How do you get paid for a on-call work cell phone?

[RW99]

I'm looking for some help from the CP brain trust, I'm having problems finding this on Employment Standards Alberta.

I work Monday to Friday, 40 hrs a week. But I'm one of three people that take a on-call cell phone that only works 9pm to 11pm 7 days a week.

If I work Monday to Friday and get a call Sunday evening, do I get paid for the minutes on the phone (ie 15 minutes), or three hours? I have to keep myself sober and somewhat accessable every night for two hours...

I'm certain they will only pay me for 15 minutes, so if I should get 3 hours, I'll need to back it up.

Muchos gracias

[ken0042]

I started looking into this a while ago, but then I left IT and was no longer on call.

I seem to recall something about IT being different in that you can be on call, and the compensation must be agreed to between the employee and the employer.

What we used to get was 1 hour of overtime for a weeknight of being on call, and 1.5 hours of OT for a weekend day on call. Any time over and above that I charged by the half hour. Sometimes I would have them dispute it, but as was often the case I would get paged while driving along Deerfoot, or while shopping in a store, so whatever time it took me to get to a place I could safely and securely make a call.....

[Resolute 14]

Varies. I haven't had to carry an on-call pager myself, but a friend has at various times. In one case, she was paid a flat $150 extra to keep the pager for a week, in another she was paid $50 for each call. Depends on the employer, I suppose.

[Montana Moe]

I'm sure the laws are likely different in the States, but when I am on-call, I am paid $1.50 per hour to carry the pager, and if called in, I get a minimum 2 hours of OT pay. Now, if you are answering calls form your phone, without having to go into work it would be an entirely different animal.

[Buff]

I got a sweet deal. Two of us take turns being on-call, alternating each week. We are on-call from M-F 5-9, Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 12-5. Being on call we can't really go out of town so we're kind stuck at home or around the city. So what do I get?

- a new computer for my own personal use at home. Every three years I get to buy a computer for $3000. (Basically $1000 per year, but we get it all up front and it is ammortized out) I have a sweet machine. Should I leave work I either have to give the PC to my work or buy the remainder out. When I receive a call I have to use the computer to remotely access the network at work.
- a BlackBerry
- My internet bill is paid for as I can remote onto the network and resolve any issues from home
- I get paid $250 per week of on-call
- should I have to go into the office to resolve a call then I get a minimum of 2 hours OT.

I've got a pretty good deal. We looked at how much was paid out for being on-call and figured out a way to make it a really sweet deal w/o the company having to pay extra money. Would I have the sweet computer had I opted to just get paid? No, the money would have likely gone elsewhere. Thats what makes the deal so good. I get stuff that I want but probably wouldn't have got had I got the money instead.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Buff

I got a sweet deal. Two of us take turns being on-call, alternating each week. We are on-call from M-F 5-9, Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 12-5. Being on call we can't really go out of town so we're kind stuck at home or around the city. So what do I get?

- a new computer for my own personal use at home. Every three years I get to buy a computer for $3000. (Basically $1000 per year, but we get it all up front and it is ammortized out) I have a sweet machine. Should I leave work I either have to give the PC to my work or buy the remainder out. When I receive a call I have to use the computer to remotely access the network at work.
- a BlackBerry
- My internet bill is paid for as I can remote onto the network and resolve any issues from home
- I get paid $250 per week of on-call
- should I have to go into the office to resolve a call then I get a minimum of 2 hours OT.

I've got a pretty good deal. We looked at how much was paid out for being on-call and figured out a way to make it a really sweet deal w/o the company having to pay extra money. Would I have the sweet computer had I opted to just get paid? No, the money would have likely gone elsewhere. Thats what makes the deal so good. I get stuff that I want but probably wouldn't have got had I got the money instead.

Holy shat, where do you work the city?

[mykalberta]

I work in an IT department as well, on call 24*7 365.

I am on salary so no extra written extra pay. If I do end up having to do something longer than say 15 mintues then I work out a TOIL day with my boss (normally a Friday).

I have a work notebook I have at perma home that I dont use it except for work. No other costs are covered. But I dont mind since the bonus last year was 27% of my yearly salary

[GrrlGoalie33]

1/2 day off for every week of carrying the blackberry. 24/7 Support.

[Gozer]

I think direct deposit is customary.