taking work related phone calls after hours without pay ?

[marky-mark1968]

My job as a roadside tech ( recovery driver ) is a Monday to Friday 10am till 8pm

once a week I cover a night shift from end of my day shift 8pm till 8am the following day then start my day shift again at 10am

 

Long hours I know and the night shift or being on call out as its known is unpaid unless im actually called out to a job then im paid by the hour at overtime rate from job start to job finish usually 1 or 2 hours.

 

The call outs are sent via a night controller who sends me the jobs by SMS to my mobile phone,

the night controller is as expected paid to take the jobs and relate them to me and answer calls from customers,

 

 

my issue is my boss as mentioned he is considering diverting the phones direct to my mobile and therefore not having to pay someone else to control the night shift as I myself would be taking calls from customers and accepting jobs as do other members of staff when its their turn to cover the nights but as like them I am expected to do this without pay myself.

 

I did actually ask my boss how much he is paying me if I was to do this

his reply was nothing its part of the job,

 

 

now I may be stupid at times but I'm guessing that if I'm answering the works phone calls from customers after my day shift as ended then I'm actually working overtime during that phone call and therefore would i be correct in assuming i should be paid to do this ?

cheers to all replies

 

M

[ericsbrother]

change your mobile number and then ask your boss again how he wants to implement these changes.

 

If you get a call and you respond then that is a chargeable job.

 

 

If however, you are expected to receive dozens of calls that result in only 1 chargeable job then that is working as an unpaid customer services manager and you dont have to do it under your job description by the looks of it.

 

 

you will need to read the employment contract very carefully before saying no but if the result is the same number of calls then it wont make any real difference.

[marky-mark1968]

thank you for the reply ericsbrother

although the mobile phone is company issued so im unable to change my number the rest of your reply was very helpful in making things clear. thanks

[unclebulgaria67]

I would think that your employer would have to pay you an 'on call' rate, as well as for any call outs, so that they fully comply with minimum wage legislation.

 

Also depending on your job, there may be health and safety issues regarding disruption of sleep/rest.

 

ACAS has an employment helpline and they might be able to point you to any law that applies.

[Sidewinder]

Good advice above. The situation is somewhat woolly around payment for on-call arrangements and where you are based at home it is hard to demonstrate that you should be paid for all of the time that you 'might' receive a call, however it IS customary for some sort of enhancement or flat rate payment to be made to staff who take responsibility for answering the phone out of normal working hours

[stu007]

This link may also be of use: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-for-recovery-operations