Part-Time Job Demands Employee Be 'On Call' From 9-6

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Feb 6, 2024 6:00 PM EST

Having a part-time job can really take it out of you. Full-time jobs might technically take up more of your time, but they're usually much more predictable. If you're working from 9-5 for five days every week, you don't have that added stress of waiting for a schedule to come out or begging your coworkers to cover your shifts. The unpredictability of part-time work adds a lot of stress to a job that shouldn't take over your entire life. Constantly shifting schedules make it much more difficult for part-time workers to find a second job, limiting their ability to make money. Even if they don't want a second job, it makes their life unnecessarily stressful.

One part-time worker posted texts he got from a manager following a surgery. They claimed they wanted him to be available (meaning "on call") for all normal business hours (9-6), which doesn't sound like a part-time gig to me. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/jellybelle12 16h Part-Time job, but wants me to be available full time
    via u/jellybelle12
  • 02
    Hey I know you're still feeling off from your surgery but please make sure you are at least available during our normal business hours 9-6 Today 11:27 AM Completely understand how that would be advantageous. At the moment this is a part-time agreement according to the job description. It seems to me you're wanting me to be on-call. and while I may not be doing work during those hours my time is still valuable to me. If you want me to be on call, we can talk about a way to compensate me blocking
    via u/jellybelle12
  • 03
    Atheist_Simon_Haddad - 16h pay me to be in town, awake, available and sober Reply 45.4k ...
    via u/Atheist_Simon_Haddad
  • 04
    kanst • 8h When you prod even a little it becomes clear that many employers seem to think we enter some kind of stasis pod after work to await the next work day. I'm an engineer, on an old project I was doing weekend on-call support. We had negotiated that I'd get 4 hours of pay just for being on call, then any further work would be on top of that 4 hours. I was young, it was a reasonable agreement.
    via u/kanst
  • 05
    Fast forward a year or so, and someone from finance gets upset because I am being paid using a "labor" billing code, but since I am not working those 4 hours I am not doing labor. So that means the charging was not in compliance and they demand it stops. So they took away the 4 hours for being on call, and I told them that I would no longer be on call. They were shocked and confused. Their argument was that I was still being paid if I had to work so what was the big deal.
    via u/kanst
  • 06
    I explained that those 4 hours were the payment for me being sober, awake, and within walking distance of a computer. I wasn't going to just be on call and available for free. I actually had a phenomenal chief engineer at that time, and he agreed with my argument and he took over being the POC for remote calls. 4120 ↓ ...
    via u/kanst
  • 07
    jellybelle12 OP. 4h Kanst, I think that is precisely what's going on. It's like they think we are this doll they can put back up on the shelf once they're done with us and that we're just always waiting to be played with. Kudos to you for sticking to your guns, and knowing what was fair. It's awesome that you had someone on your team that could vouch for your argument as well! 4 11 +
    via u/jellybelle12
  • 08
    Walniw • 16h Well done ... Reply 42.1k
    via u/Walniw
  • 09
    Dinos67 16h Interesting to see if they back down or escalate. These folks tend to hate boundary setters in their ranks. 955
    via u/Dinos67
  • 10
    jellybelle12 OP • 16h ● As soon as I brought up "compensation", and they knew they weren't getting 9 hours a day on call out of me for free, they backed down G 42.2k ↓
    via u/jellybelle12
  • 11
    Glittering Search_41. 15h Applause!! I had a similar expectation in retail. But it was before cell phones so we just would say "Oh, I was out, didn't get your message till late." When we all did start getting cell phones, we did not give our numbers out to the employer. ... 435
    via u/Glittering_Search_41
  • 12
    Khaki_Shorts • 15h Do these types just expect wage slaves to exist and be available for them to work their 26 hours and the occasional double shift coverage when someone calls out sick? Do they expect people to just sit around and wait for this work? Who's paying that person's rent? The world doesn't work like that. Reply 4985
    via u/Khaki_Shorts
  • 13
    teenagesadist. 12h It's not their problem, so they don't give af. That's American business in a nutshell. ... 142
    via u/teenagesadist
  • 14
    Evening-Spot-4455 - 13h So many jobs I looked at in the past for part time work, especially retail work, advertised something like weekend work or 15-18 hours, etc. but when it came to the interviews, turns out they want people to be available pretty much 24/7. I even got told this once by a very honest interviewer for Lidl who really liked me and was very honest. I even went for a SUNDAY assistant job at a charity shop and I asked for feedback as the interview went well, they told me I didn't h
    via u/Evening-Spot-4455
  • 15
    I was trying to save for a house at the time, I already had a stable part time job cleaning early morning, I just needed another job to top up my hours/wages. I would be available from 9am every day and I said I could do weekends if needed, but it still wasn't enough. Why bring me for an interview, I put that I already had a job on my applications. ... Reply 318
    via u/Evening-Spot-4455
  • 16
    Butterssaltynutz. 12h you think they read the applications?! you think THEY CAN READ?! 110
    via u/Butterssaltynutz
  • 17
    hanks_panky_emporium • 10h When I worked on-call weekends as a lab accessioner we got $10/hr on-call throughout the on-call period. If I was on-call noon to midnight that's $120 doing nothing. If I was called in you get time and a half plus your on-call rate. The tradeoff is you might get snapped out of your sleep to process a urine test or blood work in an emergency situation. We were only closed on the weekends and everyone took turns on-call but some places it was as low as $2/hr per hour of
    via u/hanks_panky_emporium
  • 18
    PhiPhiAokigahara • 9h Part-time jobs with mandatory open availability and an unpredictable schedule feel like they're designed to prevent having any other job. Reply 487
    via u/PhiPhiAokigahara

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management antiwork workplace-stories toxic-manager jobs employee part time toxic-workplace manager job work on call employees workplace full time
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