On call/out of hours (OOH)

To ensure PCI Pal is able to provide adequate technical support to its Worldwide client base some staff may be required to be "on call".

From 2 December 2019 the on call rates were improved to attract those who wish to voluntarily add their name to the rota, as well as greater incentivise those currently on it as part of their job role.

Please note that any currency is shown in GBP. US staff are also included as part of the rota, and their payments will be made in USD, paid at the exchange rate used by the Finance team (contact Shelley Allsopp for further information).

The terms below provide further information relating to the agreements issued to staff on 29 November 2019, and any new agreements thereafter.

Scheduling

The on call rota is scheduled on a day-by-day basis. Some teams will need to work a minimum number of days/weeks per year.

Pay

You will be paid £25 for each day (24 hour period, starting from 8.30am) that you are scheduled on the on-call rota, subject to the usual deductions for tax and national insurance contributions.

For any initial call out you will receive £25, subject to the usual deductions for tax and national insurance contributions. This initial callout payment only applies to the first call within the same 24 hour period. Subsequent calls will be paid at £25 per hour, on a per-hour basis, rounded up to the nearest half hour (without a further initial callout payment).

The CFO reserves the right to question, communicate and subsequently amend payments being made for subsequent calls (for example, if an issue is not resolved effectively and results in another call being made, this will be treated as a follow-up call, and not a new one).

Working scheduled overtime whilst on call

PCI Pal employment contracts state that over time is not paid as standard. However, there are specific situations where overtime might be paid - for example, when work can only be conducted outside of normal office hours, and is longer in duration than 1 hour. The OOH rota is agreed in advance there may be instances where the rota and planned overtime overlap. In this instance the following will apply:

Type of payment	Payable if working overtime
Daily £25 payment ("stipe"), for being on the rota	Yes
Initial call out payment (£25), for taking the call	No
For hours worked after callout	No (because you are already being paid overtime, and cannot be paid twice)

Performance

Whilst on-call you must have a laptop and mobile phone with you at all times, and are able to respond to the first call within 15 minutes.

Whilst on-call you are expected to be fit for work and must be free from the influence of drugs or alcohol.

You are expected to check the rota and manage any changes with colleagues in respect of any absence, either unscheduled or scheduled, to ensure that it is covered.

The Company reserve the right to refuse to pay, or to pro-rata the on-call day rate in the event of unforeseen circumstances preventing you from completing a full day whilst on-call.

It is your responsibility to ensure that any work undertaken whilst on-call, which is not automatically tracked on our system, is properly recorded and submitted to your line manager in writing in order for it to be approved and payment processed. Any falsification of records or dishonest submissions of on-call time will constitute fraud and a serious breach of this agreement which will result in disciplinary action being taken against you.

Honesty

The rota relies on the integrity and honesty of the employees covering it. Whilst checks can be made on call times and durations, PCI Pal expects all participants to accurately and honestly track and record progress. Potential breaches of honesty include:

Rounding up calls to receive greater payment
Taking longer periods of time to resolve or escalate calls
Other instances which may be questionable in an attempt to claim additional or higher payments

Applying to Join

If you wish to apply to join the out of hours rota, please email the IT Service Desk, stating which rota you wish to be considered for (1st Line Support, Incident Management, Platform Ops or Voice Ops). Clear reasons will be provided if you are not successful. Appeals against the decision should be made to the CTO.

Termination

If you are part of the on-call rota team your agreement will detail any opt-out clause if appropriate.

The Company reserves the right to remove you from the on-call rota at any time without payment should you breach any terms of this agreement. Any breach of this agreement may also lead to disciplinary action being taken against you under the Company’s Disciplinary Procedure.

The Company reserves the right to review and amend the terms of this agreement (including levels of payment), or withdraw it altogether, at any time without prior notice.