How does being on call out work?

[armyash]

I have never had a job where i have to be on call but i have been put forward for one this week.

On call one day a week and one weekend a month.

normal hours 0800 - 1800
on call 1800-0800

How does that work?

work all day, then be on call for emergencies all night then back on normal hours in the morning? or would you have the next day off or do a half day?

I'm sure sometimes on call out you might have a night where you get no calls but on the other hand you could be working all night if there are enough emergencies.

This might sound a stupid thing to ask but hopefully someone can shed some light.

 

[MarkAqua]

It totally depends on the company policy and they should have one.

I was on call a few years ago (not for long) and that was 1in4 weeks. If we had a call out after midnight then we went home at 12 the next day. Unless you were out all night (say till 8) then you'd have the next full day off.

I'll never do it again, the pay was smashing. Doubled my wage, but socially it was messed up!

 

[Rickster123]

I've refused callout rota and weekend work. Do you really want to turn out like croppie? Sitting waiting for the phone to go so can't have a glass of Lambrusco when you want one? I'm sure the money works out well but it's not for me.

 

[rpm]

As Mark said it depends on the company policy and there`s normally a sliding scale of down time depending on what time you finish or get home.

 

[Leo21]

You get very tired and very pi55ed off. That's my experience anyway, sorry dude. Money's better though.

 

[armyash]

Ok thanks,

i'm not sure what the policy is exactly but I was more concerned with working all day, then through the night with no rest time.

It's not an ideal position that i would create for myself but it's a well established firm, fairly decent money and there would be prospects. It would definitely suit me for a couple of years getting experience with a different firm while putting some money away.

Might be 2-3 weeks before i hear anything but i'm at the point where even though i'm not money driven entirely, i'd take a lower paid job if it meant a bit of training to go with it etc but i feel at the moment my job is fairly relaxed, local but i sometimes feel i'm not going anywhere.

 

[rpm]

So that`s 1 weekday in 5 on call > bareable
And 1 weekend in 4 > not so.

 

[Leo21]

Ash, be just a little weary of firms with prospects take it with a pinch of salt. How many managers and foreman jobs are available in a firm?

 

[armyash]

So that`s 1 weekday in 5 on call > bareable
And 1 weekend in 4 > not so.

Yeah i agree the 1 weekend in 4 is the thing i need to think about, if the money is worth it i can handle it for a couple of years.

 

[Rickster123]

Ash, be just a little weary of firms with prospects take it with a pinch of salt. How many managers and foreman jobs are available in a firm?

Sadly Leo's right, and a job off the tools is more grief than its worth anyway! If you don't wanna do the callout just tell them outright. Start as you mean to go on.

 

[armyash]

Ash, be just a little weary of firms with prospects take it with a pinch of salt. How many managers and foreman jobs are available in a firm?

Yes I wont be so naive to think i'll be a manager in 3 years but if there is additional training or the chance to move in to a different area of the trade it would be a good selling point for me.

 

[REDSAW]

i used to do a 24hr on site shift, graft all the way with 1/2hour break every 4hours, now. thats was knackering

 

[gasmanrob]

Your worried about 1 in 5!

I'm on call 2 weeks on 2 weeks off I get a retainer for every night I'm on call plus door to door at double time anything after midnight and you should get 8 hours down time before starting your day shift. I often don't but that's a personal choice but I get other perks for it.

The area I cover is South East south west, London, Essex, Oxfordshire and Midlands

 

[REDSAW]

Your worried about 1 in 5!

I'm on call 2 weeks on 2 weeks off I get a retainer for every night I'm on call plus door to door at double time anything after midnight and you should get 8 hours down time before starting your day shift. I often don't but that's a personal choice but I get other perks for it.

The area I cover is South East south west, London, Essex, Oxfordshire and Midlands

nice and local then.lol
we used to cover between exeter and glasgow 😉

 

[lame plumber]

I am se, on call 24/7, dont have to turn out though unless money is right. Also on call 24/7 for RNLI when I am in town, pay is about £9 per shout, normally work the following day, unless I get back in at 7am 🙂

 

[gasmanrob]

nice and local then.lol
we used to cover between exeter and glasgow 😉

It's a killer but it's paying back all the debts left over from when I was self destroyed.

Tomorrow and Friday I'm Coventry Wolverhampton and Birmingham

 

[Leo21]

Your worried about 1 in 5!

I'm on call 2 weeks on 2 weeks off I get a retainer for every night I'm on call plus door to door at double time anything after midnight and you should get 8 hours down time before starting your day shift. I often don't but that's a personal choice but I get other perks for it.


The area I cover is South East south west, London, Essex, Oxfordshire and Midlands

Christ on a bike! Have you got a company helicopter?

 

[armyash]

Your worried about 1 in 5!

I'm on call 2 weeks on 2 weeks off I get a retainer for every night I'm on call plus door to door at double time anything after midnight and you should get 8 hours down time before starting your day shift. I often don't but that's a personal choice but I get other perks for it.

The area I cover is South East south west, London, Essex, Oxfordshire and Midlands

1 in 4 for me.

I'm not particularly bothered about the being on call it's more what time do i have between the on call and starting next shift i'd need to find out about.

There's nothing I wouldn't do if the money is right and not getting messed about from start to finish.

 

[AWheating]

your employer can only ask you to work a certain number of hours in a certain period. This means if you do alot of hours on call then you dont have to turn up for work at the normal time the next day. normally more than 48 hours a week unless its agreed in a contract of employment.

Ask for a copy of yours.

 

[gasmanrob]

Christ on a bike! Have you got a company helicopter?

I wish! Since December I've covered nearly 45,000 miles

 

[Leo21]

I wish! Since December I've covered nearly 45,000 miles

Oh lord, is your van French?

 

[villa_tom]

You can shove call out up your hoop 🙁

I hate the bloody thing. I did it for the first 5 years on the gas. I hated every single minute of it.

I used to be on call for one week in 7 and I spent the next 6 weeks dreading fact I was on call out again.

I used to work 8-5 and then call out after that. But you used to get all the jobs the office couldn't shift by 5 dumped on you. It was 24hr standby on the weekends when on call, but you could guarantee that on 8am Saturday and Sunday you would get a call of the call out centre with loads of non emergency jobs that had come in during the night.

I work Monday-Friday 8-4 now and I love it.

I can plan my life and don't have to double check if I'm in work if someone asks me to do something.

Even if I was desperate for cash I wouldn't do call out, I'd just rob a bank instead 🙂

 

[gasmanrob]

Oh lord, is your van French?

Ye old faithful ford although a fiat hit 110k last week and has had only servicing done to it which is worrying as they might consider buying more!!

 

[Leo21]

You can shove call out up your hoop 🙁

I hate the bloody thing. I did it for the first 5 years on the gas. I hated every single minute of it.

I used to be on call for one week in 7 and I spent the next 6 weeks dreading fact I was on call out again.

I used to work 8-5 and then call out after that. But you used to get all the jobs the office couldn't shift by 5 dumped on you. It was 24hr standby on the weekends when on call, but you could guarantee that on 8am Saturday and Sunday you would get a call of the call out centre with loads of non emergency jobs that had come in during the night.

I work Monday-Friday 8-4 now and I love it.

I can plan my life and don't have to double check if I'm in work if someone asks me to do something.

Even if I was desperate for cash I wouldn't do call out, I'd just rob a bank instead 🙂

Same, I used to,get call outs from the pi55 heads. "That rads cold at the top" "I work in the week" etc etc etc

 

[stevetheplumber]

provided the pays good call out isnt that bad most of the time the calls are before 9pm and mostly its a case of make safe your not expected to actually fix stuff unless its simple
make sure you find out the system when i was on social housing it was better to take the jobs that were left at five o clock and get paid overtime for them rather than letting them get sent to you as callouts