I'm expected to always be on call, including after hours and on weekends. I'm getting really tired of it because I'd like to have a clear distinction between my work and private life. I'm just not sure how to do anything about it without getting myself in trouble with my manager and above. How can I establish boundaries without jeopardizing my job?
17 replies (most recent on top)
Easy, you're either a pushover or you're not.
Sounds like you allow yourself to be taken advantage of. What are you afraid of?
Was "on call" part of the job description when you accepted it? If yes, they you signed up for it. deal with it.
Leadership here. I’m making my oncall team members be near the office for their oncall month, within 15 min response time of the C2W. If you are oncall, you need to be ready to drive to the office, day or night. Yes, that means I expect you to be up for that 2am outage and in the office. If you put in an offshift at the office, I will not make you work your full shift in the office, but you must be online to debrief me. Hope that helps.
"BECAUSE what is in your best interest SHOULD ultimately be in the best interests of the company."
Good leaders understand this. ATT is not run by good leaders.
Just Hire someone in India to answer your calls.
Grow a spine
All of this "well, i'm only gonna work 8 hours now," quite honestly feels like back-sliding and surrender. We all know that if someone important calls you beyond those 8 hours, you'll answer that call. WHY? Because you need this JOB.
The CEO doesn't need his JOB. He's got a Diamond-Platinum Parachute waiting for him.
Rather than trying to act like you're gonna give less to AT&T, why don't you work to preserve your own health and best interests.
WHY? BECAUSE what is in your best interest SHOULD ultimately be in the best interests of the company. The two interests should neither diverge nor be mutually exclusive.
My group had an "on-call" rotation. Before RTO, we worked virtual.
Then RTO, and people started transferring out, or resigning, or retiring.
They were easily replaced by Habib in India. They know nothing. F*ck'em. They got what they deserved. Stink don't care!
Here lies the kick in your pants scenario: we used to have an on-call rotation but the silly SLT riffed my crew and most the others retired or took vsp. No back fill and my crew is down to 2. There were 12 on my crew 2 years ago and the rotation was manageable with scheduled downtime between rotations. Not any more!!
You get paid well for that work. Bottom Line.
When I was there, my contract called for payments for call-ups and payment for call-outs.
If I didn't want to do it, there was plenty of others that would do it.
Just take your name of the on-call list so the dispatchers won't call you!
Maybe bring your boss a solution? Surely you are the only person on your team capable of supporting on call? What about asking the boss to implement an on-call rotation? At least the it's not always just you and then you get some reasonable downtime.
If they tell you to pound sand I'd just do my 8 and skate. The only hangup is if on-call is part of your job description. In that case there may not be much you can do other than change roles or jobs. Good luck.
Resign
With a pencil.
Sounds like we’re on the same team. Find another job or retire if eligible. Let someone else do it. That’s all I’ve got. Other than that I’ve also been trying to deal with this. I can cut off my phone, just not be as involved, but I feel like I’m letting down my teammates when I do that. It’s really not healthy and honestly, what’s in it for me? I don’t get paid extra, no bonuses, no comp time, no recognition, nothing. Now the 5x in office and tracking time 8 hrs minimum? I work way more than that, but we get no credit for all those hours. So all I’m doing going forward is my 8 in office. Don’t call me after. Best way I can deal with these d-mb policies. The job was bad enough, but at least I could flex office time a little. Now can’t even do that. Time for something else. I’ve got to have a life and not just work constantly.
Nest approach is to define boundaries ahead of time, they know you are not available to be called upon after hours. Care is required for your Father and paid care giver goes home at 6 pm. You must be there on time without fail. Same thing in the mornings. You wake up and get your Father out of bed, dress him and await for caregiver to arrive before leaving for work. Stress that you give it your all 8 hours per day but unless your job description has a clear on-call definition with a support pager, your personal time is clearly off limits. As always, articulate this in writing over email and forward to your home email. Same with your supervisors response. If they discuss it with you on the phone, politely ask that they respond to your email so that their expectations are clear and concise. Save and forward the response as well. You will not be met with resistance.