How to Use Business Day Delays in Hubspot Workflows

Hubspot workflows let you schedule actions with precise timing so your automation feels human and relevant. One powerful feature is the ability to use business day delays, ensuring that emails, tasks, and other actions only run during working days and hours.

This guide walks you through how business day delays work, how to configure them in workflows, and what limitations you need to know before using them.

What Are Business Day Delays in Hubspot Workflows?

A business day delay is a special type of workflow delay that pauses enrolled records until the next available business day and time based on your defined schedule.

Instead of delaying by a fixed number of hours or days, this option respects your business hours and business days. That way, actions will not fire late at night or on weekends, which is especially useful for sales, support, and time-sensitive campaigns.

Supports contact-based, company-based, deal-based, ticket-based, and custom object-based workflows.
Uses the business days and hours set in your account settings.
Can be added anywhere a normal delay action is used in the workflow editor.

Where to Configure Business Days and Hours in Hubspot

Before adding a business day delay to a workflow, you should confirm your business days and hours in your account settings. The workflow delay will follow this schedule.

Sign in to your Hubspot account.
Click the settings icon in the main navigation.
Navigate to the section where you manage business days and hours (often in general or account settings depending on your subscription and interface).
Select which days of the week are business days.
Set your opening and closing time for each business day.
Save your changes.

These settings define the schedule that business day delays reference when deciding when to execute the next action in a workflow.

How to Add a Business Day Delay in a Hubspot Workflow

You add a business day delay within the workflow editor using the delay action. The steps are similar for any workflow type.

Step-by-step: Add the Delay Action in Hubspot

Open your Hubspot account and go to Automation > Workflows.
Create a new workflow or open an existing one.
Click the plus (+) icon to add a new action.
In the actions panel, select Delay.
Choose the option related to delaying until the next business day or during business hours, depending on your interface.

Once selected, you can further adjust how the delay works based on your use case.

Configure Business Day Delay Options in Hubspot

When you choose a business day delay, several configuration options typically appear.

Delay type: Choose whether to delay until the next available business time or to ensure an action happens only during business hours.
Time window: Depending on availability in your portal, you may define a specific window (for example, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM) for when the next step can execute.
Time zone: Verify which time zone your portal is using so that delays align with your team and customers.

After configuration, click Save to add the business day delay to your workflow.

How Business Day Delays Behave in Hubspot

Understanding how this feature behaves helps you predict when actions will execute and avoid surprises, especially when records enter the delay at odd hours or on non-business days.

Delays Entered Outside Business Hours

If a record reaches a business day delay outside your defined business hours, the workflow will hold it until the next valid window. For example:

Your business hours are Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM.
A contact enters the delay at 8:30 PM on Friday.
The next action will not execute until after 9:00 AM on Monday, when business hours resume.

This ensures that communications or internal tasks do not trigger at times when your team is unavailable or when customers may be less responsive.

Delays Entered on Non-Business Days

If a record hits the delay on a non-business day (such as a weekend if you only operate Monday–Friday), the system will wait until the next business day begins.

Example behavior:

Business days: Monday–Friday.
A deal enters a business day delay on Saturday at 11:00 AM.
The related action fires on Monday during the next available business time slot.

Practical Use Cases for Hubspot Business Day Delays

There are several practical ways to use business day delays in automation so that your workflows feel aligned with real-world operations.

Use Case 1: Sales Follow-up within Business Hours

You can use a business day delay to ensure a follow-up email or task is created only when your sales team is available to respond quickly.

Trigger: A contact fills out a demo request form.
Workflow action: Delay until the next business time.
Result: Follow-up email and task are created during business hours, increasing the chance of timely engagement.

Use Case 2: Service Ticket Updates on Working Days

Service teams can avoid sending updates at inconvenient times by using these delays in ticket-based workflows.

Trigger: A ticket status changes.
Workflow action: Delay updates to the next business day.
Result: Customers receive communications when your team is actually available to help.

Use Case 3: Nurture Campaigns Timed for Higher Engagement

Marketing nurture workflows can use business day delays to send messages when subscribers are more likely to open and respond.

Trigger: A contact joins a nurturing sequence.
Workflow action: Use periodic business day delays between emails.
Result: Emails go out on weekdays during the day, not late at night or on weekends.

Limitations and Considerations for Hubspot Business Day Delays

When planning automation, keep a few limitations in mind so your scheduling works as expected.

Account-wide schedule: The delays follow your account business hours; they are not per workflow.
Existing delays: Converting a standard time-based delay into a business day delay may change when actions happen, so review timelines carefully.
Dependencies: If later steps depend on specific timing (for instance, waiting a full 24 hours), a business-day-only schedule may shorten or lengthen the actual elapsed time.

Monitoring and Testing Hubspot Business Day Delays

Always test your workflows that use business day delays to confirm they behave the way you intend.

Enroll a test record in the workflow during business hours.
Enroll another test record outside business hours or on a non-business day.
Observe execution times in the workflow history or the record timeline.
Adjust business hours or delay configuration if actions are firing too early or too late.

Workflow history views are especially helpful for seeing when delays start and when they are completed, giving you clear insight into how the schedule is interpreted.

Learn More About Business Day Delays

For the most detailed, up-to-date instructions on business day delays in Hubspot workflows, review the official documentation at this support article on business day delays.

If you want expert help designing workflow automation and timing strategies across your CRM and marketing stack, you can also consult specialists like Consultevo for implementation support.

By carefully configuring your business day schedule and using business day delays in key workflows, you can keep your automation in sync with real-world working hours and deliver more relevant, timely experiences to your contacts.

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