How Can We Schedule Shifts to Overlap with Our 10 am - 7 pm Office Hours?

Hi Friends, our company is a software company, and we have offshore projects in Jamaica, Nigeria, Singapore, the Middle East, etc. Please suggest timeslots (shifts) that can be applied for the teams so that we can overlap with our general shift (10 am - 7 pm).

Looking forward to your valuable inputs.

It totally depends on your company policy, rules, and regulations applicable under the Shops & Est Act, Maharashtra. First, I would suggest that you read the act to gain knowledge about it, which I believe is essential for you.

Secondly, there is only a 2-3 hour difference between the locations where you have been assigned work. I assume you are familiar with the shift system, but you may need more knowledge to create a suitable work atmosphere according to your needs.

For more information, you can visit the following links:
- [Shift Working Policy](https://www.citehr.com/210038-shift-working-policy.html)
- [Software Excel Help for Shift Attendance](https://www.citehr.com/373017-need-software-excel-help-me-shift-attendance.html)
- [Working Hours for Employees in the Software Industry](https://www.citehr.com/90748-working-hours-employees-software-industry.html)

You haven't provided the complete inputs to enable the members to respond or suggest. Which countries do you have projects in? You mentioned 'etc,' which doesn't give accurate inputs for any suggestions. Also, your query isn't clear. Do you want to implement shifts in India or in the countries where your teams work on projects?

Aligning Shifts with Time Zones

A better approach could be to check the different time zones of the countries where you have projects and then align them with IST. If you need to cover countries like Jamaica and other countries in North America, where the time zone difference is greater than 9-10 hours, you may need to implement three shifts. There are many websites that provide time zone information, such as World Time Engine - Current Local Time Right Now.

If you have any specific queries, please revert back. All the best.

Regards, TS

Thank you, TS and Mr. Arora, for your inputs. We have projects in Dubai, Nigeria, Singapore, the US, and our team supports from India. We want to define a shift schedule wherein we can make optimum use of our infrastructure. The majority of our employees work in a regular shift from 10 am to 7 pm.

Planning a Shift Schedule Across Different Time Zones

My query is how to plan a shift schedule with teams working on projects across different time zones. Our working hours are 9 hours, inclusive of a 45-minute lunch break.

I can explore the option of checking the different time zones of the countries where we have projects and then aligning them with IST. Are there any other options I should consider?

Please advise.

Prima facie, you definitely need to plan at least two shifts—which will take care of the time zones with respect to the Middle East/Africa [2-3.5 hrs ahead of IST] and Singapore [2.5 hrs ahead of IST]—if you want to cover the full day of those countries. However, your problem will be regarding the US time zones [9.5-13 hrs ahead of IST—depending on where you are dealing within the USA]—like BPO/ITeS companies, you may need to plan night shifts if the number of US projects is high and needs to be supported on a daily basis.

Another aspect of globalization is this: just forget about the urge to work as per our timings. If one wants to handle clients in other countries, we need to modify/change the way we operate.

Hope this helps.

Regards, TS