Hawaii to Philippines Time Difference Explained (HST to PHT)

Hawaii Standard Time sits at UTC−10. Philippine Time sits at UTC+8.

Do the math and you get 18 hours separating the two.

Hawaii doesn’t do daylight saving time. The Philippines never changes their clocks either. 

So this 18-hour difference? It stays locked in place all year long.

What this means practically: When it’s Monday afternoon in Hawaii, it’s already Tuesday morning in Manila. 

Hawaii to Philippines Time Conversion Chart (Every Hour)

Here’s every hour of the day in Hawaii and what time it is in the Philippines:

Notice the pattern?

Your entire morning (7 am to 12 pm HST) happens while they’re in the middle of the night (1 am to 6 am PHT). 

Your lunch hour is their sunrise. 

Your mid-afternoon (3 pm to 6 pm HST) is their only normal morning work time (9 am to 12 pm PHT).

The date flip happens at 6:00 am Hawaii time. 

Before that, you’re both on the same calendar day. After that, they’re a full day ahead.

This is why Hawaii-Philippines collaboration is one of the trickiest timezone pairings out there.

When you can actually have real-time conversations

The sweet spot for live calls between Hawaii and the Philippines is roughly 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm Hawaii time.

That lands at 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Philippine time the next day.

What different schedule models actually look like

You’ve got three basic options when hiring someone in the Philippines from Hawaii.

Full overlap schedule

This means your 9 am to 5 pm Hawaii time becomes their 3 am to 11 am Philippine time.

Yes, that’s a graveyard shift.

They’re working through the night while you’re working through your day. Maximum real-time collaboration.

You can hop on calls whenever you want. Customer support happens live. Issues get solved immediately.

But they’re sacrificing their sleep schedule completely.

Filipino remote workers who do this talk about sleeping right after they clock out at 11 am Manila time and treating daytime as their “night.” It messes with their social life. It’s hard on their health long-term.

If you’re asking someone to do this, the compensation and benefits need to reflect it.

Partial overlap schedule

This is where you shift your collaboration window to your late afternoon.

Say you schedule overlap from 2 pm to 5 pm Hawaii time. That’s 8 am to 11 am Philippine time the next day.

They work a normal morning in the Philippines. You get a solid 3-hour window each day for meetings, check-ins, and anything that needs real-time discussion.

The rest of their workday happens while you’re asleep. The rest of your workday happens while they’re asleep.

This requires better documentation. Clearer processes. More async communication.

But it’s way more sustainable.

Philippine daytime with rare overlap

Option three: Let them work a standard 9 am to 5 pm Philippine schedule.

They do deep work during their day.

They handle queued tasks. They document everything. They leave updates and reports for you to read when you wake up.

You occasionally take a late evening or early morning call in Hawaii when something truly needs synchronous discussion.

This has the least overlap. It only works if you have strong systems in place.

Clear SOPs. Good project management tools.

A culture that doesn’t rely on constant Slack messages.

But when it works, it works beautifully.

How to Turn the 18 Hour Time Gap Into 24 Hour Coverage

Here’s the shift in thinking that helps.

Most Hawaii-based employers see the 18-hour gap as a problem. Something to overcome. A scheduling nightmare.

But it can be an advantage.

You work during your day. They work during their day (which is your night).

Together, you’ve got nearly 24-hour coverage.

A customer emails at 8 pm Hawaii time (2 pm Philippine time the next day).

Your Filipino team member handles it during their workday. By the time you wake up, it’s resolved.

You finish a project at 5 pm and hand it off. They pick it up at 11 am their time. They work on it. They hand it back before you start your day. You review it in your morning.

This only works with strong async systems. But when it works, it’s powerful.

You’re not trying to force real-time collaboration constantly. You’re designing your operation to flow across timezones.

Final Thoughts

The 18-hour timezone difference between Hawaii and the Philippines is one of the widest gaps you’ll encounter in US-to-Philippines hiring.

It requires more planning than hiring from the mainland US. It requires clearer communication. It requires better systems.

But thousands of Hawaii-based businesses successfully work with Filipino remote workers.

The ones who succeed are the ones who go in with realistic expectations.

Who design their workflows around the constraint instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.

Who compensate fairly when they’re asking someone to work through their night.

Start by being crystal clear about the time zone in your job posting.

Use calendar tools that auto-convert. Put expected overlap hours in writing. Build async processes from day one.

The gap is real. But it’s manageable when you approach it intentionally.