
| Executive assistant | Two to four hours with you, plus a morning brief | Calendar decisions cannot all wait a day |
| Bookkeeping | Two or three hours, often your morning or theirs | The close is a batch, not a chat |
| Design and video | Two or three hours for feedback | The render happens while you sleep |
| AI implementation | Two or three hours for questions | Building is deep work. Review is the meeting |
| Marketing operations | Two or three hours before you need a send approved | Approval has a clock. Building the email does not |
The customer service seat is the one to staff against the map. If your customers are on US Eastern mornings, say that when you get matched with your hire so you are not surprised by a 21:00 Manila start. If your customers are in the UK morning, you can often stay inside a Philippine afternoon.
Does night-shift work affect retention or pay?
Night work is still work. Sleep has to fit somewhere, so agree the hours before the trial and keep the overlap inside those hours.
What to put in the agreement:
- Put the hours in the agreement, including what happens when the US or the UK changes clocks.
- Keep a core overlap, and let the rest be async, if the role allows it.
- Do not schedule your all-hands at 09:00 Eastern and a second one at 17:00 Eastern and call both “quick”.
- Judge the trial week on communication inside the hours you agreed, not on whether they answered at your midnight.
If a candidate says they cannot work a full US night, believe them and redesign the overlap. A reluctant night shift is how handoffs get missed.
How do you set up a two to four hour overlap plus an async handoff?
Pick the overlap, protect it, and write the handoff in the same place every day. The template is short on purpose.
Example for a US Eastern team during EDT. Overlap 14:00 to 17:00 New York, which is 02:00 to 05:00 in Manila. That is still night. If that is too harsh, move the overlap earlier for them and later for you only if your customers allow it. A UK team can use 09:00 to 12:00 London, which is 16:00 to 19:00 in Manila during BST. Kinder. Use that if you can.
Handoff, copy this into the channel at the end of their day:
- Done today: three bullets, with links.
- Waiting on you: the decisions, each with a default if you do not reply.
- Do not touch: anything a customer will see before you approve it.
- Next shift they will start: the first task, so you do not re-brief it.
- Broken: one line if a tool failed, and whether it is paused.
You reply at the start of your day with answers, not a new strategy. Strategy goes in a weekly note. The daily handoff is for unblocking. Effective communication is where to go if the notes turn into essays. Short is the point.
Tell both sides the week of 25 October 2026 (UK) and 1 November 2026 (US) that the overlap clock moves by an hour and Manila does not. Put the new times in the channel the Friday before. Do not discover it on Monday.
Frequently asked questions
Are Filipino assistants on US time already?
Philippine Time is UTC+8. US Eastern is UTC−4 in summer and UTC−5 in winter. A 09:00 to 17:00 Eastern day is night time in Manila. People do work those hours. Agree it. Do not assume it.
What about UK hours?
During British Summer Time, Manila is 7 hours ahead, so a UK morning is a Philippine afternoon. After 25 October 2026 the gap is 8 hours. A full UK day runs into their late evening.
Which jobs need the night shift?
Customer-facing coverage, if your customers write during your morning. Design, books, and automation builds can live on a short overlap and a written handoff.
What if I need a night shift?
Agree the hours and the monthly price together. Most roles start at $1,800 a month and the AI specialist starts at $2,500. Put any different hours in the agreement before the trial.
When do the clocks change?
London leaves BST at 02:00 on 25 October 2026. New York leaves EDT at 02:00 on 1 November 2026. Manila does not change. Update the overlap both weeks.
Get matched with your hire
Bring the overlap you actually need, not “as much as possible”, when you get matched with your hire. Match it to a seat on roles or to customer service if the job is live. The 1-week trial with replacement or refund is the week you test the handoff, including a morning where you are offline and the note is waiting.