How much less money would you take to not be On Call?

[maddogchen]

Question for you IT folks or people who have to be on call for issues.

How much less money would you take not to be on call at night and on weekends? debating between my current job which i have to do on call at least once a month as primary or secondary on call vs a job that pays less but no on call.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'm on call pretty much all the time, but only officially a week or so per month.

Honestly, for as often as I have to actually work, it's not a big enough deal. It's just part of the job. Tonight, I remoted in and restarted tomcat/apache on a few servers....took 5 minutes.

Every 3-4 months, I'll get a call and react as soon as I can get to an Internet connection... It's very chill.

 

[nickbits]

No amount if money is worth it for me. I'm "on call" when we launch a new site but for the most part that isn't part of my job. I would never take a job with regular on call required unless I was unemployed for a long time.

 

[Scarpozzi]

No amount if money is worth it for me. I'm "on call" when we launch a new site but for the most part that isn't part of my job. I would never take a job with regular on call required unless I was unemployed for a long time.

You'd change your mind if you got the kinds of calls I get as frequently as I get them. If you work for a company that abuses you and considers on-call for something other than emergencies, it's a different story.

Thanks to UPS, generators, redundant systems, and lights out controllers (iDRAC), things are much better than they were a decade ago.

 

[Ruptga]

It would depend on the specifics of what I do. If I can do almost everything remotely, sure I'd be on call. Otherwise it isn't worth it, if you're being called in to the office all the time you might as well work 80 hour weeks since you have no real free time.

And the dollar amount less is completely subjective. If you're making 80K and content, 5k less really isn't that much. If you're making 50K and content, 5K is definitely noticeable.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

I don't have a choice, I'm a 1 man IT Dept. That makes me 24/7 really.

It sucked when I worked at an MSP and we had a weeks worth of oncall for 40 customers...but I rarely hear from my company after hours now.

Only time it really sucks is when I take vaca and I get calls. I still help (since I have no choice) and don't mind it at all.

 

[BoomerD]

I've never worked IT, but the couple of jobs where I had to be on-call, I got 4 hours of overtime for every weekend day that I was on call. IF I got called out, any hours worked past TWO hours got me overtime above and beyond the 4 hours. (if I worked 4 hours, I got 4 + 2)
My job as crane operator for the electric utility had me on-call 24-7, but I always had the option of not answering my phone...or just saying, "Sorry, I've been drinking tonight." and the call would go to the other guy who was qualified (sort of) to run the crane. I never turned down a call because of the overtime, which could be taken as overtime pay or comp time.

 

[mikeford]

All depends on what "on call" means. I used to be part of group supporting a very high dollar, aka million bucks a day 24/7 process, on ancient hardware. I was hired because being on call was literally making some people crazy, and I did not have a big issue with it.

OTOH I eventually quit because my boss had the rest of the group doing after hours calls with no reduction in regular work week duty to compensate. I was taking half the call duty for an office of seven people and told him straight up that I was not going to work 9-5, get a call and come back in on a support call at midnight, work all night restoring system and monitoring function til 9 the next morning when regular shift started and not count that as a days work.

Another job treated all support calls as your normal days work, or let you count them for comp time you could spend like vacation time.

 

[lxskllr]

I was always unofficially on call, but I could take the calls as I chose. I did that as a service to clients. If I **had** to be on call, it would take a significant amount of money. I don't require much from life, but my time's important. I have a hard time dealing with the control of my time.

 

[W.C. Nimoy]

hmm the poll has pure $ amounts without knowing the total salary. That'd make a difference.

I mean, for instance if it was at least 6 figures, I'd take a significantly higher cut to avoid being on call.

 

[maddogchen]

hmm the poll has pure $ amounts without knowing the total salary. That'd make a difference.

I mean, for instance if it was at least 6 figures, I'd take a significantly higher cut to avoid being on call.

I would just say to keep it simple to pick the $ amount that would fit your situation.

 

[ThinClient]

I have worked for local mom&pop companies, national ISPs in NOC, and at Intel but have never been on-call. Shrug.

 

[maddogchen]

OTOH I eventually quit because my boss had the rest of the group doing after hours calls with no reduction in regular work week duty to compensate. I was taking half the call duty for an office of seven people and told him straight up that I was not going to work 9-5, get a call and come back in on a support call at midnight, work all night restoring system and monitoring function til 9 the next morning when regular shift started and not count that as a days work.

that sounds like my job now! Get 2-3 calls a night and expect you to be at work 8AM and continue handling calls and pushing projects through.

 

[W.C. Nimoy]

Yeah that is simple, just communicating less about how much value we place on being on call as it is a function of that AND our respective overall salaries.

But if you're getting something out of it, sorry to have interrupted (& carry on)!

 

[Slew Foot]

They pay me 1500/weekend day to be on call, and most of the time i dont do anything. Call is awesome!

 

[DrPizza]

I've never worked IT, but the couple of jobs where I had to be on-call, I got 4 hours of overtime for every weekend day that I was on call. IF I got called out, any hours worked past TWO hours got me overtime above and beyond the 4 hours. (if I worked 4 hours, I got 4 + 2)
My job as crane operator for the electric utility had me on-call 24-7, but I always had the option of not answering my phone...or just saying, "Sorry, I've been drinking tonight." and the call would go to the other guy who was qualified (sort of) to run the crane. I never turned down a call because of the overtime, which could be taken as overtime pay or comp time.

Pretty much this - if you're compensated for being on call, that's a start. After that, it depends on how much you're paid when you do have to go in. E.g., if I had to go in on a Saturday, double-time to make it worth my while. I've got better things to do on the weekend.

 

[Ruptga]

that sounds like my job now! Get 2-3 calls a night and expect you to be at work 8AM and continue handling calls and pushing projects through.

I wouldn't put up with that at all. What you should be asking is if the lower paying job will still meet your needs. If it won't, cut a less important need out of your budget, nobody should have to put up with that kind of disrespect and disregard for their health.

 

[spidey07]

If you call me it's 1 hour billed minimum. Tends to nip that shit in the bud real quick.

Don't work for free.

 

[cavemanmoron]

Question for you IT folks or people who have to be on call for issues.

How much less money would you take not to be on call at night and on weekends? debating between my current job which i have to do on call at least once a month as primary or secondary on call vs a job that pays less but no on call.

I just retired. No more "On Call".

33 years ago I was asked to carry a Walkie Talkie while at work, that was not too bad.

Then in about 1997 I was given a beeper, and had to call back right away.
Then about 2002 work provided us a Nextel phone.
I was expected to be able to come to work in 20 mins time in an "Emergency".

This winter when it snows I can say doesn't that look pretty.

http://i.bnet.com/blogs/new_double_wing_truck.jpg

 

[spidey07]

I got called tonight. 60 second phone call.

1 hour billed.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I would happily not get paid at all during the time I'm not at work in order to not be on call.

 

[Captante]

I like being on call to make more money

 

[rach3l]

We do an on-call rotation where I work. One week of every 5 or 6, one of us answers customer emails from home after-hours. I actually take other people's weeks when they don't want to do it, but I really need the money.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I like the $$$ and take others on-call duty for extra $$$ too.

 

[clamum]

I've never been officially "on-call" but two jobs ago I was de facto on-call for about the last third of my employment period. I fucking hated it (just the fact of being on-call as well as not being compensated for it, and being underpaid to begin with).

For the sake of the question, I'll assume I was on-call for a weekend a month at my current job. I make $65k/year currently (which will go up to $72k in about 3 months, WOOT), and I'd take a pay cut of $3k/year to not have to be on-call in that situation.