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Can you forward your work phone to your cell phone? That way they don't get your number. I don't want people at my work knowing my cell number.
The calls aren't coming necessarily to me, it's a company wide line and if the person calls in (employee, client or vendor) they are told there will be a 1 hour response.
Not wanting to change the settings on your phone is not a legitimate complaint. Using your phone for a work related task doesn't take it away from being a personal phone, I think you are exaggerating a bit there. I am not saying they shouldn't reimburse you, but as far as that goes, you aren't any differently situated from salaried employees also using your own phone. And these days, the majority of plans have unlimited calls for no extra money, so you probably should re-consider your phone plan if you are paying by the call or by the minute.
However, not paying you for time spent actually working responding to calls is against the law. That's where you should be legitimately pushing back. They cannot say that no one gets paid for on call when everyone else is salaried. They should either make you salaried or pay you for the time you spend working during your on-call month. Is there an HR department? I wonder if they are aware they are breaking the law....
However, not paying you for time spent actually working responding to calls is against the law. That's where you should be legitimately pushing back. They cannot say that no one gets paid for on call when everyone else is salaried. They should either make you salaried or pay you for the time you spend working during your on-call month. Is there an HR department? I wonder if they are aware they are breaking the law....
This.
Once I was the GF for my trade on the night shift of a nuclear powerhouse refuel outage, we were working 7-10s. One Sunday, as I was sleeping, the day shift erector called me to ask a question. When I did the time later that week I put myself in for an extra 4 hours of double time for answering the phone--the moment I answered the phone I was on the payroll and once on the payroll I was entitled by contract to 4 hours pay (4 hours double-bubble on Sunday). They paid it, no problem.
Once I was the GF for my trade on the night shift of a nuclear powerhouse refuel outage, we were working 7-10s. One Sunday, as I was sleeping, the day shift erector called me to ask a question. When I did the time later that week I put myself in for an extra 4 hours of double time for answering the phone--the moment I answered the phone I was on the payroll and once on the payroll I was entitled by contract to 4 hours pay (4 hours double-bubble on Sunday). They paid it, no problem.
It's like that here. Civil service employees must be paid a minimum of 4 hours on a call-out. We cannot pay them 1 hour here, an hour there, etc.
That's why we are very judicious when we need to do this (VERY RARE).
Not wanting to change the settings on your phone is not a legitimate complaint. Using your phone for a work related task doesn't take it away from being a personal phone, I think you are exaggerating a bit there. I am not saying they shouldn't reimburse you, but as far as that goes, you aren't any differently situated from salaried employees also using your own phone. And these days, the majority of plans have unlimited calls for no extra money, so you probably should re-consider your phone plan if you are paying by the call or by the minute.
However, not paying you for time spent actually working responding to calls is against the law. That's where you should be legitimately pushing back. They cannot say that no one gets paid for on call when everyone else is salaried. They should either make you salaried or pay you for the time you spend working during your on-call month. Is there an HR department? I wonder if they are aware they are breaking the law....
As it is my personal phone, and any changes I would need to make to it are work related, and unpaid, it's a perfectly legitimate complaint. Especially as the law requires it.
Last edited by BookEditor; 03-17-2016 at 02:39 PM..
As it is my personal phone, and any changes I would need to make to it are work related, and unpaid, it's a perfectly legitimate complaint. Especially as the law requires it.
What?
No law requires that you get paid if you change the settings on your phone. And I'm not even sure if your employer is required to pay for the use of your phone if you are on call. I mean, if you had a landline, would you expect them to pay for a part of those monthly charges just because that is the way they communicate with you?
It's doing actual work without getting paid that is the problem, not the rest of it.
The law, as well as legal precedent in my state, does require that an employer furnish items required for the job. It also requires reimbursement of costs associated with work use of private items. So, yes, if I were required to have these calls transferred to a landline, I would expect to be paid a percentage. The minute my work requires me to use something personal for work, they absolutely need to be paying a portion.
No law requires that you get paid if you change the settings on your phone. And I'm not even sure if your employer is required to pay for the use of your phone if you are on call. I mean, if you had a landline, would you expect them to pay for a part of those monthly charges just because that is the way they communicate with you?
It's doing actual work without getting paid that is the problem, not the rest of it.
Certainly. It's the same as any other equipment. For example, in my office there are some field-based jobs where you are expected to use your own car but get paid mileage, but others have office-based jobs where you are expected to either use a company car or rental car. For the latter group, having a driver's license may be required but having your own car might not be. A sudden switch to requiring you to use your own car changes the terms of the employment entirely.
It's no different with the phone. When he took the job, he was told he'd be provided with the pager. He may be on a basic or limited family plan because most of his calling is among family members. Should he then have to switch his plan and pay for it out of his own pocket because he may have a month or two per year where he's getting 20 hours extra a month of calls? Should he have to foot the bill for the per-minute charges that he goes over? Just because the other (salaried) employees agreed to do that doesn't mean he should have to.
When I was hired, I was told I was hourly and that I would have a pager for on-call on a rotating basis. It honestly never occurred to me to ask if they would expect me to take and deal with work calls without being paid. This didn't come up until after I dealt with an issue on a weekend. I came in on Monday and asked how I would notate the time (about an hour) on my time sheet. I was told at that point that no one was paid for on call. I didn't say anything as for the first couple of times as the pager barely went off. Fast forward to now and it's 3-5 per week.
In some states, it is required that you pay hourly employees the entire time they are on call.
Also, they must pay for a portion of your bill.
I would print out the statute in your state and leave it on your boss's desk.
I don't understand why they don't provide a company cell phone for the on-call employee to use. I worked for the state of Oregon, and that's how all on call situations were handled.
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