Unfortunately I can see it being the latter. We aren't at the decision stage yet thankfully so I have time to make my opinion heard, just hope it will be considered!
On-call engineers - your advice please?
- Thread starter BigDannyO
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Unfortunately I can see it being the latter. We aren't at the decision stage yet thankfully so I have time to make my opinion heard, just hope it will be considered!
Soldato
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Your company is experiencing what happens to all software companies eventually, the realisation that they need to provide 24/7 support to customers and they are not geared up for it.
You need to put a budget plan together and present it to your bosses outlining the new hires needed to provide shift work, extra expenses such as pay and equipment and offset this against a premium support plan that customers pay for.
Do not let it go lightly with "one offs" to appease the bosses otherwise you will dig a hole for your team
Expect a head count of 30 - 40% to provide shift work and 10 - 20% increase in pay for those doing it.
Present this to your bosses and give them the finacial choiceThey will soon back down or you may get lucky and end up with a proper support operation which you know you need.
All of these numbers are approximate, do your own calculations.
Good luck
This ... or polish your CV and get out of there.
We had this issue as well, I'm an engineer so had no say in the matter but our manager basically worked on this
you get paid £100 extra for a weeks on call work, originally it was also going to be £50 a call on top but this was scrapped at the last minute, so we basically get 100 quid on our salary for each week you have done on call, pretty pants imo but again I tried to argue some points but was struck down.
Also if your on holiday for your on-call week its the engineers responsibility to swap there shift with a team member and not the responsibility of the manager
you get paid £100 extra for a weeks on call work, originally it was also going to be £50 a call on top but this was scrapped at the last minute, so we basically get 100 quid on our salary for each week you have done on call, pretty pants imo but again I tried to argue some points but was struck down.
Also if your on holiday for your on-call week its the engineers responsibility to swap there shift with a team member and not the responsibility of the manager
We had this issue as well, I'm an engineer so had no say in the matter but our manager basically worked on this
you get paid £100 extra for a weeks on call work, originally it was also going to be £50 a call on top but this was scrapped at the last minute, so we basically get 100 quid on our salary for each week you have done on call, pretty pants imo but again I tried to argue some points but was struck down.
Also if your on holiday for your on-call week its the engineers responsibility to swap there shift with a team member and not the responsibility of the manager
If I could have in your position, I would have walked.
We can put in overtime for the amount of hours we have worked on a call so its not "just" 100 quid a week its also the overtime on the job (time and a half I think) so maybe not quite as bad but still its poor planning on managements part
I have never understood about it being our problem when swaping on call shifts though, if I'm on holiday for my on call week it should be the manager who plans out who can take over
Sounds like you're doing the best you can OP. You can always try to put things in terms of your team if you want to minimise how much hassle you get from management, i.e. "I think the team will..." or "I'm worried this will affect staff retention and we'll have to spend the money on recruitment and training when we could just spent it on overtime"...
We get a rate which is per hour (standard hours are 8am - 6pm), so on call hours of 6pm-8am. Bank holidays are 24 hours. This is shared o na rota between 5 of us.
We have a works mobile which we forward to our personal mobiles to allow us to answer calls.
In the event that we can't solve something, we have escalation routes. Those routes are also on call.
For my team we do infrastructure (directory services as well as in house software). If there was an issue with any of those (other than a hardware issue) we are expected to get the job done. Even if a full rebuild is needed. If it's a hardware issue we escalate it to those which look after the Hardware and await a resolution where we can then do our job and bring the service back up.
We have a works mobile which we forward to our personal mobiles to allow us to answer calls.
In the event that we can't solve something, we have escalation routes. Those routes are also on call.
For my team we do infrastructure (directory services as well as in house software). If there was an issue with any of those (other than a hardware issue) we are expected to get the job done. Even if a full rebuild is needed. If it's a hardware issue we escalate it to those which look after the Hardware and await a resolution where we can then do our job and bring the service back up.
We can put in overtime for the amount of hours we have worked on a call so its not "just" 100 quid a week its also the overtime on the job (time and a half I think) so maybe not quite as bad but still its poor planning on managements part
I have never understood about it being our problem when swaping on call shifts though, if I'm on holiday for my on call week it should be the manager who plans out who can take over
I guess the logic is that you don't take the holiday if you can't get someone to cover your shift.
You would think...but management have to approve the holiday before I can take it anyway, they have approved holiday in the past and then expected me to find someone to cover my oncall shift
Don't approve my holiday then if you can't find a replacement?
fail comes to mind lol
We are paid an annual salary so we could work 24/7 and not get a penny more. System goes down on the weekend then you get your arise to office and fix it. Different if you are paid by th hour the rise you are a salaried and can expect extra hours.
1) Being on call should have some kind of renumeration. It's called being on standby.
2) Should not be using personal mobile. Should be a company provided phone.
3) Dunno what you mean. But if the engineer cannot fix the fault, then it will have to wait until office hours - after being escalted to a manager ofcourse!
2) Should not be using personal mobile. Should be a company provided phone.
3) Dunno what you mean. But if the engineer cannot fix the fault, then it will have to wait until office hours - after being escalted to a manager ofcourse!
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1. were on 24/7 on call and get an hourly rate, which is more for holidays. once we are called out we get an hourly rate above the retainer. Works out about £250 before tax before doing anything.
2. We get payed contribution for line rental, but we also get a work mobile now, the line rental is historical.
3. We have a three tier system as we have so many locations, departments and systems no one person could deal with it all, we take it in turns to triage calls and pass to the relevant team, so your back is generally covered if you cant fix it, and there is a clear escalation process that go's all the way to the head of IT. So your never without someone you can go to, we also drew up a list of what is and isnt supported. our previous on call didnt have this and despite only being 8am-8pm, it was an utter nightmare, now its gone 24/7 and we made all those changes its pretty good.
2. We get payed contribution for line rental, but we also get a work mobile now, the line rental is historical.
3. We have a three tier system as we have so many locations, departments and systems no one person could deal with it all, we take it in turns to triage calls and pass to the relevant team, so your back is generally covered if you cant fix it, and there is a clear escalation process that go's all the way to the head of IT. So your never without someone you can go to, we also drew up a list of what is and isnt supported. our previous on call didnt have this and despite only being 8am-8pm, it was an utter nightmare, now its gone 24/7 and we made all those changes its pretty good.
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I'm on un-official all out, and yes I was told the same as you. My contract states that some elements of my job are required to be undertaken out of hours, and I will receive time in lieu in return. Problem being, I'm too busy to take my lunch hour and holidays, let alone any time in lieu. So the hours build up on my spreadsheet, and I have been refused payment in return.
I have to use my own mobile, but I switch it off when I'm asleep, otherwise I'd never get some kip!
I have to use my own mobile, but I switch it off when I'm asleep, otherwise I'd never get some kip!
The out-of-hours / 'other duties in line with your job role' clause on your contract is there so that you realise that there might be times where you need to stay a couple of hours later to hit a maintenance window, or if something crops up that couldn't have been predicted. Normally a sane employer who cares about their staff will then let you come in later the next day, or leave earlier at the end of the week or something. It definitely doesn't mean that company gets to phone you to fix things 24x7 without any extra pay.
Using your own phone is silly as well.
If you add up all the hours you do outside of the standard working week your hourly rate must look terrible.
Using your own phone is silly as well.
If you add up all the hours you do outside of the standard working week your hourly rate must look terrible.
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Also make sure you get "Paid" recovery time.
Soldato
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And I thought my job was ridiculous. Get out quick.