On-call duties are often managed as 'something separate' until conflicts arise: out-of-hours calls, unrecorded interventions, or rest periods not being respected. The key is to turn the on-call duty into a process: define types, record interventions, and establish clear compensation.
1) Distinguish availability from intervention (and write it down)
Availability is not the same as effective work. An on-call duty may mean being contactable, but work occurs when there is an intervention. If you do not define this, concepts get mixed and each team experiences it differently.
An example: a technician is on call over the weekend. There is only one 45-minute intervention. If it is not recorded as an intervention, the data is lost and then there is a dispute over whether 'work was done' or not.
2) Recording an intervention: simple, fast, and traceable
The intervention should be recorded as an event: start, end, reason, and if applicable, approval or validation. You do not need bureaucracy; you need evidence and consistency.
For example, an intervention for a service outage is recorded with 'start 02:10, end 02:55, reason: critical incident'. This protects the worker and allows the company to analyse frequency and causes.
3) Compensation and rest periods: avoid 'we will compensate somehow'
Compensation can be financial, in rest time, or mixed, according to your framework and internal agreements. What matters is that it is defined and reflected in the system (hour bank, planned rest, supplement).
A practical example: if after a night intervention the minimum rest period is broken, the schedule must be adjusted. If it is not adjusted, fatigue accumulates and the 'fix' arrives in the form of sick leave and turnover.
4) Example: IT on-call duties in a 24/7 company
A company defines weekly rotating on-call duties with a 'duty manager'. Interventions are recorded in the portal with a reason and duration. At month end, interventions are exported and compensated according to the agreed rules.
Result: fewer disputes, better incident analysis, and less feeling of 'always being available'. The on-call duty stops being informal and becomes sustainable.
5) Win-win: service covered without burning out the team
For the company, a well-managed on-call duty reduces response time and improves continuity. For the worker, it provides clear limits and real recognition of effort.
The win-win emerges when availability and intervention stop being 'favours' and become part of the system: measured, compensated, and reviewed with data.