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Easy. Pay them a decent salary for every hour they are on call. Simple as that.

klyrs 3y ago
You can't pay me a decent* salary for on-call. This is true of many people. One developer I worked with took medication at night which rendered him completely useless, and skipping the medication resulted in several very bad days. For me, it's simply a work/life balance thing, and I can find work that doesn't need it. The "easy" answer is to put it in the job ad, and hire people who agree to it. Because forcing that requirement on an existing employee just isn't going to happen. * by all means, pay me an indecent wage, enough that I can retire after a year!
- kelnos 3y ago
  Yup, agreed. At the very least, make it opt-in, and keep raising the on-call pay until you have enough existing employees who will decide the trade off is worth it. At some point it maybe ends up being more economical to follow your suggestion to put out a job ad specifically for on-call people.
- mariodiana 3y ago
  Years ago when I worked second-level support, I was the on-call guy for Thanksgiving. Our customers were specialty retailers, so I thought nothing of it. I figured they'd be closed. Turns out, we had an "Urban Clothing Store" as a customer, and on that day — what?! — someone couldn't ring up an 8-ball jacket? I was with my family, enjoying a cocktail when I got the call. I have seldom been more pissed off. In the end, from what I could remember, after wasting almost an hour, we tabled the whole incident. I'm with you. On-call is never worth it. If a company needs 24/7 coverage, they should hire round the clock.
jki275 3y ago
As another reply said, you can't afford me. I did on call 24/7/365 for 23 years. I'll never do it again. My phone goes silent in the evening and doesn't come online again until I get up to come to work. That's never going to change. I'm not 20 anymore, I don't function on no sleep.
- antisthenes 3y ago
  > I did on call 24/7/365 for 23 years. I hope you made enough money to retire comfortably. That sounds like utter hell.
  - jki275 3y ago
    Not even close. Military enlisted. Living the good life writing software 9 to 5 now though.

You can't pay me a decent* salary for on-call. This is true of many people. One developer I worked with took medication at night which rendered him completely useless, and skipping the medication resulted in several very bad days. For me, it's simply a work/life balance thing, and I can find work that doesn't need it. The "easy" answer is to put it in the job ad, and hire people who agree to it. Because forcing that requirement on an existing employee just isn't going to happen. * by all means, pay me an indecent wage, enough that I can retire after a year!

kelnos 3y ago
Yup, agreed. At the very least, make it opt-in, and keep raising the on-call pay until you have enough existing employees who will decide the trade off is worth it. At some point it maybe ends up being more economical to follow your suggestion to put out a job ad specifically for on-call people.
mariodiana 3y ago
Years ago when I worked second-level support, I was the on-call guy for Thanksgiving. Our customers were specialty retailers, so I thought nothing of it. I figured they'd be closed. Turns out, we had an "Urban Clothing Store" as a customer, and on that day — what?! — someone couldn't ring up an 8-ball jacket? I was with my family, enjoying a cocktail when I got the call. I have seldom been more pissed off. In the end, from what I could remember, after wasting almost an hour, we tabled the whole incident. I'm with you. On-call is never worth it. If a company needs 24/7 coverage, they should hire round the clock.

jki275 3y ago

As another reply said, you can't afford me. I did on call 24/7/365 for 23 years. I'll never do it again. My phone goes silent in the evening and doesn't come online again until I get up to come to work. That's never going to change. I'm not 20 anymore, I don't function on no sleep.

antisthenes 3y ago
> I did on call 24/7/365 for 23 years. I hope you made enough money to retire comfortably. That sounds like utter hell.
- jki275 3y ago
  Not even close. Military enlisted. Living the good life writing software 9 to 5 now though.