Glossary · Hiring in the Philippines

Night shift differential

Night shift differential is extra pay required under the Philippine Labor Code for work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.: at least 10% of the employee's regular hourly wage for each hour worked in that window. It matters for offshore roles because U.S. business hours fall overnight in Manila.

Illustration of a hiring glossary: a reference page of terms with book, search, document and checklist icons

What it means in practice

A 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern workday runs from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the Philippines during U.S. daylight saving time, and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in winter. Most of those hours fall inside the night differential window.

Filipino professionals who work U.S. hours know the night shift well; it is the standard schedule across the country's outsourcing industry. That experience is why U.S. companies can get full time-zone overlap from the Philippines.

Every Rekruuto hire works your hours, full time. See the time-zone overlap entry for how to plan the schedule for each role.

How to plan a U.S.-hours schedule

  • Pick the U.S. hours you actually need covered, such as your customers' business day or your own working hours.
  • Convert them to Philippine time for both daylight saving and standard time, since the overlap shifts twice a year.
  • Check which of those hours fall between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the Philippines.
  • If you employ directly, include the differential for those hours in the pay calculation.
  • Keep the schedule stable week to week; a predictable shift matters to night-shift workers.
  • Time-zone overlap

    Time-zone overlap is the number of working hours two people or teams share live on the same day.

  • 13th-month pay

    13th-month pay is a mandatory annual benefit in the Philippines, equal to at least one-twelfth of an employee's basic salary earned during the calendar year.

  • SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG

    SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG are the three mandatory social contributions for employees in the Philippines.

Read next

Hire a full-time professional from the Philippines

Every Rekruuto hire is a full-time professional based in the Philippines who works your hours. Most roles are $1,800 a month, software developers start at $2,500 a month, and an AI Implementation Specialist is $2,500 a month. Candidates pass top 2% vetting, hiring takes 14 days, and every hire starts with a 1-week trial with a replacement or refund.

Book a strategy callAll glossary terms