Key Takeaways
Decide which tasks need live overlap and which do not.
A two to three hour overlap window covers most admin roles.
Write the schedule down, including holidays.
Review it after a month.
Three Schedule Types
Fixed hours in your time zone: best for customer-facing and phone work.
Fixed hours in their time zone: best for asynchronous work like data, research, and drafts.
Overlap window: a few shared hours for questions, the rest flexible.
Match The Schedule To The Work
List the assistant's tasks and mark which need someone available in real time. Inbox triage and drafting can run overnight. Customer chat cannot. Most admin roles need two to three hours of overlap and nothing more.
Night Shifts And Health
Full US-hours shifts for Philippine assistants mean night work. Many do it well, but turnover is higher. Latin America and South Africa offer daytime overlap for US and European hours.
Write It Down
State the hours, the time zone, break rules, and which public holidays apply. Put it in the agreement and in your shared calendar.
Overlap Windows By Region
Latin America: full overlap with US hours, so any window works. South Africa: mornings for the US East Coast, full days for Europe. Philippines: early US mornings or late evenings are the natural overlaps without a night shift. Choose the region partly on the overlap you need.
Breaks, Holidays, And Coverage
Write down break rules for full shifts, which public holidays apply, and what happens when the assistant is out. If coverage matters, a provider with backup staff or a second part-time assistant in another region solves it.
What This Looks Like In Practice
An owner in Texas hires a Philippine assistant for inbox and reporting. They agree on a 7 to 10 a.m. Central overlap for questions, with the rest of the shift flexible. Overnight, the inbox gets triaged; by 7 a.m. the owner has a clean inbox and a short update.
A Quick Checklist Before You Start
Tasks marked live or asynchronous.
Overlap window set.
Time zone and holidays written down.
One-month review scheduled.
Questions Owners Ask
Should I require exact fixed hours?
Only for customer-facing work. Flexibility improves retention for admin roles.
What about daylight saving changes?
Note them in the agreement. Overlap windows shift twice a year.
Written by
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