Employer On Call Question

getmore4less

working time regulations define what working hours are and if called then that will be working time so cannot be holiday.

They need to resolve that one as you can't be on holiday and working.


The requirement to be available within a distance and near internet may also fall under the definitions of working time although this is still IMO a very grey area.

Thinks like must be on the premises even if asleep have been clarified by recent cases.

ohreally

Your either on a/l or your not. I suspect all the employees would benefit from getting organised with a trade union, don't wait for the situation to go belly-up.

LittleMissGiggles123

We have people on call where I work and if somebody books annual leave we class it as them being completely unavailable, so we either ask them to arrange cover themselves between their own department, or if nobody will agree we shift the rota accordingly.


However, it is slightly different over Christmas as obviously everybody wants some time off. I've recently done the Christmas rota & we've worked it to make sure everybody gets at least 2 consecutive days off before doing on call for 24 hours & then switches to somebody else, between the dates of 20th December to 4th January.

C_Mababejive

I think much of it depends upon the on call activity.

When you are on call ,are you required to remain at a certain place eg at home or in an office?

If you are called,do you have to attend somewhere within a specific time frame?

How long is the period of being on call and what is the remuneration?

elsien

My point would be if I'm on annual leave I may have left the country, or gone miles away. I am under no obligation to tell my employer where I am spending my annual leave, nor do I take my mobile with me. Therefore I can't be on call as I won't be able to either take calls or to turn up if needed.

Luniz

Thanks for all the replies, very much appreciated. I'm still a little unsure of what the legal standpoint on it all is, and whether I can point blank refuse.

As it happens, it didn't come to that, as the company offered to compensate for doing it. Which, as far as I'm concerned personally, is what they should be doing anyway. Whether they have to, I guess I won't know until the next time it happens and they offer nothing