Can an employer (ER) expect a senior salaried IT employee (EE) to respond to urgent e-mailed requests over the weekend?

My son is in IT and responds to his employer on the weekend. I think it is the nature of his boss and trust. My son doesn't mind because he is respected for his expertise and knowledge. Anyway his boss is some distance away and can't get the answers any other way.

I think you just have to play by ear. If you think your employer is infringing on your time, discuss it with him. Why do you ask, do you think you should be paid for the time you spend answering him, or looking up?

Depends on the job, but IT people are frequently on call.

And the higher up you are, the more on call you have to be.

As a manager I used to get faxes at home in the middle of the night, cell phone calls over weekends and be asked at all hours to go in with emergancy

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Originally Posted by 2BBrown

Can an employer (ER) expect a senior salaried IT employee (EE) to respond to urgent e-mailed requests over the weekend?

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:rolleyes:My situation is similar, and like all good non union employment relationships. It is best to understand and agree to how, and when the employee expectations are to be met. The salary classification should as in my case have an agreed expectations of "off regular hours" contact and work performance. The salary should cover some sort deal with this topic. If not, you have the wrong salary agreement. It should work both ways to be successful, and stressful.

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Originally Posted by tickle

My son is in IT and responds to his employer on the weekend. I think it is the nature of his boss and trust. My son doesnt mind because he is respected for his expertise and knowledge. Anyway his boss is some distance away and can't get the answers any other way.

I think you just have to play by ear. If you think your employer is infringing on your time, discuss it with him. Why do you ask, do you think you should be paid for the time you spend answering him, or looking up?

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Thanks. The person I am speaking of runs the IT department. He is salaried, so, he would be paid regardless of the time. What I am concerned about is whether an ER has the right to call on the IT Director to oversee a weekend task, and, should there be repercussions if he fails to fulfill the request in a timely manner.

I learned that the Director was expecting his subordinate to do the weekend task, but the sub didn't respond to the Blackberry email message, and the Director learned about it when the boss wrote agrily to him stating that the job was not done. Unfortunately, this blunder affected a time-sensitive communication to The White House by our organization's President and Executive Director.

That critical a task? He's lucky he wasn't terminated.

Yes, My time determination was easy, anytime the President of our company called and wanted me to do something I did it, or I may expect to be fired. Very simple.

Cell phones were expected to be answered if it was his number calling anytime of the day or night.

I could expect to wake up to at least a min of 30 pages of faxes that I was suppose to review prior to leaving the house, and then talk to the company reps or the president of the company about on my drive into work.
** and still expected to be at work at the start of the normal day no matter which plant I was going to.

So it is an issue that at some levels in management you sort of sell your soul to the company.

There is no "free lunch" and for anything you get, position, money, benefits there is a trade off in time and effort.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

That critical a task? He's lucky he wasn't terminated.

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Thanks. Don't know how lucky he is. As soon as the damage control is done, management will be reviewing with him the situation, the mistakes made and their impact. Not out of the woods yet.