Hiring a Shopify developer in another time zone: how US-hours overlap works

Lahore is on Pakistan Standard Time, UTC+5, and doesn't change its clocks. I set my hours per project. In winter a full US Eastern day is 7pm to 3am in Lahore, a full Pacific day is 10pm to 6am and a UK day is 2pm to 10pm. Some teams pick a split day that covers London and the New York morning instead.

The time differences, summer and winter

Pakistan Standard Time is UTC+5 all year, and the country hasn't used daylight saving time since 2009. Your side of the gap moves, though. US clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November. UK clocks change on the last Sundays of March and October, and EU countries change at the same moment.

Arizona and Hawaii don't observe daylight saving time, so for clients there the gap to Lahore stays the same all year.

The weeks when calendars go wrong

The US and Europe change their clocks on different Sundays, so twice a year there are a couple of weeks when the usual gaps are off by an hour. In 2027, US clocks go forward on 14 March and the UK's on 28 March. In autumn the UK goes back on 31 October and the US on 7 November. During those weeks New York is four hours behind London instead of five.

Lahore doesn't move, so for me the shift happens on your change date. If your company has people in London and New York, those are the weeks to double-check a recurring call.

Three habits stop most scheduling mistakes. Put both time zones in every calendar invite; most calendar apps can show a second zone next to yours. Write deadlines with the zone attached, such as "Thursday 5pm ET". And check recurring meetings in the clock-change weeks, because an invite set in one zone moves for everyone else.

One example: a 2pm to 11pm day in Lahore

A split day of 2pm to 11pm in Lahore covers London's whole working day and the New York morning. This is where it falls for you:

Measured against a 9am to 5pm office day, that gives a UK team the whole working day in winter and from 10am in summer. A New York team gets four hours of overlap in winter (9am to 1pm) and five in summer. A Pacific team gets the first hour or two of the morning, which is enough for a daily stand-up: 9am in Los Angeles is 10pm in Lahore in winter.

If you'd rather have your full day, I work that instead. A 9am to 5pm Eastern day is 7pm to 3am in Lahore in winter and 6pm to 2am in summer. A full Pacific day is 10pm to 6am in winter and 9pm to 5am in summer.

A sample week with a New York team

This is how a week can run with a New York team in winter on that 2pm to 11pm day:

• Monday at 9am in New York, 7pm for me: a short call to agree the week's priorities.
• Tuesday to Thursday: I work through the list from 2pm to 11pm Lahore time. Before 1pm New York time, which is the end of my day, your team gets a written update and a Loom of anything visual.
• Questions your team posts in the afternoon are waiting for me when I start, and the answers reach you before your next morning.
• Friday: a review call in the overlap, then I publish what you've approved.

A Pacific team runs the same pattern with the call at 9am their time, which is 10pm for me in winter. A UK team barely needs any of this, since that day covers most of theirs.

How I've made it work

I've worked with US teams from Lahore for most of my career. Sweet Zzz Mattress, Fan & Fuel and Louise Carter were all US companies I worked for remotely, and at Gablr I worked full-time on US hours. For more than seven years that has meant daily US stand-ups, plus Loom walkthroughs of finished work so nobody has to wait for a meeting to see it.

My longest freelance client stayed for two and a half years on a BigCommerce retainer, and some of those jobs were turned around the same day. New enquiries get a reply from me within 24 hours.

A setup that makes the overlap work

These habits do most of the work, whoever you hire:

• One fixed overlap slot every working day. For a New York team in winter, 9am there is 7pm for me. Keep it short and keep it at the same time.
• A written handover at the end of the developer's day: what shipped, what's blocked, and what they need from you. A two-minute Loom beats a long message for anything visual.
• One shared task board, such as ClickUp, Asana or Jira, so priorities don't live in chat history.
• A clear meaning of "urgent". Agree which problems justify a call outside the overlap (checkout down, payments failing) and how to reach the developer for those.
• Theme changes go to a preview theme first. On a split day, most of my afternoon comes before a US team's working day starts, so changes can be built and checked on a copy before you log on, then published once you've seen the preview.
• Swap holiday calendars at the start. Pakistan's public holidays differ from the US and UK ones.

Questions to ask any offshore developer about hours

Whoever you hire, get these answers in writing before the work starts:

• Which hours will you be online, written in my time zone, and how do they shift when the clocks change?
• How quickly do you reply during the overlap, and outside it?
• Which public holidays will you take, and how much notice will I get of time off?
• What happens if your power or internet goes down on a launch day?
• Can you work longer overlap hours for a launch week, and with how much notice?
• What's the plan for urgent problems if you're ill?

A developer who has worked across time zones for years will have quick, specific answers to all six.

Paying a developer in another country

I'm paid in US dollars through Wise, Payoneer, direct bank transfer or Upwork. If your accountant asks for a W-8BEN, the IRS certificate of foreign status that a foreign individual gives a US payer, I have one ready. Contracts, code ownership and access work the same as with a local developer: use a collaborator account and keep the code in a repository you own. The hiring checklist covers both.

When to hire someone in your own time zone

An offshore developer isn't the right fit for every team. Hire locally when:

• You want the developer reachable through your whole business day and your evenings too, week after week.
• You need someone in the room for workshops or on-site work.
• Your contracts, insurance or data rules require a supplier in your own country.

If you're weighing a freelancer against an agency as well, freelancer or agency covers the other trade-offs, and what a Shopify developer costs puts the rates side by side.

Regular hours each month are easiest to book through my ongoing Shopify support service.