In a follow-the-sun rotation, each region covers incidents during its own working day and hands over to the next region as its day ends. Nobody is on call at night, because somewhere it's daytime. It's the main reason teams with people in several time zones stop doing night pages.
Below is how it works for a team in San Francisco, London and Bangalore, how to set the handovers, and the part that catches teams out: each region's own holidays.
How follow-the-sun works
Split the 24 hours into three eight-hour blocks, each inside one region's working day. In winter, with San Francisco, London and Bangalore: Bangalore covers 8 AM to 4 PM India time (2:30 to 10:30 UTC), London covers 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM UK time (10:30 to 18:30 UTC), and San Francisco covers 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM Pacific time (18:30 to 2:30 UTC). Each region hands over at the end of its block.
Three regions eight hours apart fit neatly. Two regions, like the US and Europe, leave a gap of a few hours that someone has to stretch for, or that a lighter night rotation covers.
How many people each region needs
At least two people per region, and three is safer. With one person per region, every vacation or sick day breaks the chain. Within a region, people rotate weekly, just like a normal on-call rotation, but only for their daytime block.
Write the handover times in UTC and in each local time, and put them where everyone can see them. Clock changes move them twice a year, and the US, UK and India change on different dates (India doesn't change at all).
Handovers that actually hand over
A handover is a short written note: what's open, what's flaky, what to watch. Five lines in the incident channel at the end of each block is enough. Without it, follow-the-sun turns into three teams rediscovering the same problem.
Regional holidays are where it breaks
Each region has its own public holidays, and on those days that region's block has nobody unless someone covers. Christmas Day takes out San Francisco and London at the same time. Diwali (Sunday November 8, 2026) and Republic Day on January 26 take out Bangalore. Boxing Day moves to Monday December 28 in the UK this year.
Plan those days explicitly: either another region stretches its block, or someone in the holiday region covers and gets a day back later. And check people's own vacations against their region's blocks, the same way you would for any rotation.
Make it run smoothly
Same tools everywhere
One paging tool, one incident channel, one runbook. Regions shouldn't have their own.
Overlap the handover
Fifteen minutes where both regions are online is worth more than a perfect note.
Own the gaps
If two regions leave a gap, name who covers it instead of hoping nothing breaks.
Rotate across regions too
Let people visit or swap with another region now and then, so the three teams stay one team.
Check clock changes
Put the March and November dates in the calendar, and re-check the handover times both weeks.
Count holidays per region
Count the holidays each region loses before you promise round-the-clock cover.
Three regions, three holiday calendars,one rotation.
Follow-the-sun works until a region's holidays and vacations pile up in the same week. This board groups the team by region with each person's own holidays, and warns when a shift lands on someone's time off. It's live, so try moving someone.
Grouped by region
See each region's rotation at a glance, and which week a region is down to one person.
Holidays per person
Bangalore's holidays on the Bangalore rows, London's on London's, automatically.
Clashes flagged
An on-call shift over the person's own vacation or holiday gets a warning before it happens.
- People are grouped by region
- Each region rotates its own on-call weekly
- Holidays come from each person's country
- Shifts over someone's own time off get a warning
Run follow-the-sun with every region's calendar in view.
Forgot shows each person's time off, on-call and their own country's holidays on one timeline, grouped by team or region, with a warning when a shift clashes.
- Public holidays for each person's country
- On-call that warns when it lands on time off
- Group people by region or team
- Your team sends dates without signing up
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Questions
What is follow-the-sun on-call?
A rotation where each region covers incidents during its own working day and hands over to the next region as its day ends, so nobody is on call at night.
How many regions do you need for follow-the-sun?
Three regions about eight hours apart cover 24 hours neatly, like the US West Coast, Europe and India. Two regions leave a gap of a few hours that needs its own plan.
How many people does follow-the-sun need?
At least two per region, ideally three, so vacations and sick days don't break the chain.
What happens on a region's public holiday?
That region's block has nobody unless you plan for it. Either a neighboring region stretches its block, or someone in the holiday region covers and gets a day off later.