Technician and Mobiles

Fred,
I guess it depends upon the type of work you do. If you are supporting customers, it likely depends upon the level of service you/your company is providing. Where I work, we support our major customers 24x7 and have a rotating on call system where the techs pass the on call phone between them. I'm on call every three weeks. During my on call period, the phone stays on 24x7 because of the responsibility I have for network uptime. I am also compensated for the extra burden of being on call (whether I receive any calls or not).

If you're not in the service business, then I think the need for after hours availability goes way down. Best wishes,
- ck

Technicians can (ethically) be required to carry the phones for all hours which they are paid. I don't think it is ethical to expect someone to be on-call if they are not paid to be.

A mobile phone effectively places that employee on-call. Sincehaving a sane and productive employee has a lot to do with them having a life outside of work, it's counterproductive to have someone always on-call.

The company which employs the first poster has a pretty good system. Employees are rotated through a schedule of being on-call. Only the employee whose turn it is has the phone. Everyone is paid for taking on the burden of being on-call. This is a healthy situation that can last a very long time.

On the other hand. Expecting employees to beon-call 365 days a year (with or without extra pay) is a burn-out situation. Don't do it. In the end it will cost everybody too much.