On Call Shift Problems Include Stress, Payment Issues

Technology might feel like your best friend, or it might feel like your worst enemy, especially if you’ve experienced on call shift problems.

In today’s world of text messages, email on phones and cell towers hiding in jungles, it’s no wonder employers expect to be able to reach their employees 24/7.

On Call Shift Problems

One of the main on call shift problems is the constant stress. A recent study in the Jan. 2016 issue of the Journal of Occupational Health and Psychology shows a correlation between increased work availability and mood levels.

Study participants were approached in the evening after an on-call day. They were asked how often they thought about work or how constrained their activities were. The following morning, the questions were asked again to see how the previous day’s mental demands had affected their moods.

Not surprisingly, they marked lower moods the morning after being on-call compared to mornings after days they were not required to be on call.

Researchers believe the mental state of being ready to respond to a work demand makes it more difficult to recover from work, even when no calls come in during an on call shift.

Cortisol and Stress

Cortisol is a hormone that rises every morning and tends to fall as the day goes on, but stressed people tend to have higher overall cortisol levels. In addition, stressed people reach their natural morning peak of cortisol faster.

Researchers observed that in this study, a person’s morning levels of cortisol increased at a faster level when the person was on call, similar to a person in the midst of job stress. Anticipation of work was just as taxing on the person’s body as work itself.

Personalities Matter

The study showed that the people who coped best with on call shift problems were those who were detached from the work. When they were on call, but not being summoned at the moment, they were able to not think about work at all. These people were the most apt to recoup their energy and avoid effects on mood and cortisol levels.

If reducing work availability is not viable, perhaps mentally detaching from work is a sound approach.

Define On Call

For some employees, on call duty means being able to answer a phone call after normal work hours. For many doctors, answering phone emergency calls by phone only is considered “on light call.” If a doctor is expected to jump in his car and race to a hospital or other medical site, she is considered “on call.”

“On call” should not be the same as “at work.” If an employee works 8am to 5pm, he is should not be expected to stay awake all night waiting for the phone to ring because he is on call. Most of the time, a business has an employee on call after business hours in case an urgent issue arises; and not to keep the business open 24/7.

The pay for on call work varies.

If an employee is expected to use physical or mental energy for the sake of the employer during on call hours, then that is considered work time and the employee is entitled to on call pay.

On call pay also is necessary if an employee “is required to remain on call on the employer’s premises or so close thereto that he cannot use the time effectively for his own purposes,” according to the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.

On the other hand, an employee ”merely required to leave word at his home or with company officials where he can be reached” after his regular shift is not due any payment for his on-call time.

If you have not been paid for on call hours that restrict your activities or suffered from other on call shift problems, you could be eligible for compensation through a class action lawsuit.