[Gllug] On-call

[bradut at intelesuri.net]

On Thu, Apr 29, 2004 at 08:45:07PM +0100, Henrik Morsing wrote:
> 
> Hi, sorry for asking a work related question again.
> 
> I'm a bit concerned about the on-call policy at my work. Not the official
> one really but how my manager tells me it is. Everytime I try to start a
> discussion about the on-call policy he immediately cuts me of with either
> "You're *always* on call" or "You're being paid for being on call". He
> never says anything else on the subject.
Whenever I need to put a controversial issue to bed, I try to get stuff in
writting. This does not necessarily mean brutally asking for a written
statement every time your boss says something weird. 
Let's say I am being asked to do something, and I sense that it may blow
in someone's head. I take the following steps to minimise the chances of
being hit. I write an email repeating what I've been told and usually
ask for confirmation. Generally it's something like could you please
confirm that I've understood well what you 'boss' have said. This
usually works well on two counts: 1, the boss feels slightly flattered
because I actually paid attention to what he/she said, 2. their response
clarifies things and often marks a rethink of their attitude, or like in
your case they are made to take a stand (which most of the time is reasonable
because of the implications of having to put stuff in writting)

> 
> He has on several occasions actually complained that my mobile phone has
> been off and that I (twice now) have failed to bring my laptop with me
> from work thus being unable to dial in and do work. I have never yet been
> a part of the on-call rota and certainly wasn't on those occasions.

Maybe you should have made that clear and aftewards backed it up in
writting as a short memo to explain and acknowledge facts....

> The official on-call policy is that we're on a rota (in my group one in
> three weeks) and our contract says that we're being paid a certian amount
> for being on-call those one in three weeks. People that are on 1-in-2 or
> 1-in-4 are paid differently and allways on-call isn't even covered.
> 
It's difficult to advise you without knowing the kind of company you
work for. If you could describe your company as a beaurocracy ...then
I'm your man.... ;) 
As you can see most of the things I talk about may not apply to a
company of a few employees.

Depending how big your company is... i.e. if it's big enough so that
people don't know each other that well across departments, 
your personell department should more or less enlighten you with regards
to your rights, your contract and so on. Failing that, your local C.A.B.
should be a good place to start.

All the best 
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