On-call compensation for network engineer Maine Missouri Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri

[mooseman1982]

I realize that on-call compensation is a very subjective thing, but I would like some advice.

I am a Network Engineer for a small telephone company in Mid-Missouri. I am in a 24-hour on-call rotation with two other engineers (week one is Mon-Tues, week two is Wed-Thurs, week three is Fri-Sun, then it repeats)

Here is some background info on my status:
Hourly employee
Overtime (1.5x) for any hours over 40 worked
I am NOT currently compensated for being on-call but I am compensated when I have to respond to a page while on-call on an hourly basis.

While on-call I am allowed to do personal things (within reason), but I am required to respond to a pager within 30 minutes (i.e -- no drinking, no movies, no uninterupted dates). I am NOT allowed to leave the 30 minute driving area around my home city while on-call. This response time requires me to be within range of my laptop and an internet connection (basically, it either tethers me to within 30 minutes of my home, or 30 minutes of my office). Responses may be anything from talking a technician though a process, rebooting equipment remotely, opening trouble tickets with a circuit carrier, or driving 200 miles to replace equipment.

Questions:
Does my employee have legal right to not compensate me for my on-call time, or should I question the legality their practices?

If I have any recourse, who should I discuss this with? (Direct Supervisor, Director of my Dept, HR)?

Assuming they should be compensating me, what sort of recourse do I have for recovering the lost income from being on-call for 17 weeks out of the last year?

[robb71]

Does my employee have legal right to not compensate me for my on-call time, or should I question the legality their practices?

Based on your description of facts, the wait time would not be compensable. In order for the wait time to be compensable, the restrictions on your time would have to be severely more rigid than they currently are. A 30-minute response time with the flexibility to do as you choose until you are called will not cut it.