‘Yep, I’m looking for a new job…’: Software company designer forced to pay for own training and spend every day on call for 12 hours, 7 days a week, while HR promises barely extra pay for the trouble

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Nov 11, 2025 7:00 PM EST

This designer-turned-emergency responder with a five-minute response timer sounds like the plot of a bad comic book, but nope, it's real life now. The special twist comes with being told to pay for your own crash course like training is a side hustle and not a desperate lifeline to survive this madness. Getting on call for twelve hours a day every day is the new corporate badge of honor nobody asked for.

Let's take a moment to admire the math here. Four people total but one gets a free pass because she's hourly and can't touch nights or weekends so the remaining three are left to juggle the chaos. It's like a bad game of hot potato where the potato is a crying client and everyone is terrified to hold it for long. Respond within five minutes on weekends too that's basically a fifty-hour panic attack with no breaks. Your weekend plans don't stand a chance not even showering, because apparently, hygiene is a threat to serious problem solving. 

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  • They want me to get training on my own dime so I can be on call 12 hours/day, 7 days/week! :)

    Stressed man wearing glasses sitting at desk with laptop, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration while working in an office
    via PeopleImages

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • What’s truly inspiring in this circus is HR wanting to know who’s sweating through this setup so they can throw in a little extra cash like a tip for surviving. It’s the corporate version of “here’s a band-aid for a broken leg.” The whole thing feels like a bizarre performance art where designers moonlight as tech support and managers think training is an optional upgrade you buy yourself. It’s a great reminder that sometimes job descriptions are just polite lies and weekends are just a myth.

  • I'm a designer in a software company. They started a program where we are on call 12 hours/day, 7 days/week.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • Yes, Saturday and Sunday. It's for serious problems in the field. The other department has lots of people so they can have 2 on call at any time and enough people to rotate the duty between so it's not as bad.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • But we have only four peeps and one of them is hourly so she can't work nights and weekends so basically we're gonna be dividing it by three people.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • Frustrated man wearing glasses sitting at desk with laptop, resting his head on his hand while feeling stressed or overwhelmed at work
    via Roman Samborskyi

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The call goes first to the first person and then it goes to the second person on call so technically we may be on call just about every single week.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • I heard my manager expects you to reply within 5 MINUTES. On the weekend from 8 AM to 8 PM, if I have to respond within 5 minutes I can't drive, take a shower, take a nap.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • I can't go get a mammogram because they might page me while I'm getting my squished.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • HR not only knows about it but wants a spreadsheet of who is doing it so they can give us a little extra pay.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • Bored man wearing glasses sitting at desk with laptop, resting his face on his hands and looking tired or unmotivated at work.
    via Roman Samborskyi

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Yep, I'm looking for a new job...
    via FormicaDinette33
  • quast_64 Say after me: N...O... No! it can be extended to Oh H I No! Explanation: You don't pay me enough dimes for me to train on... No training, no 12/7/365
    via FormicaDinette33
  • OP FormicaDinette33 Every year we have this company wide survey. Every year everybody says "We want training!" Guess what training they came up with? Two classes: how to be a better employee and how to be a better manager. D
    via FormicaDinette33
  • AMobOfJews Absolutely, just confirm that these requirements will pay out 40 hours, plus an additional 44 hours of overtime Otherwise, pound sand
    via FormicaDinette33
  • OP FormicaDinette33 They are paying $40/day extra. We are on salary.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • DarthMonkey212313 No, unless it is a contingency mentioned in the original job offer they are trying to unilaterally change the terms of employment. Any change requires the consent of both parties and it can not be under duress (agree or your fired is duress).
    via FormicaDinette33
  • OP FormicaDinette33 This is 8 years after I was hired.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • oldmanlikesguitars First of all, hope and pray you get a call. Respond after 15 minutes, sorry I had diarrhea, sorry I was menstruating super heavily, sorry I ate some bad shellfish and I've been puking like a firehose... Then when they ask you how to solve a problem, act really upset. "Dude, I'm so sorry. I told them I didn't think I'd be really good at this. Wait! Google says... no that's not right. I'm so sorry!"
    via FormicaDinette33
  • OP FormicaDinette33 I am planning to have a mammogram during the first missed call and a Pap smear at the second one.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • TxnAvngr What state do you work in
    via FormicaDinette33
  • OP FormicaDinette33 CA
    via FormicaDinette33
  • curlycorona This is about being engaged to wait. If you can't spend your time freely, and do things that might make you unavailable to work or be incapacitated, then they have to pay you extra, even if you're salary. The five minute response time is a big indicating factor. You need to get actual legal advice on this, because your employer demanding you be continuously available is expensive and you deserve free time or to be paid much more than fifty dollars a day for that kind of response time
    via FormicaDinette33
  • mcflame 13 I would tell them that unless I am getting paid for every hour I am on-call. I am not going to be available outside of my usually scheduled hours. If they want to fire me for refusing to be on-call for 84 hours a week. Then so be it. But they are going to have a hard time getting people if one of the requirements is being available to be on-call for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • garaks_tailor The five minute response time moves out of the on-call territory to on duty as it precludes you being able to do anything else with your time. Get it in writing and get an attorney
    via FormicaDinette33
  • ItPutsLotionOnltSkin I remember when I got a call at midnight. My phone is on Do Not Disturb but my watch wasn't. I looked at it and muted it. Lo and behold the next morning the walls were still up.
    via FormicaDinette33
  • Sweaty Illustrator14 Depending on job categorization, under federal and state law if you're on call you are due on-call pay rate.
    via FormicaDinette33

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management terrible coworkers workplace discussion employment issues boss workplace-stories hr manager bosses work coworkers colleague PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
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