Business-hours SLAs
By default, SLA timers run around the clock. Switch to business-hours mode and the clock only ticks during the hours your team actually works — nights, weekends, and holidays stop counting against your targets.
Why business hours matter
On a 24/7 clock, a ticket raised at 4pm Friday with an "8-hour resolution" target breaches by Monday morning — even though nobody was working over the weekend. Business-hours mode makes your SLAs honest: the timer only counts time your team is actually open, so your targets and compliance numbers reflect reality.
The two clock modes
Choose the clock mode in Admin Settings → Tickets → SLAs → Targets. The hours, timezone, working days, and holidays used by business-hours mode are configured separately under Admin Settings → Workforce Management.
| Mode | How the clock counts |
|---|---|
| Calendar (24×7) — the default | Runs continuously, including nights and weekends. Every minute counts. Nothing changes from the original behaviour. |
| Business hours | Counts only your working hours and skips holidays. Overnight and weekend time doesn't count against targets. |
Switching to business hours
Set the shared schedule first, then switch the SLA clock to use it.
- 1Open Admin Settings → Workforce Management. Set the organization's open days and hours, choose the timezone, and save the schedule. You can use one schedule for every open day or set different times by day.
- 2Open Admin Settings → Tickets → SLAs → Targets and find the SLA clock section.
- 3Choose Business hours. Calendar (24×7) remains the default for a continuous clock.
- 4If urgent priorities must keep counting outside business hours, select them under Always-on priorities.
- 5Click the Save button in the SLA clock section. This is separate from saving target times and from saving the Workforce Management schedule.
Keep urgent tickets on a 24/7 clock
Even in business-hours mode, you can keep specific priorities running around the clock — useful when a Critical outage shouldn't wait until Monday. In the SLA clock section's Always-on priorities row, tick any priority that should ignore working hours and keep counting 24×7, then save the clock settings.
Adding holidays
In business-hours mode, SLA timers also skip the days your team is closed. Add those dates in Admin Settings → Workforce Management → Holidays.
- 1Pick a Date.
- 2Optionally add a Label (for example, "New Year's Day").
- 3Tick Repeats every year if it's an annual holiday, then click Add holiday. Each holiday saves on its own — there's no separate Save step. Remove one anytime with the × next to it.
What changes for your team
- The ticket progress bar freezes overnight and on weekends. For business-hours orgs, the SLA progress bar won't creep toward a breach while you're closed — it picks up again when you reopen.
- It's daylight-saving and timezone aware. An org in London and one in Chicago each get correct timing, and clocks adjust automatically across DST changes.
- Paused time and non-working time don't double-count. If you also pause SLAs on certain statuses, an overnight pause is handled correctly — the same hour is never subtracted twice.
Frequently asked questions
Did my SLAs change when this feature shipped?
No. The default is unchanged 24/7 (Calendar) behaviour. Your SLA numbers only change if an admin deliberately switches your organization to business-hours mode.
Why did my SLA timer stop moving overnight?
You're on business-hours mode, and the clock correctly pauses outside your working hours. It resumes at the start of your next working period.
Can urgent tickets still run 24/7 while everything else follows business hours?
Yes. Use Always-on priorities to keep Critical (or any priority) on the around-the-clock clock while the rest of the organization follows your working hours.
Do holidays affect 24/7 mode?
No. Holidays only change how timers count in business-hours mode. In Calendar (24×7) mode, every day counts the same.
Can different teams have different working hours?
Not yet. Today the working schedule is organization-wide. Per-team calendars and timezones are on the roadmap.