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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    1

    Lightbulb Should an Hourly Employee Be Compensated for Being On-Call During Time Off

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Massachusettes
    My concern is that my company stated, when hiring me, that I may be required to be "on-call" in case of emergencies on week-ends.
    At the time of hire I found no problem with this and I was perfectly willing to do so.
    However, I did not anticipate the following conditions:
    The maintainance department consists of 2 individuals, my supervisor, a salaried exempt employee, and myself, an hourly non-exempt employee.
    It has been established that my salaried supervisor, and my hourly paid self will share being "on-call" every other week-end.
    Six months into this job, I find myself being called into work almost every time I am on-call.
    It is required I respond immediately to the situation since maintainance on-calls are supposedly emergency situations, such as electrical outage, plumbing flooding, etc.
    Therefore, it is also required that I be on "standby" status, ready for immediate reply, and drop what I am doing and head out to the facility.
    Of course, this means I must remain in reasonable distance from the facility and not engage in activities that will prevent me from coming in and doing the job.
    My first concern is that under these conditions, despite the restrictions on my free time, should I NOT be called in, I am given $0 for "standing by" just in case.
    My second concern is, once I am called in, they "generously" give me 2 hours pay for my efforts. Most calls take approximately 1 hour once I arrive on site.
    However, consider the following:
    * I get a call and drop what I am doing, change into work clothes and head out the door.
    * I drive 20 minutes to the site
    * I arrive at the site and fix the problem
    * I drive back home 20 minutes to my house
    * I change back into my "weekend" clothes and resume my personal activities
    For all of this, not including the fact I had to standby and wait for the call, I am compensated $32., which is 2 times my $16 hourly wage.
    After taxes, gas, etc. my take home for the whole deal is about $25, or remember, if not called in I get $0
    What do you think?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Should an Hourly Employee Be Compensated for Being On-Call During Time Off

    Quote Quoting kdevane
    View Post
    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Massachusettes
    My concern is that my company stated, when hiring me, that I may be required to be "on-call" in case of emergencies on week-ends.
    At the time of hire I found no problem with this and I was perfectly willing to do so.
    However, I did not anticipate the following conditions:
    The maintainance department consists of 2 individuals, my supervisor, a salaried exempt employee, and myself, an hourly non-exempt employee.
    It has been established that my salaried supervisor, and my hourly paid self will share being "on-call" every other week-end.
    Six months into this job, I find myself being called into work almost every time I am on-call.
    It is required I respond immediately to the situation since maintainance on-calls are supposedly emergency situations, such as electrical outage, plumbing flooding, etc.
    Therefore, it is also required that I be on "standby" status, ready for immediate reply, and drop what I am doing and head out to the facility.
    Of course, this means I must remain in reasonable distance from the facility and not engage in activities that will prevent me from coming in and doing the job.
    My first concern is that under these conditions, despite the restrictions on my free time, should I NOT be called in, I am given $0 for "standing by" just in case.
    My second concern is, once I am called in, they "generously" give me 2 hours pay for my efforts. Most calls take approximately 1 hour once I arrive on site.
    However, consider the following:
    * I get a call and drop what I am doing, change into work clothes and head out the door.
    * I drive 20 minutes to the site
    * I arrive at the site and fix the problem
    * I drive back home 20 minutes to my house
    * I change back into my "weekend" clothes and resume my personal activities
    For all of this, not including the fact I had to standby and wait for the call, I am compensated $32., which is 2 times my $16 hourly wage.
    After taxes, gas, etc. my take home for the whole deal is about $25, or remember, if not called in I get $0
    What do you think?
    You either negotiate some other deal with your boss, or you start looking for another job. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it massively interferes with your time off, they are not required to pay you for time that you are not working. However, they ARE required to pay you time and a half for any hours you work over 40 hours a week, so you may be entitled to time and a half.

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