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On call - How much notice must be given

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mysingerd

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Nevada

I am an on call employee. My employer is irritated with me because I do not show up for work immediately when I am called.

They ask me when I can be there and I always tell them 2 hours.

They do not feel that is soon enough. They prefer 1/2 an hour to an hour.

Since I can be called in to work for up to 16 hours in a day and generally work 12-14 a day, I sleep until they call me and it takes me 2 hours to get ready, eat, and arrive at work.

My supervisor has spoken with me about this and has written about it on my work reviews.

Is there a law that states how much notice must be given to report to work?

Thank You
 


C

CheeseBlotto

Guest
No law. It's a private matter between you and the employer.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
And for the record, if you worked for me and you told me consistantly that you couldn't be in for two hours when you were called, I'd put it in your performance review too. In fact, if you did it often enough, I might even fire you.

And if I did, it would be legal.
 

mysingerd

Junior Member
Well...I find it hard to believe that there is not a law that even slightly covers this issue. My employer and I have agreed that it is within a reasonable amount of time. We just differ on what is reasonable. This is not an issue that is brought to my attention very often by the company. I come in when I can and I have come in as early as an hour after they called, but it is generally two hours. When we have a problem is when one of my bosses waits till the last minute to call me and he expects me to be there in 30 minutes, which is how long it takes me to just drive to work.

I just feel their expectations are too high for us to be ready to go at any moment of the day.

I wouldnt have a problem with that if it happened once a year, month, or even week, but to be on call every day and have a start time from any point within a 24 hour period and be expected to work up to 16 hours is asking a little much.

With that kind of work schedule my employer should expect that I am going to sleep until I am called. If I were to guess that they would call me in at 8am and I woke showered and dressed and they didnt call me until 8pm to drive to Sacramento I would be a zombie, and I would most likely run off of the road and kill someone.

No big deal though. I work in the shipping industry and $20/hour jobs are a dime a dozen when you have a CDL.

Thank you for the response CheeseBlotto.
 
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mysingerd

Junior Member
and as far as the response of them firing me because of it.....ummm yeah....

I can be terminated at any time for anything or nothing...I know that

This is something that the company and I are trying to work out.

The last issue that we had was they were calling all of us in to work to drive to sacramento and having us sit in the break room for a couple of hours then sending us home without any pay.

I spoke with my terminal manager about this and informed him that we must be paid a minimum of four hours when we are told to report for work.

He looked into the matter and it was changed the following week. Neither of us are unreasonable, we are just trying to find a mid point.
 

pattytx

Senior Member
Well...I find it hard to believe that there is not a law that even slightly covers this issue. My employer and I have agreed that it is within a reasonable amount of time. We just differ on what is reasonable.
Believe it. There is none.

If it were me, I would think one hour would be a reasonable compromise, taking into consideration your commute. But this is something you need to work out with your employer. If they want 30 minutes and you can't do 30 minutes, then you need to let them know that. They can find someone else to be on call. However, if being on call is an integral part of your job, and you can't come to an agreement on what time frame is "reasonable", then they could terminate you for your inability to meet the job requirements.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
I find it hard to believe that there is not a law that even slightly covers this issue. Believe it. There is none.
 

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