Extra responsibility without compensation

[Gerrinson]

Just curious. If you've read my other thread, you know we're going to be without a full time IT person (the only full time IT person) in a couple weeks.

At that point there will be no one on call 24/7/365, unless they conveniently 'add' the responsibility to my ever growing list of duties. I do not expect any offer of extra compensation to pick up the on call coverage 'indefinitely'. While it would be a great cost savings for the company, it would very much increase the suck factor in my life and job. Just being the only person available during business hours is going to significantly impact my work, let alone getting calls at all hours.

My initial response, should they ask, is going to be 'No' unless they offer a bump in pay. And most likely will only get stronger from there, coupled with attempts to negotiate a contracted rate with several extra benefits for myself included as part of the contract.

I don't want to post my current pay, but it's considerably less than $20.00 an hour. And I don't personally know any 24/7 on call staff that work for less than $20.00 an hour.

That is in my personal experience, and is definitely the norm for the area, but do you all think I would be making a mistake in refusing to go on call 24/7 without at least a temporary bump in pay (and a few other perks thrown in, if I can wrangle it)? I don't really want to be unemployed, if I can avoid it, but I'm not going to let them walk all over me, either.

I realize this is all hypothetical, but I like to consider my options ahead of time whenever possible.

[MannersMakethMan]

OK, first of all, you have to think about yourself and not the company. The managers are there to keep an eye on the running of the company, but they'll not be keeping as close an eye on you. Your first loyalty must be to yourself.

Just remember, you're far more valuable to them than they are to you. You're going to be the only person available in office hours, and if they lose you, there isn't an operation running. They can't afford to lose you.

I can't claim any knowledge of the legal side, but I'd imagine you'd need to sign for such a major change to your contract. You may want to look up some pages from your local labour board, but I believe the standard clause is 'anything else that can be reasonably be expected by the manager'. It wouldn't be reasonable to expect you to sign your life over to them with no extra benefits. I will stress again, check any legal points with the relevant people, but I'm fairly sure you can't be forced to do this if you don't want to.

Only you know if you can handle the extra work, but from a personal point of view, if there's no boundary any more between home and work, I'd go mad. Ultimately it's your choice, but I wouldn't think you'll be fired for not doing something you're perfectly within your rights to refuse. However, you certainly seem in a position to call the shots, so if you decide to take it on, try pushing your luck a bit and asking for more. You may be surprised at what you'll end up with.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

[Kiwi]

If your manager askes you to do this, I would ask for a formal meeting and for it to be added to your contract/ job description.
I would then ask if you are going to be taking on extra duties and responsibility you would like a review of your job title AND compensation.
If you have a copy of your current job description, I would point out that this extra stuff is not included.

If you are happy to take on the extra stuff, stand up for yourself and ask for compensation for it.

[Broomjockey]

Absolutely do not go on 24/7 support without a promise of increased compensation in writing. They can't just tack on extra duties to your job description without your permission. It has to be a bilateral acceptance. They can fire you if you don't do it, if you're in an at-will state, but they can fire you for picking your nose there, so it's not a big stretch for them anyways.

[Dips]

How often do you think they'll call? Once a week? Five times a day? Will there be any times that are off-limits?

I do know a few folks who are on-call 24/7. They are well compensated to the tune of $200,000+/year. I, personally, don't think that's enough money to give up my entire personal life, but to each his own.

If you believe that they are going to try and throw this at you, be prepared with a plan. What do you want?

Considering that they are unlikely to bump your pay by over $150,000, maybe you'd rather not deal with it at all outside of working hours. In that case tell them that you won't take related calls outside of business hours and stick to your guns if they try and guilt you into it. Answering machines are your friend.

Or perhaps you'd like a bump in pay and are willing to take off-hours calls to get it. Normally people who are on call get paid an hourly on-call pay rate (usually it's about half their working pay rate) for every hour they are on call. If they actually call you, you are, of course, working and your pay goes up to your normal working/overtime rate. Make the offer and tell them your expectations pay-wise. If they turn you down, you tried. Go back to plan A and let the machine pick up whenever they call.

Only you can decide what you can put up with and how much it is worth to you. But you *never* want to go on-call 24/7 for free if you believe they are going to abuse it.

[Gerrinson]

Thanks for the good advice so far. I really, really, really do not want to be on call. And I know the whole 'indefinitely' thing can go on forever. The last time I did something 'indefinitely, but not very long' it wound up being 6 months of doing 1/2 my boss' job.

And I absolutely am going to refuse it if there is nothing in writing. This is an 'at will' state, but that doesn't mean I have to bend over and take it. I just wanted to see if my perspective was totally out of whack with reality.

Dips - $200K/year? I might almost do it for that much. I might give the IT manager a call (after he's gone) just to see what he thinks I should ask for.

I was thinking 2x my current pay / hour raise while I'm on call - including 2x pay for my in business hours work - with at least 1 extra week of paid vacation time.

If they want to make it permanent, I guess I'll be out of a job, because there is no way I'm going to be on call 24/7 for anything less than a General Manager position. I doubt the GM will trade jobs with me.