Legal Question in Employment Law in Illinois

Hi, I'm currently employed as a Heating and Air technician. I am required to be on call for 1 week every couple months. I carry a company cell phone for work and when I'm on call, they call me and I'm required to respond within a couple hours. I'm not sure of the details about the exact rules and the disciplinary actions for failure to comply with the rules. I've only been doing this for 6 months. There are other technicians that get $1/hour for being on call. The company basically says they have stopped giving that $1/hour to anybody since I've been on the on call list. so are there any laws regarding compensation for on call work? If so could you provide some links for me to check out?


Asked on 9/14/11, 8:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Betty Tsamis Tsamis Law Firm PC

"Whether on-call time counts as paid time depends on the facts of the situation, but comes down to how much freedom an employee has while on call. If an employer imposes very few restrictions on an employee while on call, the time does not count as hours worked. But, if an employer imposes many restrictions, the time may count as paid time. Some relevant factors include geographic restrictions, how much time an employee has to report when called, how many calls an employee actually receives, the ability to trade on-call duties and whether on-call duties are part of an agreement with the employer." http://www.wageandhourcounsel.com/2009/01/articles/oncall/dol-issues-opinion-letters-re-employees-oncall-time/

The bottom line is that each case is determined by the specific facts of the on-call requirements of the employer. If your employer imposes so many restrictions (such as response time, not being able to drink alcohol, etc) the time might be viewed as time to which you are entitled to pay.

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Answered on 9/15/11, 8:05 am


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