What is considered reasonable out of hour work

LegacyUser

So I work for a multinational IT company and in the contract it states something like "At times it may be necessary for you to work outside of the normal working hours - and you are expected to cooperate in this regard", but assuming there should be a reasonable ask with this ?

Currently we have to do a full 24x7 primary on-call support one week, then do another week of secondary on-call support the following week and the cycle starts again after one week of rest. On-call is on top of doing a full 8 hour shift Monday to Friday.

Any thoughts on this ?

Wanted to post anonymously as a told of my team members are regulars

skooterblue2

ITGuy2022 wrote: »

So I work for a multinational IT company and in the contract it states something like "At times it may be necessary for you to work outside of the normal working hours - and you are expected to cooperate in this regard", but assuming there should be a reasonable ask with this ?

Currently we have to do a full 24x7 primary on-call support one week, then do another week of secondary on-call support the following week and the cycle starts again after one week of rest. On-call is on top of doing a full 8 hour shift Monday to Friday.

Any thoughts on this ?

Wanted to post anonymously as a told of my team members are regulars

Are you being compensated appropriately? If yes then you have no complaints. If not then you will have no problem finding another job when this crisis is over.

touts

I worked for a multinational manufacturing company where out of hours work was expected for middle management and team leads. This was the same for most middle managers in the place. Senior management weren't on call. Ordinary staff were unionised and only to be called if their manager couldn't resolve the issue. I'd regularly get 2-3 calls often between 2am and 4am.

I quit after a few months and got another job. Companies need to realise out of hours work might sound like a good idea but the best staff will eventually move on to someplace that respects their free time.

skooterblue2

touts wrote: »

I quit after a few months and got another job. Companies need to realise out of hours work might sound like a good idea but the best staff will eventually move on to someplace that respects their free time.

Thats the thing about a salary and loyalty. The wages buy you 9-5 and after that dont call me. Now there has to be a bit of give and take now and again but that is just taking the mick, call at 2-4 am is out of order for just IT support.

I would be like" dont call me after 5pm unless you are bleeding out and you havent gotten HR to sort if first".

Strumms

The contact phone number you give a company who want to enforce you to be contactable outside contracted working hours should be an old pay as you go phone, it gets switched OFF at 5pm when you leave, switched back on when you enter the building...

If you get... “ hey Jim, I was trying to give you a call last night about the ABC report but just kept getting voicemail, what gives ? “

You “ ohhh the battery must have died, sorry “

You’ll probably get.. “listen with the nature of this business we appreciate the availability to have flexible employees both in the office and away from it if from time to time we need to call you”...

You “if that’s the case, we need to discuss my pay as I’m not compensated to be ‘on call’ and to be honest I prefer not to be, that wasn’t the agreement when I applied for and accepted this position, sorry! “

Mrs OBumble

Strumms wrote: »

..., that wasn’t the agreement when I applied for and accepted this position, sorry! “

except that in the OP's case, it very much was in the agreement.

markad1

Working time directive 11 hour rest period. Think phone calls are considered work.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/hours_of_work/rest_periods_and_breaks.html

Strumms

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

except that in the OP's case, it very much was in the agreement.

What the op stated doesn’t sound like language used in employment contracts, I’d encourage it to be verified, for content and legality.

Manach

We the current crisis, we all can be a bit flexible in keeping the business running. Saying that, I worked in previous places where such T&Cs that the OP mentioned were a foot in door excuse for Management to extract regular out of hours/weekend support for no compensation. Hence the lesson is to get this clarified and set boundries.

salonfire

Strumms wrote: »

The contact phone number you give a company who want to enforce you to be contactable outside contracted working hours should be an old pay as you go phone, it gets switched OFF at 5pm when you leave, switched back on when you enter the building...

If you get... “ hey Jim, I was trying to give you a call last night about the ABC report but just kept getting voicemail, what gives ? “

You “ ohhh the battery must have died, sorry “

You’ll probably get.. “listen with the nature of this business we appreciate the availability to have flexible employees both in the office and away from it if from time to time we need to call you”...

You “if that’s the case, we need to discuss my pay as I’m not compensated to be ‘on call’ and to be honest I prefer not to be, that wasn’t the agreement when I applied for and accepted this position, sorry! “

If the business runs into difficulty, and needs to start laying people off, you'll be the first asked to go.

Your attitude will come in handy for you when you are walked out the door.

Strumms

salonfire wrote: »

If the business runs into difficulty, and needs to start laying people off, you'll be the first asked to go.

Your attitude will come in handy for you when you are walked out the door.

My attitude will come in handy when both I and my colleagues when finished work can live and enjoy life without unpaid interruptions.

If redundancy is occurring nobody gets ‘walked out the door’. Notice needs to be given and a host of other requirements such as a demonstrated fair selection process and other necessary and fair criteria met.

Mrs OBumble

Strumms wrote: »

If redundancy is occurring nobody gets ‘walked out the door’. Notice needs to be given and a host of other requirements such as a demonstrated fair selection process and other necessary and fair criteria met.

Your experience of such situations is apparently limited.

Stheno

Strumms wrote: »

What the op stated doesn’t sound like language used in employment contracts, I’d encourage it to be verified, for content and legality.

That clause has been in every contract I've had as an employee since 1997

About ten different jobs

krissovo

I did similar a few years ago but we were well rewarded, we got an on all allowance for our duty week plus if we were called we got an hourly rate of 1.5x up until 10pm and 2x between 10pm > 7am. It was a pain at times but the pay check was great.

I knew what I was getting into and i lasted 18months before I got burnt out.

Strumms

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Your experience of such situations is apparently limited.

Directly as would have related to myself you are correct, experience in understanding the actual law however, not limited.

LegacyUser

You need to be nicely compensated for those hours OP. The job is taking over your life.

If not get out of there as there really taking the piss.

I work in IT and am on call one week out of every eight weeks and they pay your broadband bill for you as an expense each month. I might get two or three calls a week but if ultra busy one of the nights i can head into the office two hours late the following day.

I really don't mind this as there an excellent and sound company to work for and the money is good.