call out procedures

[madcowboy33]

Hello, we are understaffed and looking for a call out procedure that works. Any suggestions? Also does anybody know of a case regarding reasonable call out percentage. Our boss wants a 100% go figure.

[Electriceel]

First you put the boss on the call out list. That is the only way he is going to realize what goes on at 2 in the morning. Even if salary he needs some time out their in all kinds of adverse weather.
I know that will never happen.


For a small utility my thoughts are to start a rotation of jouneyman lineman or the equivalent if you are not classified as that, call out for a week at a time, call out man takes all the calls, after determining the problem he makes the choice of whether he needs a groundman or not. (99% of the time he is going to need a groundman)
If another hand is needed the dispatcher starts with the worker that has the least amount of overtime.
Should get at least $200.00 pay for the call out week, and a minimum of 2 hrs. O.T. pay for each call out.
Workers required to take 75% of their call outs when they are not the first one called.

Realizing this leaves a lot of what ifs. But it is somethig to start with.

[theweber]

[QUOTE=Electriceel;39534]Workers required to take 75% of their call outs when they are not the first one called.

How many call do you get in a year?
Requiring 75% is a bit much don't you think .


Brandon Robertson



For a call out week i can be set up on a half the crew this week half next week. On the call out list list a lead lineman first then the lineman,apprentice and helper (ground man). With all being listed in each classification listed with the lowest OT first.

For a broke pole you would call (1) lead lineman, (3or4) lineman , (1 or 2)apprentice and (1) helper or ground man.

For a bad transformer as before start at top of the list and call (1) lead lineman and (1) lineman.

[Daddyof2]

50% can get real hard to keep up with if you have any sort of family life.
Personally I work to live, not live to work.

[liledgy]

A % callout is a linemens worst nightmare. In chicago burbs we had 120 hands and about 260,000 people (not customers) in are county. 12 years later we had51 hands and almost 700,000 residents. The people tripled and the workforce was cut by more than half, 5times the callouts. A better way would be to ask management, how many hours overtime you want me to work per year. If youcan get guarantees on them not reducing the workforce or having minumum amount of linemen (not employees) per customers it may not be bad having a %. 30% of say 24 calls a year is very tolerable, 50% of 120 calls a year isnt.

[CHICAGO HAND.]

here is the web site that is set up for our law suit against our company putting us on call 24/7/365 without pay.

And the judgement so far has not been in our favor.
Dont ask me how we lost in arbitration and have been kicked pretty hard in the distict court.
I think someone is getting a nice cottage down in the Bahamas.
Corporate nazis want everything from us and more.
Good luck my friend.


http://www.exelonlinemen.com/

[lewy]

I am not sure how your system works, but up here we have an on call list, there is usually around 4 or 5 of us & it is for one week & you go on call around 5 times a year. When you are on call you are expected to answer & are given a cell phone. when you are not on call & receive a call you can refuse every time if you want with no consequences. we recieve around $300 for being on call.

[jolineman]

Be glad you get any money for being on call. We have 50% availability and we get nothing when we are on call. Our entire on call system is done by computer and you are really on call 24/7 365. It sucks. Our union is in arbitration right now to try and at least get the company to pay us something for being on call but so far it ain't looking good. I guess what the company really wants is for us to sleep at the building with our boots on ready to go. Nobody minds going out and getting the lights on but we expect a little respect and understanding on the companies end if you know what I mean. If we don't keep our % up for six months we get "positive Discipline" if you are on positive discipline already you can be fired! It is pretty easy to get on discipline here. Any incident that happens like a backing accident in a truck, an operational incident, or numerous other things can get you in trouble. It is hard to go the extra mile for a company that treats you like cattle.

[CHICAGO HAND.]

At the rate they want to fire everyone in our line of work I beter get an extra 5 gallons of gas for the generator.
f---ing corporate nazis.

[compression]

Jiminy CricketS - This thread is depressing as hell!

Unite! Stand Tall! Kick someone's Arse! Switch to a contractor!

Just stop all this nonsense. They can't keep firing people for too long can they?

I had a Bird Dog once up there that is a rep out of local 9, I remember him as Harley guy?
He didn't seem like the kind that would take this crap for an instant with out comin unglued!
I do recall he spent all day on the nextel taking complaints from fellow employees. After reading this thread I now see why. :eek:

Good Luck!

[madcowboy33]

Our process right now works like this. We have 15 line crews covering over 500 miles of line. A typical crew consists of a foreman, 2 journeyman and an ape. However we have so many vacancies we are left with several 3 man crews, resulting in journeyman being on call 24/7. At sign up foreman have to pick at least 14 days a quarter on a voluntary sign up:confused: 3 crews each week in the winter and 4-5 crews in summer. Our lowest man had 600 hrs for the year with the highest around 1200 hrs, and everyone is at least 75% on responding to calls, the company wants 100% no vacancies on sign ups and they are now requireing our foreman to keep a log on turn downs for a so called voluntary process. Everyone is getting sick of having to step up when the company does nothing to help us. I work for one of the largest utilities and they offer no competative sign on package, they wont even put you up in a hotel to come and test, resulting in hiring a great deal of shoddy, ratty linehands. Do you guys think we have a gripe? I know a linemans job is to restore power to the community, but damb whens enough enough.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Our process right now works like this. We have 15 line crews covering over 500 miles of line. A typical crew consists of a foreman, 2 journeyman and an ape. However we have so many vacancies we are left with several 3 man crews, resulting in journeyman being on call 24/7. At sign up foreman have to pick at least 14 days a quarter on a voluntary sign up:confused: 3 crews each week in the winter and 4-5 crews in summer. Our lowest man had 600 hrs for the year with the highest around 1200 hrs, and everyone is at least 75% on responding to calls, the company wants 100% no vacancies on sign ups and they are now requireing our foreman to keep a log on turn downs for a so called voluntary process. Everyone is getting sick of having to step up when the company does nothing to help us. I work for one of the largest utilities and they offer no competative sign on package, they wont even put you up in a hotel to come and test, resulting in hiring a great deal of shoddy, ratty linehands. Do you guys think we have a gripe? I know a linemans job is to restore power to the community, but damb whens enough enough.

You may very well have a gripe, but that depends on the language in your Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). If you have strong language, grievances should be filed. Here in New Jersey the company implemented a mandatory callout response policy contrary to our CBA language. We filed and arbitrated, we were upheld by the arbitrator with a cease and dessist order and a compensatory remedy that resulted in a $16 million award for the membership......

[Dbearman]

We have a really good call out system at our Cooperative , first there are 2 men assigned to on call duty Monday to Monday that take all calls and they get paid 8 hours of straight time for being tied down for the week with a 2 hr. minumum for call outs . If they need help we have a list with everybodys name on it from low overtime to high OT . If you want dispatch to call you to go to work we put a check mark by which day of that week we would likely be available . They dont have to waste their time calling guys that dont want to work anyway . It is still not mandatory to work even if you check the list but it narrows it down to the guys that usually want to work the OT . If NO one is available dispatch will start calling the other district for help based on the same list in that district . I have never been unable to get help so far and we have been doing it this way for several years . Bear

[lewy]

We have a really good call out system at our Cooperative , first there are 2 men assigned to on call duty Monday to Monday that take all calls and they get paid 8 hours of straight time for being tied down for the week with a 2 hr. minumum for call outs . If they need help we have a list with everybodys name on it from low overtime to high OT . If you want dispatch to call you to go to work we put a check mark by which day of that week we would likely be available . They dont have to waste their time calling guys that dont want to work anyway . It is still not mandatory to work even if you check the list but it narrows it down to the guys that usually want to work the OT . If NO one is available dispatch will start calling the other district for help based on the same list in that district . I have never been unable to get help so far and we have been doing it this way for several years . Bear Our system is similiar except we go wednesday to wednesday easier for most long weekends.

[necpoletop]

At Our Co-op Every Body Is On A List, Your On Call 2wks Out Of The Month U Got A Primary Crew And Then Secondary And A Third Crew,plus A Driver To Take U A Bucket Or Digger,12 Midnite Is The Latest The 1st Crew Can Work No More Doubletime Here They Say To Many Small Accidents When Ur Up That Long,then The 2nd Crew Takes Over.if U Have A Lot Of Calls Then Contact 3rd Crew ,broke Juction Pole,call Out A Bucket And Digger,each Crew Consits Of A Journeyman And His Helper The Drivers Are Meter Readers Or Grunts Starting Out,2hr Min 5hrs On Weekends per day If U Dont Get Called Out As A Driver Works Pretty Good No Complaints Yet.if Ur On The List U Better Answer Or Severe Penalties Will Come.

[mr1234uo]

are call out works by overtime hours. they call out the hands with the least amount of overtime to the most overtime hours. the hands that work over time will take it. if your boss not agree with it, i like what electriceel said put him on the list and call him.

[LIGHTSOUT]

Call out program works if you are properly staffed and guys want the overtime. If you are not properly staffed you should not agree to any mandatory callout system. Giving up your 40 hour week and weekends voluntarily gives up what unions had fought for in the past. EVERY double that you work saves the company money in compensation and equipment expense. there employee expense is calculated on an 8 hour day (sick time , vacation, medical ). They will never staff properly as long as they can have one man do the work of two. They must be punished for the lack of staffing if paying 1 1/2 is not enough incentive to increase staffing then negotiate double time for all call outs. You have to punish them for the lack of staffing that is why overtime laws were passed in the first place. stand your ground or you will become wage slaves. lightsout

[CHICAGO HAND.]

We lost are mandotory call out greivence. we must answer %35 of calls for evere 6 months.
Many of the us even hired a law firm and have lost the first round in that.
We get no pay and we are on call 24/7. Here is a link to the law firm and where our case is. There was no negotiation,They just forced it down our throats.


http://www.exelonlinemen.com/

[snatch1]

Our company has a rotating list. For one week the guy on top gets called first. After that week he goes to the bottom, then slowly works his way back up. No mandatory % (but they expect some effort)call reguirements. They can call a lower rated lineworker or ape if enough rated or 1/c or journeymen answer a call. We have duty on holidays for one week at a time. They go by the list and ask for volunteers to fill duty spot. If no one volunteers, the junior man gets forced. They seldom have to force. The duty guy gets a pick-up or bucket(choice) and a pager. Paid 12 hours straight time to hold the pager. 4 hour min call out before midnight, 6 hours min after midnight at straight time or time and a half, which ever pays more depenging on call. Rest time on hours worked after midnight.
Double on Sun, double time and a half on holidays. We can only work 17 hours in ant 24 hour period, with a min 7 hour break.
This system seems to work well at our company. They guys who want the money can get it.

[ivanho]

:eek:
Cowboy:
I know who you work for AEP... Am I right?
I worked in the western div. for two of the longest years of my life!!
I feel for ya dude!!



___________________________________________



Watch your top Knot!!!

[glovenlove13kva]

The company I work for they hand out beepers. They have one chief lineman,2 grade ones and maybe an equipment operator. Our lineman can work the diggers.How many beepers they hand out depends on the weather.If they need more people they go to the call out list. The list works by how many o.t hours you worked. The beeper sucks thats why I went to the trouble dept. Good luck with the call out.

[IN THE SHADOWS]

You may very well have a gripe, but that depends on the language in your Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). If you have strong language, grievances should be filed. Here in New Jersey the company implemented a mandatory callout response policy contrary to our CBA language. We filed and arbitrated, we were upheld by the arbitrator with a cease and dessist order and a compensatory remedy that resulted in a $16 million award for the membership......

Your right..the key is the contract language If your CBA states that the Union and Company agree that it is a 24-7 business then you ( the Union ) have agreed to cover 100% of the required work, regardless of what time of day it is. The method of covering the overtime should be set up by the Linemen affected what ever works best for them. The Utility doesnt normally care what the method is or how it is applied, they just want the work covered. And if anyone is forced to carry a beeper or cell phone you should be compensated with some form of "standby" pay

[Trbl639]

I'm a Trblmn...am on first call thursday to thursday.......on 2nd call when not on first............company requires trblmn make 75% ....crews members 50%......my percentage runs about 95%+, but I am single and in a small town (only 2 trblmn...nearest crew is 35 miles) and am old school, 2nd generation, and can remember when we didn't have this %BS....we didn't feel like we were owned, like now days...back then we were treaated like people not cattle..............no extra pay for stand-by..2 hr min., 3 hr between 11pm & 5 am... all call-outs are time and a half...no dbl time.....if ya drop below 20% they'll call ya on the carpet, and then give ya 3 months to bring the % back up...........think they give you 3 chances then 2 day lay-off.....next tie 5 day lay=off......next time SEE YA!

only way you can get taken out of call...without getting gigged is to take a day of vacation on yur off weekend or long weekend or be on short or long disability!!!!!!!! alltrbblmn have either a pager or company cell phone 24/7/365..........

[duckhunter]

We are on call every 5 weeks. We have 2 men on-call Monday-Monday, and a 3rd man on the weekends. You are paid $20 per day Monday-Thur, and $30 per day on weekends and holidays. On holidays there is a 4th person assigned to be on call. If more help is needed dispatch goes by the overtime list. One person takes home a one-man bucket and responds directly to 911 calls till the other guy can get there. Once they go through the list without enough help, management and contractors are called in. We are time and half most work and doubletime midnight to six am. The guys who bitch the most about management and contractors working are the same guys that screen their calls waiting for doubletime.

[Linewrk06]

We have a computer run system from a outside company. You don't get anything extra for being on call. Some lists rotate and some lists are based on how many times you have been called.

The line dept list rotates all the time for example if you are man A and they need 2 linemen and you and man B accept then the list would now sit on man C and so on... So if you work tonite and the list goes all the way around the next nite them you would be called again...

The service dept list runs red time green time, that is based on how many times you have been called, and for fill shifts you would call you off day men first. So if you are on the top then you would be called first on trouble for two weeks or until you got called more then the other men. The list changes every two weeks, of course based on how much you work.

The company makes you work atleast 33% of the callouts to be an employee in good status, if you aint got 33% then you are going to be wrote up or in trouble. But to be an employee in the green on you report card then you have to work more then 60% of the calls... Which the line dept guys have been called about 35 times this year and the service dept guys have been called about 40 times so far... Note most of the service dept guys calls have been fill shifts do to the shortage of manpower.

The only problem with the computer run system is that it does not give you much time to answer the call once the system calls you. If you dont answer quick enough then you will get passed and take a "hit."

[lewy]

We are on call every 5 weeks. We have 2 men on-call Monday-Monday, and a 3rd man on the weekends. You are paid $20 per day Monday-Thur, and $30 per day on weekends and holidays. On holidays there is a 4th person assigned to be on call. If more help is needed dispatch goes by the overtime list. One person takes home a one-man bucket and responds directly to 911 calls till the other guy can get there. Once they go through the list without enough help, management and contractors are called in. We are time and half most work and doubletime midnight to six am. The guys who bitch the most about management and contractors working are the same guys that screen their calls waiting for doubletime. Ever think of going wednesday to wednesday easier for long weekends?

[CHICAGO HAND.]

Once again we have lost a battle about being on call without pay.



FEDERAL COURT DENIES APPEAL IN ARCOS CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT
On April 3, 2008 the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed down their decision on an appeal filed in response to a federal district court decision to deny the class-action lawsuit filed against Exelon/ComEd on behalf of 2,500 ComEd employees for the implementation of its ARCOS call-out system.
In dismissing the appeal, the three-judge panel ruled on the two issues brought before them: 1.) Implementation of the ARCOS Call-Out system without stand-by pay, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act; and, 2.) Requiring employees to stay alert during a meal period, without compensation, to guard against job-site trespassing and theft.
In its decision the Court wrote: . . . the rules implementing ARCOS do not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act. The validity of the Labor Department regulation which was not challenged, provides that an employee who 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 is working while on-call. This may be true for some members of the plaintiff’s class, but obviously not for all or even most. The call-out procedure does not require that the worker stay at home or at any other designated location, but only that he is reachable by the company and the regulation we just quoted goes on to provide that an employee who is not required to remain on the employer’s premises but is merely required to leave word at his home or with company officials where he may be reached is not working while on call.”

[Bull Dog]

I don't think this problem is with out a solution. Heres the way I would handle it. I would inform the company that there are times when I can come in when called and times when I can't. Simple as that. If they wont respect that then another company without this arcos thing would be glad to have me and I would pick up my diddy bag. You need to be a man and do what you got to do been there done that.

[madcowboy33]

Well men, the management staff has implemented a callout system for us. It is a rollout list. Top 3 senior foreman start out the rotation on 7 day stents then it rolls to the next senior 3 then so on and so on, Friday through Friday. Journeyman are expected to work the callouts with foreman. If you cant work callout assigned then it is are responsibility to find a replacement(No exeptions) sounds simple enough, but here is the problem we have with it. It is not my job to find a replacement, This is a mandatory callout procedure for a voluntary process, We no longer get to plan a callout process around vacation but vice versa, There are 15 crews with only 22 journeyman, almost 1 journeyman per crew so a journeyman will indefinately be on call 24/7. Our manager wants a 100% response and most everybody is in the 90% with one low man at 76% and everyone averages 800 hrs a year and some get 1200. The manager wants at least 600 hrs a year and overtime equalized. They wont offer a competative sign on package to get new hires and we are one of the largest utilities so you cant tell me they cant afford it , We have over 500 miles of feeders for 15 understaffed crews with a lot of trouble.Some people may think we are whining but I think this is bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are done making this system work with nothing!

[mamaguevo]

Hey Chicagohand, what was the ruling regarding requiring employees stay alert at the jobsite during lunch? I'm assuming the suit was to require a paid lunch because by assuming responsibility for the jobsite during lunch the employee is not technically freed from duty.