Guide · Hiring
Time zones and remote staff in Latin America.
How the hours line up with US time zones, all year long.
By the FullPond team · 3 min read
One of the biggest reasons US businesses hire in Latin America is time zones. Your hire is awake and working when your phones ring. Here is exactly how the hours line up, so you can plan a schedule that works on day one.
The short version
Most of Latin America is within a few hours of US time zones. Compare that with hiring in Asia, where your workday is their night. With Latin America, a normal 8 to 5 schedule on your clock is a normal workday on theirs.
How the hours line up
Most of the US moves its clocks twice a year. Most of Latin America does not. So the overlap shifts a little in March and November, but it stays inside the workday:
| Where your hire lives | Local time | March to November (US daylight time) | November to March (US standard time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama | UTC-5, no clock changes | Same as Central | Same as Eastern |
| Mexico City and most of Mexico | UTC-6, no clock changes | Same as Mountain | Same as Central |
| Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica | UTC-6, no clock changes | Same as Mountain | Same as Central |
| Argentina, plus São Paulo and Brasília | UTC-3, no clock changes | 1 hour ahead of Eastern | 2 hours ahead of Eastern |
Arizona and Hawaii do not change their clocks either, so check those separately. Chile does change its clocks, on different dates than the US.
An example from Utah
Say your office runs 8 to 5 Mountain time and your hire lives in Colombia. From March to early November, your 8 a.m. is their 9 a.m. In winter, your 8 a.m. is their 10 a.m. Either way, they work your full day and finish by early evening their time.
A hire in Mexico City is on the same clock as Utah for most of the year, and one hour ahead in winter.
Set the schedule in your time zone
The simplest rule: put the schedule in your time zone, in writing, and let your hire map it to theirs. Agree on start time, lunch and end time, and on how you will handle US holidays and their local holidays. Most problems with remote schedules come from things nobody wrote down.
How FullPond handles it
Every FullPond placement works US hours inside your tools, on the schedule you set.
Tell us your hours. We will find someone who works them.
Book a 15-minute call