If you have weekly meetings with people in another country, you've experienced the chaos: a meeting that's been at 10 AM your time for months suddenly shifts to 11 AM. Or 9 AM. Daylight Saving Time (DST) — and the fact that different countries change to and from DST on different dates — creates predictable confusion every spring and fall.

Who observes DST?

Most of the U.S., Canada, Mexico (some states), Europe, parts of South America, parts of Australia, and New Zealand observe DST. Notable exceptions:

  • Most of Asia (Japan, China, India, Korea) does not observe DST.
  • Most of Africa does not.
  • Most equatorial countries don't (no benefit when day length doesn't change much).
  • Hawaii and most of Arizona do not.
  • Saskatchewan does not.

If your team or counterparties are in Asia, your time-zone math stays steady year-round. If they're in Europe, DST creates spring/fall confusion.

The DST schedule mismatch

DST changes happen on different dates in different regions:

  • U.S. and Canada: Spring forward 2nd Sunday of March, fall back 1st Sunday of November.
  • Most of Europe: Spring forward last Sunday of March, fall back last Sunday of October.
  • Australia (most states): Reverse calendar — spring forward 1st Sunday of October, fall back 1st Sunday of April.

This means:

  • 2-3 weeks in March: U.S. is on DST, Europe isn't. Time difference is 1 hour smaller than usual.
  • 1 week in October–November: U.S. is still on DST, Europe is back on standard. Time difference is 1 hour smaller again.

Worked example: U.S. East to London

Normal year (everything in standard time): EST and GMT are 5 hours apart.

Late March 2026 (after U.S. springs forward):

  • Mar 8: U.S. springs forward. Now EDT vs GMT = 4 hours apart.
  • Mar 29: UK springs forward. Now EDT vs BST = 5 hours apart again.

So during March 8–28: a 10 AM EDT meeting is 2 PM London (instead of 3 PM as it would be the rest of the year).

October 25 to November 1, 2026: opposite chaos for one week.

Why this matters for recurring meetings

If your meeting is set in your local time (e.g., 10 AM EST every Thursday), it will shift in someone else's time zone twice per year. Calendar tools handle this — but they handle it locally. Your London colleague sees the meeting move from 3 PM to 2 PM in late March, then back to 3 PM at end of March. Confusing if no one warns them.

If the meeting is set in UTC (a less common but more reliable approach), it stays at the same UTC time year-round and shifts in everyone's local time as their DST changes. This is sometimes preferred for international teams.

How to handle recurring meetings

  1. Set in the time zone of the most-impacted attendee. If most participants are in Tokyo (no DST) and one is in NY, set in Tokyo time so the Tokyo participants always meet at the same hour.
  2. Notify everyone before each DST change. A 1-week reminder before March and November helps avoid the "wait, why is the meeting at a different time?" confusion.
  3. Avoid scheduling during the 2-week chaotic windows. Mid-late March and early November are bad times for new recurring meetings.
  4. Use working-hour overlap windows that survive DST changes. If your meeting time only works during full DST overlap, half the year it'll be inconvenient for someone.

The southern hemisphere reverse

Australia and New Zealand DST is opposite the northern hemisphere. They spring forward in October and fall back in April. So:

  • U.S. and Australia in November: Australia just sprung forward; U.S. just fell back. Time difference INCREASES by 2 hours during this overlap.
  • March: U.S. springs forward; Australia falls back. Time difference DECREASES by 2 hours.

If you have Australian colleagues, your time difference fluctuates by 2 hours twice per year, not just one. Plan accordingly.

Which countries are removing DST?

The European Union voted in 2019 to abolish DST changes by 2021. Implementation has stalled — as of 2026, the EU still observes DST. Some U.S. states (Florida, California, Washington) have legislated for permanent DST but require federal action.

If/when DST changes are removed, scheduling will get simpler. Until then, expect the spring/fall complications to continue.

The "Did you remember the time change?" message

For weekly meetings, a 1-week reminder before each DST change saves headaches. Put a calendar reminder for yourself: "DST CHECK — alert team about meeting times." Two reminders per year, one in March and one in November.

Use the converter

Our time zone converter lets you specify the UTC offset directly. Use the offset that's currently in effect — DST or standard — for accurate conversion during the chaotic March and November windows.