On-call or working?

onylon

The pay is low but I've had on call entirely unpaid in a similar role to yours. I think the big issues here are:

* The high number of calls you are expected to take with no chance to rest.

* The tight SLAs - you can barely take a shower with a 10 min response time. If you leave the house it's highly likely that you will have problems getting online in the time expected. Even in London I found plenty of areas without 3g and coffee shop WiFi doesn't always cut it. I speak from experience here.

* The frequency of the on-call shifts. 1 in 4 is the starting point, it will be more when people inevitably quit.

This sounds like a recipe for mental health problems and is highly unlikely to be sustainable. Is on-call or shift work even in your contact?

jobbingmusician

Serenity74 said:

Just a quick update on this. There is no update! Its been put on hold until the New Year, I suspect due to pushback. 

We are now all scheduled in for individual meetings with management, supposedly to talk about why we're unhappy but I suspect it is to apply pressure in a divide and conquer style. 

Well that's good news, isn't it, as it gives you time to organise a union!

Savvy_Sue

jobbingmusician said:

Serenity74 said:

Just a quick update on this. There is no update! Its been put on hold until the New Year, I suspect due to pushback. 

We are now all scheduled in for individual meetings with management, supposedly to talk about why we're unhappy but I suspect it is to apply pressure in a divide and conquer style. 

Well that's good news, isn't it, as it gives you time to organise a union!

And to discuss how you resist the divide and conquer routine ...

Savvy_Sue

Also going back to your very first post, I'd say it's worth discussing with others

a) any suggestions you might have for providing such cover

b) how many members of staff might be needed, including an allowance for annual leave, sickness etc

c) what you'd accept as a maximum time for on call, eg 48 hours every 4 weeks max

d) what recompense would persuade you to do that maximum, eg TOIL and £ for any callouts, £ for just putting your life on hold

Not that your managers shouldn't already be thinking about these things, and maybe they're seeing the light, but know yourself what you're prepared to do.