Can you be told to be on call whilst on annual leave?

[BerylStreep]

I am asking for a friend. She recently took 2 weeks annual leave, which had been booked months in advance. Just before she went on leave, her employer told her she would have to be available to take calls the entire time she was away on leave. She objected, but they insisted. She told them she didn't think there would be a signal, but they said they had checked, and that there would be a signal which for the phone they provided.

So basically, for the whole 2 weeks, she wasn't able to drink, had to keep her phone with her the whole time, and couldn't relax.

I think this may be in breach of the Working Time Directive, but I haven't been able to find a reference. Can anyone else advise?

Not sure if it's illegal but it sounds bloody unreasonable to me. I wouldn't dream of doing this to a member of staff who has booked annual leave. And I say that as someone who does sometimes need to be on call some weekends/bank holidays etc.

Yes, when I go on leave I usually tell my team they can get me on the mobile, but it needs to be a bloody good reason to phone. They don't generally phone!

But a good natured 'I'm at the end of the phone of you need me' is entirely different to being told that you must be on call, 24/7 whilst on leave.

It sounds awful to me - and I'm afraid I'd have switched the fucking thing off/left it at home and then said 'I didn't appear to get a signal. But I was in Outer Mongolia..'

How mad are they that they checked her phone coverage?!? Do they have a HR dept? I couldnt work for a boss like that. They need telling!

Is she paid an on-call payment if she is then it is a straightforward no. I researched this as I had staff who wanted to get a full days paid holiday and an on call payment for a Bank Holiday and HMRC said it is either or.
If she is not paid an on-call payment it will come back to her contract and what it says. It would be more normal if working on a time critical project to agree to check e-mails once daily. I have friend who works on a lot of time critcal government projects and is the most senior management this is the agreement he has. They only phone him if the sky falls in, this has never yet happened.

No, no on call payment. My friend is one of 2 people who have (extremely) specialist technical expertise in the local arm of a global company. It has been raised many times that they are under-resourced and there is a need to recruit - however the firm's response is to expect that you work / are on-call during your leave.

I think it was the fact that HR said you need to be on call 24/7, rather than, if we really need you, can we give you a call?

It really limited what she was able to do on holiday, and she just couldn't relax.

I would have advised her to refuse, and say if there is an urgent problem, ring her or email her and she will check her phone periodically and get back to them at a convenient moment.

I would ask to have a week of the a/l back to take at a time they are suitably resourced to take it. A/l is for rest..

It seems pretty unreasonable to me, after all, a holiday should be exactly that. However I can see the employer's point of view also, if your friend is absolutely critical to the organisation. But where was the other person with technical expertise - also on leave? If they were, that is bad planning on the part of the company. But if they were at work, they should have been able to deal with any emergency and let your friend enjoy her time off without the threat of getting called.
I have had many years of interrupted/cancelled holidays due to dh being in the Armed Forces and we are often restricted to holidaying in the UK because even if he's home, he is subject to recall and has to get back to base within a specified time period (eg 3 hrs/8 hrs/12 hrs depending on what's kicked off and where in the world he gets sent). It's got worse over recent years due to cutbacks. Much as I would like to tell his boss to fuck the fuck off and when he gets there, fuck off a bit more, unfortunately dh would get court marshalled if he ignored his phone. But I'm not bitter [hollow laugh emoticon]

You are legally entitled to annual leave, and while an employer can have some say in when you take it (e.g. not over peak production time, not when everyone else in the department is out, things like that,) they can't prevent you from taking it.

I do regular on-call. It does restrict your life (where you can travel, whether you can drink, etc.) It is not leave. I wouldn't mind if colleagues call if they get really, really stuck (though I make no guarantees that I'd answer at any point,) but people need proper breaks from work, and that's why you are entitled to annual leave.