Gab: Hi, I’m Gab.
Damien: Hi, I’m Damien and you’re live with Affordable Staff. This is where Gab and I answer those questions we get asked each and every week when we’re contacting clients and talking to people right across Australia or New Zealand. So today’s question, Gab, is: What hours does the VA work? So, this is one that we get asked really often, isn’t it?
Gab: Yeah, yeah. Actually. Like every other meeting. Yes. So our normal work hours, office hours would be Monday to Friday, that’s from 9 AM to 5:30 PM Australian East Standard Time. So that’s Brisbane time. So Damien can you tell us who sets these work hours for the VA and like, how we work around having different time zones? ‘Cause Australia has different time zones.
Damien: Yeah. So when we’re onboarding clients, we sit down, we work out what’s the best time for their team member to start. I suppose the most important thing for people to understand is even though the office might open at either 8:30 Gab, the VAs have already had their cup of coffee and had a chat and check their emails and done all those stuff. So they’re ready to start work when they actually start work. That’s why we think 9 AM is the most appropriate time and the most common time that most businesses do have their team members start. But they vary state to state and varies, you know, business to business. We got some people that work ’til later on in the evening and we got a couple starts even earlier the 9 AM Brisbane time. And then when we look at daylight savings, it’s really up to the client. We have, as you know, clients in New Zealand where they’re four or five hours ahead of the Philippines in time zone. And it really depends on what the client needs and something that we discuss pretty heavily when we’re setting up our workflow during our onboarding processes. Isn’t it, Gab?
Gab: Yeah. That’s actually what we discussed the most. Like, one of the first things that we discuss with them.
Damien: Yeah. It is. It’s really important part of actually getting the VA to work and integrate really well into your business and something that we do spend a fair bit of time on. So this has been Damien and Gab from Affordable Staff where there’s a better way to outsource.
