Meeting across countries starts with each person's local time and working hours
Say three people in New York, London and Bengaluru, each working 9 AM to 5 PM, need a one-hour meeting on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. There is no hour when all three are in working hours. The easiest slot, with nobody in sleeping hours, is 9:00 AM in New York, which is 2:00 PM in London and 6:30 PM in Bengaluru.
Enter each participant's city and usual working hours in the calculator above and it lays the comparison out as a one-day timeline, suggests three meeting times, and shows any stretch when everyone is working. If you meet at the same time every week, it also tells you the date a daylight saving change shifts someone's local time.
Why a meeting time needs its own calculation
A time difference looks like a number you can memorize, but it changes with the date. The United States and Europe start and end daylight saving time on different Sundays, so for a few weeks each year New York and London are four hours apart instead of five. Cities in the southern hemisphere, such as Sydney and Auckland, move the other way, and India and Nepal sit on half-hour and 45-minute offsets.
- Setting up a recurring meeting with an overseas team: you can check that a time that works now still works in November, and that the same person is not always the one staying up late.
- Offering a time to a client or interview candidate abroad: you can see whether it is still yesterday or already the weekend where they are, and pick inside their working hours.
- Announcing a webinar or presentation: you can copy each region's local time in one go and paste it into the invitation.
How the calculation works
- The day is cut into 30-minute cells: from midnight to midnight of the meeting date in the top (base) city. If the base city changes its clocks that day, the day is 23 or 25 hours long.
- Each cell gets every participant's local time: each city is converted with its IANA time zone data, so whether daylight saving applies on that date is built in. Half-hour and 45-minute offsets, like India (UTC+5:30) and Nepal (UTC+5:45), are calculated as they are.
- Each local time gets a status: on a weekday inside the working hours that person chose it is working hours; 10 PM to 7 AM is sleeping hours; other waking time is early or late; and waking time on the local weekend is weekend. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday, except Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), where it is Friday and Saturday.
- Suggestions come in this order: fewest people in sleeping hours during the meeting, then most people in working hours throughout, then the least total time outside working hours, then the earlier start. Three non-overlapping times are shown.
- Same time every week: the chosen time is held fixed in the base city for 52 weeks, and the first meeting date on which a participant's local time changes is reported.
About the default working hours The U.S. Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered, non-exempt employees to be paid overtime, at not less than one and a half times their regular rate, for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, and that the Act sets no limit on the hours an employee aged 16 or older may work in a workweek. The familiar 9-to-5 is a custom rather than a legal rule, so each participant can change their start and end time.
Working hours you share with New York
This table assumes New York and the other city both work 9 AM to 5 PM on a Wednesday, and shows the stretch when both are in working hours, in New York time. October 14 falls while the U.S. and Europe are on daylight saving time; December 2 is after both have ended it.
| City | Difference (Oct 14) | Shared hours (Oct 14) | Difference (Dec 2) | Shared hours (Dec 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | −3 h | 12:00 PM–5:00 PM (5 hours) | −3 h | 12:00 PM–5:00 PM (5 hours) |
| Mexico City | −2 h | 11:00 AM–5:00 PM (6 hours) | −1 h | 10:00 AM–5:00 PM (7 hours) |
| São Paulo | +1 h | 9:00 AM–4:00 PM (7 hours) | +2 h | 9:00 AM–3:00 PM (6 hours) |
| London | +5 h | 9:00 AM–12:00 PM (3 hours) | +5 h | 9:00 AM–12:00 PM (3 hours) |
| Berlin | +6 h | 9:00 AM–11:00 AM (2 hours) | +6 h | 9:00 AM–11:00 AM (2 hours) |
| Bengaluru | +9 h 30 min | None | +10 h 30 min | None |
| Tokyo | +13 h | None | +14 h | None |
| Sydney | +15 h | None | +16 h | None |
With London you get the morning in New York and the afternoon in London, three hours that do not change between October and December. Mexico City and São Paulo shift by an hour between the two dates. Bengaluru, Tokyo and Sydney have no shared hour on a 9-to-5 schedule, so someone has to give up an evening or an early morning. For example, on October 14 a 9:00 AM New York meeting falls at 6:30 PM in Bengaluru, while a Los Angeles evening meeting at 8:30 PM falls at 9:00 AM Thursday in Bengaluru. Mondays can also be a problem: Monday 8:00 AM in Tokyo on October 12 is Sunday 7:00 PM in New York.
Daylight saving time in 2026 and 2027
The dates below come from each government's notice and the IANA time zone database. The last column shows how far ahead of (+) or behind (−) New York each city is, which changes as the dates in the other columns pass.
| Region | Rule | 2026 | 2027 | Difference from New York |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States (New York, Los Angeles) | Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November | March 8 to November 1 | March 14 to November 7 | Los Angeles −3 h all year |
| United Kingdom (London) | Last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October | March 29 to October 25 | March 28 to October 31 | +5 h (+4 h in some weeks) |
| European Union (Berlin, Paris) | Same days as the UK | March 29 to October 25 | March 28 to October 31 | +6 h (+5 h in some weeks) |
| Australia, New South Wales (Sydney) | First Sunday in October to first Sunday in April | From October 4 | Until April 4, from October 3 | +14 to +16 h |
| New Zealand (Auckland) | Last Sunday in September to first Sunday in April | From September 27 | Until April 4, from September 26 | +16 to +18 h |
| Canada: British Columbia (Vancouver), Alberta (Calgary) | No clock changes since March 8, 2026 | From March 8 onward | Continues | Vancouver −3 / −2 h, Calgary −2 / −1 h |
Because the U.S. and Europe change on different Sundays, the gap between them is off by an hour for a few weeks: from October 25 to 31, 2026, from March 14 to 27, 2027, and from October 31 to November 6, 2027, New York and London are four hours apart instead of five. In those weeks the shared 9-to-5 window with London is 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in New York, one hour longer. A weekly meeting held at 9:00 AM New York time moves in London from 2:00 PM to 1:00 PM on October 28, 2026, and back to 2:00 PM on November 4. In Bengaluru it moves from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM on November 4.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up EST and EDT: Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC−5 and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is UTC−4. Writing "EST" in a summer invitation can be read as an hour off, so naming the city is safer.
- Missing the date change: Monday 8:00 AM in Tokyo is Sunday 7:00 PM in New York in October. The cells labeled with a weekday in the timeline are where the date changes.
- Counting only whole hours: India is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead of New York in October and 10 hours 30 minutes ahead in December, and Nepal is 9 hours 45 minutes and 10 hours 45 minutes ahead. New York 9:00 AM on October 14 is 6:30 PM in Bengaluru.
- Assuming every U.S. state changes its clocks: Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time. Phoenix stays on UTC−7, so it is 3 hours behind New York in October and 2 hours behind in December.
- Assuming the southern hemisphere changes at the same time: Sydney and Auckland start daylight saving in September or October, just as the U.S. and Europe leave it, so the gap with New York moves by up to two hours over the year.
- Using the old western Canada rule: British Columbia moved its clocks forward on March 8, 2026 and decided not to set them back, and the province cancelled the change planned for November 1. Older devices or software may show Vancouver an hour behind its actual time (UTC−8) from November. This calculator uses the new rule.
Limits and cautions
- Public holidays and lunch breaks are not included. A shared working hour may still fall on a holiday in the other country.
- Sleeping hours are fixed at 10 PM to 7 AM for everyone. Someone working nights, such as on a shift schedule, cannot be expressed with the working-hours boxes.
- The weekend is Saturday and Sunday, except Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), which is calculated as Friday and Saturday. If the other company rests on different days, check the result yourself.
- Time zone data comes from the IANA database built into the browser, with the 2026 changes in British Columbia, Alberta and Morocco set separately. Rules that change later may be reflected late.
- Only meetings that start and end within that date (midnight to midnight) in the base city are searched.
Sources
- 01U.S. Department of Labor: Overtime PayFLSA overtime at not less than time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek; no limit in the Act on weekly hours for employees 16 and older
- 02IANA Time Zone DatabaseTime zones and daylight saving records by city (tzdata 2026e); EU rules on the last Sunday of March and October at 01:00 UTC; 2026b British Columbia, 2026c Alberta and Morocco
- 03National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Daylight Saving TimeSecond Sunday in March at 2:00 AM to first Sunday in November at 2:00 AM; 2026 runs March 8 to November 1; Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe it
- 04UK government: When do the clocks change?Clocks go forward at 1:00 AM on the last Sunday in March and back at 2:00 AM on the last Sunday in October; March 29 and October 25, 2026; March 28 and October 31, 2027
- 05NSW Government: Daylight savingStarts October 4, 2026 and ends April 4, 2027
- 06New Zealand Government: Daylight savingStarts at 2:00 AM on the last Sunday in September, ends at 3:00 AM on the first Sunday in April
- 07Government of British Columbia announcementClocks moved forward on March 8, 2026 and stay the same all year; the November 1 change was cancelled
- 08Saudi Press Agency (SPA): 2013 royal decreeGovernment working days are Sunday to Thursday; the weekend is Friday and Saturday
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time for a meeting between the US and India?
If both sides work 9 AM to 5 PM, New York and Bengaluru share no working hour: Bengaluru is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead on October 14, 2026 and 10 hours 30 minutes ahead on December 2. With nobody in sleeping hours, the easiest slot is 9:00 AM in New York, which is 6:30 PM in Bengaluru in October and 7:30 PM in December. From Los Angeles, the easiest slot is 8:30 PM Pacific on October 14 or 7:30 PM on December 2, which is 9:00 AM the next morning in Bengaluru.
What is the time difference between New York and London?
London is 5 hours ahead of New York for most of the year. It is 4 hours ahead for a few weeks when only one side is on daylight saving time: October 25 to 31, 2026, March 14 to 27, 2027, and October 31 to November 6, 2027. If both work 9 AM to 5 PM, the shared window is 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM in New York (2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in London), or 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in the four-hour weeks.
How does daylight saving time change a recurring meeting?
The U.S. runs daylight saving from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November (March 8 to November 1 in 2026), while the UK and EU run it from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October (March 29 to October 25). A weekly meeting held at 9:00 AM New York time moves in London from 2:00 PM to 1:00 PM on October 28, 2026, and moves in Bengaluru from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM on November 4. The calculator's weekly list shows the first date each participant's time changes within the next 52 weeks.
Which US states do not observe daylight saving time?
Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time. Phoenix stays on UTC−7 all year, so it is 3 hours behind New York in October and 2 hours behind in December. The calculator uses each city's own rules for the date you pick.
How do I enter a participant whose working hours are not 9 to 5?
Each participant row has its own start and end of working hours in 30-minute steps. A change is reflected immediately in the suggested order and in the colors of the day timeline, and it is saved in the link when you copy it.
Does the calculator handle half-hour offsets like India's?
Yes. India is UTC+5:30, so Bengaluru is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead of New York on October 14, 2026 and 10 hours 30 minutes ahead on December 2. Nepal is UTC+5:45, which is 9 hours 45 minutes and 10 hours 45 minutes ahead. New York 9:00 AM in October is 6:30 PM in Bengaluru, and the timeline cells show local times exactly.
What is the time difference between New York and Vancouver now that British Columbia stopped changing clocks?
British Columbia moved its clocks forward on March 8, 2026 and decided not to set them back, so Vancouver stays on UTC−7. It is 3 hours behind New York while New York is on daylight saving time and 2 hours behind otherwise, which is 3 hours on October 14, 2026 and 2 hours on December 2. Alberta (Calgary) stays on UTC−6, 2 hours behind New York in October and 1 hour behind in December.
How can I tell if the other person is on a weekend?
The calculator checks each participant's local weekday and marks the row as weekend when it applies. Monday 8:00 AM in Tokyo on October 12, 2026 is Sunday 7:00 PM in New York, so a New York participant shows as weekend. The weekend is Saturday and Sunday, except Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), which is calculated as Friday and Saturday.