I need to take my socks off to count all of my staff, but those that are down both nights and do weekends I can count on a single finger.
We have an on call system at work, I’m not involved in it but it’s not 24/7 it’s on for 1 week then off for 2…
So you don’t commit to running an activity the week you are on call, doesn’t stop being at the sqn helping with admin or training because you might get called away.
Our Sqn phone is bust, but it rarely rings so I’m not focused on replacing it. I get more calls to my mobile during cadet nights about cadets than the sqn does.
For some reason, from before I joined my current sqn, all cadet mobiles are put in a tub. I’ve been on 4 Sqn’s and this is the first to do that. But I’d have no issue with them having their phones in their pocket.
Taking the phones away does not solve the discipline / fact they get bored
When I do on call shifts the requirement is that I am contactable by phone immediately and within 30 mins of my laptop and an internet connection. I wouldn’t go to the cinema, but I have been for family meals, and still go to cadet activities as long as me leaving wouldn’t mess up ratios.
Working as I do in the Gas Industry.My engineers out of hours (inc my son) are on call from home.Whilst they dont all sit by the phone as they have mobiles it does seriously restrict their lives and they certainly cant go off for a meal or to the cinema.One utility company in my area suggested to their workforce that when on call they could take their van with them to a social occasion if they were on call.Just shows how out of touch with reality most corporate management is.My union now has a case ongoing that all standby time should be treat as a shift and paid accordingly.There is a legal precedent for this as a Belgian retained firefighter won his case at the European Court.Also none of my engineers could wander off to a cadet night as they have to be in work uniform and get to incidents within an hour.
Sounds like you’ve never done on call, normal life goes on with modifications and for me £450 a day is quite reasonable to be on-call, I think. I go out, eat go to the cinema shop etc.
@themajor The fact they get bored or say they are bored has nothing to do with phones and phones should not be regarded like many parents see them as 21st century dummy for teenagers and younger to keep them quiet.
Who knows if the activity falls flat they could do something radical like talk to each other with words and actions, rather than via some device or other.
I think the word bored gets bandied around as it seems the younger generations lack the imagination to see beyond their devices for entertainment. I like getting bored as it stimulates me to look for something to do, which ranges from watching TV, listening to the radio, read a book, do a crossword etc, if I’m at work I mess around trying different ways of doing things.
But I don’t ask my wife if she has something for me to do.
@bob Never have and never will. The job I do would never have a need to be on call.
One of my staff has on call responsibilities. If they feel they can make it down during one of these, great, we just ensure they are effectively a spare hand or can immediately stop whatever Cadet thing they are doing and attend to their call. Simples.
I think we have to remember that on call means different things and affects different people in different ways, so cannot apply a one size fits all solution to any staff who have an on call duty. What we don’t want to do is drive them away from the organisation just because we cannot / do not want to be pragmatic and sensible with what they do at Squadron etc.
You just would never have the buzz, of getting to our base, meeting up with my colleagues and our flight crew (brilliant guys) loading the aircraft and jetting off to a destination somwhere in the world, to pick up a possibly seriously ill patient and get them home to their family.
It’s when you arrive and they break down in tears or their family do as they know you are going to try at get their family member back to where ever their home is.
I do on-call for work and am required to answer the phone if it rings. That does mean looking at it when it makes a noise so that I can see if I have to answer it or not. I still attend parade nights and such because it is something I enjoy and I don’t see why I should have to stop doing it for work. It is actually quite rare for us to actually be called out so I’m not going to stop my life just for my employer, but at the same time I do need to be able to fulfill my end of the contract. That means my phone stays on me and is not on silent.
my wife has a job which requires “on call” and although means we stick to a smaller radius (within 20 minutes of work) on those weekends we still very much go out and see friends knowing there is a potential I will get stranded as the car is taken - but its never too far for me to walk home or have our friends drop me off - they understand
After reading a number of comments I’m approaching this in a slightly different angle…
[quote=“Teflon, post:8, topic:6787”]
How many jobs are there where you have a respond immediately to the phone every single time it makes a noise
[/quote] - You mean like being a parent?
I’m a single parent, my daughter stays with my mum on a Parade night and without their support, I could not attend parade nights or weekend excursions.
If my phone rings and it’s my mum or dad and they say there is an issue whether that be that they’re unwell or my daughter is I would be out of the door in a shot, but I imagine all CFAV’s that are parents would do the same if their partner rang, so if this is the case how on earth can any of us actually be a part of the organisation with the fact we may have to leave at a moments notice ???
Granted my comment is not about Work Commitments how ever having a life and family outside of the Corps is still a commitment.
I’m sure there are some old schoolers here who think male staff shouldn’t be running off in that situation and should just leave it to the women. I know there are some of them at work.
It would depend on the situation. My wife gave up working to raise the children because that’s what she felt was best all round. It worked as if there was a problem she dealt with it and we didn’t have problems with this arrangement. I work with women who work and they disappear at all sorts of times if they get a call from the school or nursery and invariably only do part-time. They then moan as they are spending as much if not more than they earn on childcare and other things.
I wrote a massive rant but then realised it was you that i was typing to…
The situation is that there are hundreds if not thousands of single parents that volunteer in the Corps that would leave Sqn / Camp etc IF they had an emergency call that their child was unwell, the same would happen if I was at work, there’s not contractual obligation it’s just what we do.
There are hundreds if not thousands of proffesionals that are contractly obligated to be on call be it on a rolling rota or 24/7. They give what time they can within the constraints of outside obligations, they also tend to plan the best they can around being on call.
Without all of these people RAFAC would not close down completely but I guarantee Squadrons would close due to lack of support. We all give the amount of time that we can to do the best for the cadets, nothing else! be it 1 parade night a month or every parade night, weekend and camp possible. We give what we can fitting it around our lives the best we can, so should we leave because we have other responsibilities outside of cadets ? or should we never of joined in the first place?
It’s a pity that HQAC don’t realise that as well then isn’t it. Where does this get highlighted so that things are regarded as being quite so rosy when those in charge are looking at staff numbers. I think a matrix of potential pitfalls to attendance and doing things should be produced and shown on SMS staff records.
No it just occurred to me, given that people are flagging all manner of problems around this and it would be a useful metric to appear om SMS and the stats reports on numbers of staff.
It could be linked to a calendar and you could show holidays, shift patterns, on call patterns and have one for parent and child of ageing parents.