Fair pay for on call

[Cool_Blue]

OK. Very large company. Have decided it's time that we were on call 24hrs. One week out of 4 ( maybe 3 ) we would be on call from 8pm until 7am the next morning Monday until Saturday. What do you recon would be a fair payment ? They have 'told' us they will be paying £40 extra for the full week. Not per night. For the whole week. Not enough ? Too much ? What you think ?

[tuffer]

10% of daily salary for each day on call or say no thanks.

[vixpy1]

When we were on call for a Sat or Sun (8-8pm) we got £50 per weekend, its unsociable hours so personally i would'nt do it for less that £150 per week.

[xxplod]

I have to be on call for approx. one week in five. I do not get anything, although I would be paid if I was called out. Double time at weekends!

[gopher]

When I was on call we got something £30 for the week for being on call, but then got x per hour depending on when you were called out and your salery.

It wasn't bad if you were called out at the weekend or bank holiday you got double time, after hours midweek time + 1/2

I gave it up because the amount I was getting did not make up for the loss of freedom but my collegues seem quite happy.

Cheers

Paul

[Antwerpman]

IF you get paid for any hours that you are out on call in addition to the £40 and IF you are paid these hours at a good rate, then it may not be a bad deal. If you are not called out you get £40 for nothing, and if you are you get hours x £?.??

A couple of things to watch out for - make sure you get paid for your travelling time as well if possible - especially if you are far away from work - 30 minutes each way may not seem much, but an hour out of your sleep for travelling when you are paid for only 30 minutes to fix a problem will then start to annoy...

Also find out what the rules are regarding having to work the next day - if you have been up since 3, finish the call out at 6 and then have to put in a full day it is tiring (but not impossible if you feel you have been rightly rewarded)

[Cool_Blue]

The thing is I don't want to do on call ... I want to do my days work and go home to relax. Not be waiting for the bloody phone to go.

At the end of the day home time is supposed to be 'quality' time. On call will severly ristrict what you can do IMO. Have to be close to a computer so I can dial in etc. Social life will be affected.

[samn01]

Not even close to enough. 0.2 of hourly rate is standard, 0.1 is acceptable with full pay as soon as you are called if you are called.

[pdV6]

Cool_Blue said:

The thing is I don't want to do on call ...

I'm with you there!

Dig out your contract of employment and any other terms & conditions you may have agreed to (company handbook etc) and have a good read.

If you haven't agreed to do on-call then I'd suggest you tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine...

The other question is: how likely is it that you'd actually be called? If its very unlikely, then make sure the T&C's of the on-call agreement allow you a reasonable anount of time to get in to the office or back home or whatever so that you can at least go for a "gentle" night out with your mobile whilst on call.

And finally, £40 per week for being on-call? They're having a giraffe! As you say: if you're quality time is to be eroded for the compay's benefit, they'd jolly well better compensate you for it properly.

[vixpy1]

Cool_Blue said:

The thing is I don't want to do on call ... I want to do my days work and go home to relax. Not be waiting for the bloody phone to go. At the end of the day home time is supposed to be 'quality' time. On call will severly ristrict what you can do IMO. Have to be close to a computer so I can dial in etc. Social life will be affected.

In which case tell them to shove it!

[Snoremeister]

From the business point of view the customer will probably be expecting a 24 hour call out option. As a result the business will have to try and get its workforce to supply that option. If staff refuse to co-operate then business can potentially be taken elsewhere and you can wave goodbye to the job. So try and think beyond yourself when refusing to take the on call option.

Where I wor we do not pay extra for on call. However, if you are called you get a £40 fixed payment, plus a minimum of three hours paid ( and that can be at time and a half, double time etc) and your travelling expenses. So even if the job only takes an hour, you get paid for three, plus the £40 and the travelling expenses.

[cool_blue]

Interesting link as regards this topic :

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1891974

[Mr E]

samn01 said:

0.1 is acceptable with full pay as soon as you are called if you are called.

Sounds familiar.

[richa]

I currently do one in four. Different hourly standby rate for weekday and weekend (+ bonus for bank holiday), but it roughly works out at £200 for the week + time and a third when called.

We then get paid sleep time, which is eight hours from end of call until you need to be in the office, although I find I don't often need that much unless I've been working all night.

I share the same opinion about being on call (am doing it this weekend), but I personally feel this is enough compensation to make it bearable. I wouldn't be happy doing it for less...

Rich.

[wiggy001]

Just my 2p worth.

I was on call for my last company: £20 per night for being on call plus 1.5 times hourly rate for each call (paid a max of one per hour). Went up to around £120 per weekend (with 2 or 2.33 times hourly rate).

The key is, as mentioned, how often you are likely to get called and also, if things get too much, can you pass calls over? I was on call every other week but had an agreement with my colleague that we would pass calls over to each other if things got hectic or if the social life intervened at all

This arrangement suited both of us and meant that, on a quiet week, we'd get £100 for doing nothing and a busy week could add several hundred to that month's salary.