Guide
Calculating an SLA in business hours with worked examples
A business-hours SLA only counts the opening hours you agreed on. A ticket opened Friday at 4:30 p.m. with a 4-hour target falls due Monday at 11:30 a.m., if hours run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This guide walks through the math with three examples, and shows how OKTO PSA does it.
It covers first response, resolution, Quebec holidays, pausing while the client replies, and the clauses to put in the contract.
First response or resolution: two targets, two clocks
A service desk SLA almost always measures two separate things. First response time runs from the moment the ticket opens until a person first answers. Resolution time runs until the problem is fixed. Each has its own target, often depending on priority.
An automatic acknowledgement is not a first response. If the contract does not say so, you and your client will not be counting the same thing.
A quick example
A ticket arrives Monday at 4:45 p.m. The first response target is 1 business hour, with hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fifteen minutes remain on Monday, then 45 minutes the next day: the deadline is Tuesday at 8:45 a.m., not Monday at 5:45 p.m.
Business hours or 24/7: what the contract really promises
With business hours, the clock only runs during the agreed opening hours, say Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. With 24/7, it never stops: nights, weekends and holidays included. The same 8-hour ticket does not have the same deadline in each case.
Business hours
The most common choice for a managed plan. Write down the hours, the time zone and the list of holidays, or each side will picture its own.
24/7
Keep it for services that are truly covered overnight, with someone on call. A 24/7 promise with no team to keep it becomes a breach of contract.
Quebec statutory holidays
Quebec’s Act respecting labour standards sets out paid, non-working statutory holidays: January 1, Good Friday or Easter Monday (the employer’s choice), the Monday before May 25, July 1 (July 2 if July 1 falls on a Sunday), the first Monday of September, the second Monday of October and December 25. June 24, Fête nationale, comes on top of that. For a service contract, the list that counts is the one you write into it: an MSP may also choose to work a holiday and bill it differently.
Three worked examples, in business hours
Common assumptions: hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, Eastern time. The tickets and situations are fictional, from an office with 18 workstations.
Friday 4:30 p.m., 4-business-hour target
Thirty minutes remain on Friday (4:30 to 5 p.m.). The other 3 h 30 are counted Monday from 8 a.m.: the deadline is Monday at 11:30 a.m. On calendar hours, it would have fallen Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday 2 p.m., 8-business-hour resolution, with a client wait
The clock has run 2 hours (2 to 4 p.m.) when the client stops replying until Wednesday at 10 a.m. The pause covers 1 business hour on Tuesday (4 to 5 p.m.) and 2 on Wednesday (8 to 10 a.m.), 3 hours in all. Six hours remain from Wednesday 10 a.m.: the deadline is Wednesday at 4 p.m. With no pause, it would have been Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Friday May 21, 2027, 3 p.m., 8-business-hour resolution, Monday a holiday
Two hours remain on Friday (3 to 5 p.m.). Monday May 24, 2027, Journée nationale des patriotes, is left out of the calendar. The remaining 6 hours start Tuesday at 8 a.m.: the deadline is Tuesday at 2 p.m. On a 24/7 contract, the same target would have fallen Friday at 11 p.m.
When the clock stops: pausing while the client replies
If you are waiting on an answer, an access or a decision from the client, the resolution time should not keep running against you. Pausing says so plainly: the clock stops while the ball is in the client’s court and restarts when they reply.
What to spell out to avoid disputes
- Which statuses pause the clock, for example “waiting on client”.
- That a real question was asked before the ticket was put on hold, not just an “any news?”.
- That the pause only removes business hours, as in example 2: nights do not count, paused or not.
- How long a ticket can stay on hold before it is closed, with notice first.
How to write it into the contract
A vague SLA ends in an argument over the first missed ticket. Six elements are enough to make it measurable. Have your lawyer review the final wording: this guide explains the mechanics, it is not legal advice.
Hours and time zone
“Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern time.” One line, no gray area.
The holiday list
Name them one by one or point to an attached list. Also state whether you pick Good Friday or Easter Monday.
The starting point
The time the ticket was received through the portal or by email, not the time a technician noticed it.
What counts as a response
An answer from a person who takes the case on. The automatic acknowledgement does not count.
Pauses
The statuses that stop the clock, and how the client is told they need to act.
Targets by priority
A critical issue does not get the same target as a service request. Write the table, with a definition for each level.
How OKTO PSA calculates the SLA
OKTO PSA calculates the SLA in business hours, on the organization’s time zone. It pauses the clock while it waits for the client and brings tickets at risk into the “SLA to watch” card on the dashboard. Priorities carry the targets.
Three settings to make before relying on the SLA
The SLA applies to a ticket only when all three are in place. Without them, the ticket has no clock.
- The ticket’s request type.
- The priority, which carries the first response and resolution targets.
- The organization’s business hours, with its time zone.
Two points to confirm with us before you promise anything
If your clients do not all share the same hours or the same holiday list, tell us how your contracts are built: we will tell you how to set up your calendars before you write the promise. The same goes for the list of statutory holidays, to be confirmed in your settings.
Source
- CNESST, help page on paid, non-working statutory holidays (in French), accessed October 27, 2026.
Frequent questions
The questions we get asked
Your question is not here?
Write to us. A person in Trois-Rivières answers, within one business day.
Ask your questionFirst response measures the time until a person answers the client. Resolution measures the time until the problem is fixed. They are two clocks, each with its own target, often set by priority.
Not if the contract excludes them. In Quebec, the legal list includes January 1, the Monday before May 25 and December 25, among others, but the list written into your contract is the one that binds you and your client.
That is common practice, and it is what the contract should say: which statuses pause the clock, such as “waiting on client”, and that a real question was asked. OKTO PSA pauses the SLA while it waits for the client.
Yes, the SLA is calculated in business hours on the organization’s time zone. The request type, the priority and the business hours must be set for a ticket to get a clock.
That is a contract question before it is a software question. If your clients do not all share the same hours, tell us about your contracts and we will tell you how to set up your calendars before you write the promise.
Put your SLAs to the test
Show us one of your contracts. We will look together at how its targets are set in OKTO PSA, then walk you through the dashboard in the demo.
OKTO Solutions, Trois-Rivières, Quebec