"On Call Premium"

POPEYE · October 2003

We have recently discontinued our 2-12 hour week-end shifts. When there
is a need to run overtime shifts on the week-end, we will have a
maintenance technician on call and will expect him to respond within an hour. If any of you have such a scenario, how or what do you compensate? We are
a manufacturing facility with high-speed equipment.

Shadowfax · October 2003

There are some cases addressing this and the fact that you requirean emp/ee to report (presumably to work) witnin an hour makes me think the safe way is to consider emp/ee on clock. The cases say the test is a factual one, how free is the emp[loyee to use his time? While I think some cases said an hour was enough freedom, I'm sure there were several that said it wasn't. Many hospotals have this arrangement where emp/ees are on beeper for a quick response. Most of thame have a different rate for 'oncall' and then a regular rate, or show-up rate for a minimum appearance. I have seen on call rates that refernce an hourly rate and some that reference a weekend, or daily rate. DOL permits emp/er to consider the on call time as 'not worked' time, but the rate will still alter the regular rate of emp/ee for purposes of o/t. Check 29 usc 201.

Min · October 2003

We are not a manufacturing facility, but we are a hospital that has x-ray and lab on-call every night and weekends/holidays. What we do is pay them $2 per hour to be "on-call" (they have to be within 20 minutes of hospital), then when they are called in they get a "premium" pay of x1/2 for an automatic two hours, anything over the two hours is documented in 1/4 hour intervals and they are paid overtime for the extra hours over the automatic two hours.
Hopefully, I did not confuse you on that, sometimes it gets a little hard to explain it in writing....
Have a good day.
Mindy
Washington State

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