What Is an On-Call Schedule?
An on-call schedule is a work arrangement that requires employees to be available to work for an extended period of time, sometimes even 24/7. This doesn’t necessarily mean that on-call professionals will be working long hours all the time. However, they will need to ensure there is nothing stopping them from working during their on-call hours, such as a second job.
On-call schedules can be either standalone or an extension of another shift pattern. In the first instance, on-call schedules are similar to flexible working hours. The only difference is that you decide your staff’s work hours instead of the other way round.
On-call schedules that extend other shift patterns, on the other hand, involve work hours that your staff will typically be expected to work. They will then need to be available outside of these hours for overtime.
What is the purpose of on-call work schedules?
You may use an on-call work schedule if you operate your business 24/7 and need to have employees on standby to fill in for unexpected emergencies. The most common example of such an emergency is absences, which can be especially detrimental to your company’s performance if your team is small.
In such cases, you’ll need to use an on-call arrangement in addition to shift scheduling to achieve reliable around-the-clock operation.
Which industries use on-call schedules?
On-call work schedules are used in a wide variety of industries, including:
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Healthcare
- Customer service
- Logistics
How does on-call scheduling work?
An on-call schedule is built as a rotation: each period — usually a week, sometimes a day — one person or a small group carries the duty, then hands it over. Common patterns include:
- Primary/secondary rotation — one responder takes calls first, a backup steps in if they are unreachable. The standard in IT and healthcare.
- Weekly rotation — each employee covers a full week in turn; easy to plan, but the duty week is heavy.
- Daily or split rotation — shorter turns spread the load more evenly at the cost of more handoffs.
- Follow-the-sun — distributed teams pass the duty across time zones so nobody covers the nights.
A fair rotation is published in advance, balances weekends and holidays, and has an explicit swap rule. Purpose-built employee scheduling software keeps the rotation, swaps and coverage gaps visible to everyone.
Is on-call time paid?
It depends on how restricted the employee is. Time spent actually responding is working time and is paid — often at overtime rates. The waiting time in between is treated differently by jurisdiction and contract: heavily restricted standby (staying on site or responding within minutes) is usually compensable, while a loose “reachable by phone” arrangement more often earns a flat on-call stipend than the full hourly rate. Spell the terms out in the schedule policy so nobody discovers them on payday.
Why is it important to track the work hours of on-call employees?
Tracking your on-call staff’s work hours is essential for accurate payroll. Whether you use on-call arrangements in addition to a fixed schedule or on its own, you’ll need to pay a predetermined hourly rate for your team’s on-call work. Accurate time data will help you make accurate payments without over or under-paying your employees.
How to track the time of on-call staff accurately?
To track your staff’s on-call time accurately, you should use an automatic time tracker. High-quality examples like WebWork will help you get exact data on your team’s work hours, simplifying your management work. In addition, you can also use the productivity monitoring features of such software to help your staff perform their best.
