Being on call

[Erin Murray]

I recently accepted a staff position with an agency. The days I am not scheduled, I am on call, or if I have an afternoon job, I am on call in the morning, and am starting to feel like my free time isn't so free. I am wondering if any other staffers have thoughts as to how many on-call days are expected to be given to the agency?? Thanks!

[Judy]

Well, I did leave out the part where he started to run his foot up my leg during one of the depos.  I guess that's when I knew he was interested.  And since I didn't stop the depo and proceed to tear him up, I guess I was too.

[Cindy Clark]

Oh, Judy, that is a wonderful story!  I love it!  Thank you for sharing.  :)

[Rebekah Lockwood]

I take last-minute jobs for my firm when called, but we are never specifically put "on call."  and i believe kellie zollars is correct.  as a 1099 independent contractor, they cannot require you to be on call unless they are paying you.  that would be considered an employee.  they cannot regulate your time off or tell you when you can or cannot take lunch.  if they're doing these things, you are an employee, and they should be paying you accordingly, and they should be paying employment taxes, etc.  you might ask this question to an attorney to get further insight.  in my mind, last-minute call-ins are the attorney's problem, and i'll help if i can.  but if i'm busy with work for other clients, grocery shopping, out to lunch, out with my dog, too bad.  guess you should've thought about your court reporting needs a little sooner.  lol!  but other times, i have jumped in the shower, put on make-up, thrown on clothes & been out the door in 20 minutes to run cover something, even a trial.  so, really, guess it depends on my mood.  haha!  i hope you can make a good decision for yourself.  our jobs are stressful and busy enough as it is, you need your off days to be YOUR off days.  you should not be tethered (possibly illegally) to your agency every moment you are not in a job.  good luck!

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Wow, what a great story.  See, something to be said for those "on call" jobs.  You just never know.

I've always met my husbands at the gym.  LOL

[Deborah M.]

Ha!  Laughed out loud on that one!  Guess it's better than always meeting your husbands in bars!

[Judy]

Yeah, it was a W-T-F moment, for sure.  

[Erin Murray]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate it. I really do like the agency that I am working with, and they have been fulfilling their end of the bargain as far as the amount of jobs I've asked for. I am going just tell them that I can't be on call as in sitting at home, ready to walk out the door, but if they call me with a last-minute job and I can take it, I definitely will. I really don't think that they will say I have to be on call, and in that case, I will think things through. They have told me several times that I am still an IC, so I am sure they will understand when I say no more on call.

Thanks for sharing your story, Judy!! :)