Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: on call after hours

If you are required to actually live on the work premises, yes.

If you actually put in extra hours (for example, as a result of being "on call", you get a call that requires you to come in and work four hours not originally scheduled) yes, if you are hourly. If you are on salary and work those four hours in my example, you still get paid overtime for any hours over 40 that you work that week. (So, continuing my example, if you are on salary and work 38 scheduled hours, plus 4 hours additional because of being called in, you should get two hours of overtime.)

If you are "on call", but do not have to stay at work, and do not get called in, there is no legal requirement that you be paid additional. It would certainly seem like the fair thing to do, and it would be an intelligent choice for an employer who would like to foster good morale, but it is not legally required.

Legal recourse might be possible if you could show that other employees were not required to be on call, or were paid for it, and you were given the less favorable arrangement for an illegal discriminatory reason.

Before you look for the legal stick, however, consider whether you might have a carrot in your hand. Did your employer pick you to be on call because he or she feels they can rely on you? I don't know anything about your situation other than what is in your question. However, consider whether you might be now or soon in a position to amicably negotiate a higher pay rate, either from this employer or from another one who will appreciate your diligence and reliability. (It's all about marketing yourself, of course.) This may not be applicable to your situation, but if it is, better to get more pay on an ongoing basis than for the single week.