Pay for time spent on call

Question: How should on-call hours be treated with regard to overtime rules if the employee isn’t actually called into work?

Answer: In all Canadian jurisdictions, employment standards legislation requires that employees be paid for the work they perform and employees who report for work must receive a minimum number of hours of pay. However, time spent on call may also be considered “work” warranting compensation.

In British Columbia, for example, “work” is defined in the Employment Standards Act as: "the labour or services an employee performs for an employer whether in the employee’s residence or elsewhere."

The B.C. statute states that “an employee is deemed to be at work while on call at a location designated by the employer unless the designated location is the employee’s residence.” If an employer requires an on-call employee to remain at a specific location that is not her home, the employee must be compensated for those hours because she is considered to be under the employer’s control. If the employee is able to remain at home, the time spent on call is not considered “work.” If an on-call employee is provided with a cell phone or other mobile device, the on-call hours are not considered “work” because the employer has not required the employee to stay at a designated location. But if the employer places restrictions on the employee’s location or activities during on-call hours, that time may be considered “work.” For example, an on-call employee who is expected to report within a few minutes of being contacted will likely be considered to be at work.

In Alberta, if an employer requires an employee to wear a uniform or monitor radio calls then on-call hours are considered “work.” In Ontario, recent amendments to the Employment Standards Act will require employers, after Jan. 1, 2019, to pay most on-call employees for at least three hours, regardless of whether they are called in.

Once an on-call employee receives a call, she is generally entitled to be paid at least the daily minimum hours set out in employment standards legislation. If the employee answers several calls that together do not total the daily minimum, she is only entitled to be paid the minimum. If on-call hours are considered compensable “work,” the employee is entitled to be paid overtime if her total hours trigger overtime pay provisions. For example, if a British Columbia employee completes an eight-hour shift and remains on call at a designated location for two hours, she will be entitled to be paid overtime rates for the on-call hours. In unionized workplaces, an employee’s entitlement will generally be determined by the the collective agreement. In the absence of specific language in the collective agreement, an employee will generally have no claim to compensation for on-call hours, unless her activities are sufficiently restricted or she performs work for the employer.