Office of Budget and Finance

On Call Pay

OBJECTIVE:

To provide policies and procedures for the Knoxville campus for on-call pay for non-exempt employees.

General Policy

“On call” situations occur when non-exempt employees are to be immediately available to respond to important situations outside their normal working hours. Failure to respond in a timely manner may be grounds for disciplinary action. Only the “on call” employee is eligible for this pay.

• “On call” employees are called in to campus or asked to assist by phone by either the UT Police dispatcher or other designated departmental employee. “On call” pay does not apply to employees who are called by management to respond to an emergency situation to include, but not limited to, an electrical outage, snow removal, or steam line rupture.
• A schedule of which employee will be “on call” will be created and posted a minimum of four weeks in advance of the scheduled dates. Once posted, this schedule may not be changed without the permission of the supervisor in charge.
• In addition to the employee’s regular work hours, the employee who is “on call” is guaranteed to receive a minimum of four hours of regular work hours per week even if no calls are received. The “on call” hours will be coded as regular hours worked so the employee will be credited with at least 44 hours (if 40 hours is the regular worked for the “on call” week provided they work the full week). In addition, if the hours worked are in excess of 40, they will be calculated at time-and-one-half. Thus, the employee will be paid a minimum of 46 hours for the week if he/she works the full week.
• Should the “on call” employee be required to come to campus to respond to an emergency or answer a call, he/she will be guaranteed a minimum of four hours pay. Should the repair exceed four hours, he/she will be paid for all the time worked.
• An employee “on call” will receive a maximum of 12 hours of “on call” pay in a 24-hour period. The 24-hour period will coincide with the “on call” week. The first 24-hour “on call” period (“on call” work day) will begin at 8:01 am Monday morning and end at 8:00 am Tuesday morning; the second “on call” work day will begin at 8:01 am Tuesday and end at 8:00 am Wednesday. The remainder of the “on call” days during the “on call” week follows the same pattern. The seventh and final “on call” day during the “on call” weekends at 8:00 am on Monday.
• Employees who are required to report to campus more than three times during the designated 24-hour “on call” day will receive payment for the actual hours needed to correct the problem.

Thus, the fourth, fifth, or sixth or additional call the employee will be paid only for the actual time spent to correct the problem, not guaranteed a minimum of four hours pay.

• Should the employee receive a call requiring him/her to come to campus within two hours of his/her normal work shift, he/she will clock in and begin his/her work shift. In other words, the employee will not be guaranteed the four hour minimum in this situation. Should the employee work his/her full shift, the hours worked will be eight hours, plus the time he/she reported early.
• Employees reporting to campus to respond to a call must keep a log of the time worked, the reason for the call, and an accounting of what was done to solve the problem.
• If a non-exempt employee has the ability to satisfy a situation from home via information or by remote that employee will be compensated as well.

Questions regarding the policy should be directed to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration 865-974-4204.