Organisations require employees to be on standby for a variety of reasons – often to provide 24/7 support for key systems or cover in case of an emergency. Our new study of standby and call-out practice at 75 organisations shows that the majority of employers (81%) pay staff for being on standby and over two-thirds (68%) of respondents make call-out payments in addition to paying for standby duty.

Standby pay

Employers take a variety of approaches to compensating standby duty. They may pay a monthly or annual allowance; incorporate payments into the pay scale for the job; or set rates for specific periods of standby duty, with payments increasing according to inconvenience. The last of these is the most common approach and standby pay typically varies according to the day of the week on which it is required, with the highest rates paid on bank holidays. Average payments vary from £13.17 for evenings to £76.92 for designated bank holidays, such as Christmas Day. The average payment for standby on a weekday is £24.21. Standby payments tend to be higher in the private sector.

Call-out pay

Employees who are called out while on standby are typically compensated at the appropriate overtime rate – with higher premiums at weekends and on public holidays. A number of policies provide for a minimum payment period or a one-off payment for responding to call-outs. Rarely do employers pay both. Having a minimum guaranteed payment for call-outs, regardless of how long the call-out takes, is more common than making a one-off payment, with a third of respondents reporting that their policy includes a guaranteed minimum payment period, while a fifth make one-off call-out payments.  One-off payments are worth £35 at the median, while the most common minimum guaranteed payment period is two hours.