Do house-techs get paid to be on-call for emergency response min. staffing?

[housedude]

 We, house-techs at Millstone, just had our pay pulled without notice. It is a loss of between $6000 and $8000 for us. I was wondering if this is a trend out there.

[scotoma]

No

[housedude]

Scotoma - No you don't get compensated or no it's not a trend?

[scotoma]

Neither. We never did get paid to be on-call.

[Rennhack]

Most utilities require those positions be staffed by salary people, who do not get paid extra to be on call.

[hamsamich]

I think places with a strong union might get a hefty chunk....but mostly a buck an hour more if you are hourly, and more than likely nothing.  Some places will compensate if you lose hours because you are limited in weekly hours while others get more $$$$ during outage.

[tolstoy]

We, house-techs at Millstone, just had our pay pulled without notice. It is a loss of between $6000 and $8000 for us. I was wondering if this is a trend out there.

Yes, it is a global trend to get less for more. But that's all in perspective. Someone, in your case, the utility, is getting more for less.  But I have never been paid above my normal salary/rate for hours spent on-call as part of ERO or minimum staffing. That has always been part of my job description and presumably built in to my compensation.

[Bonds 25]

Man, get paid to be on call for emergency staffing, that sounds amazing. Here at Columbia, being part of the ERO essentials, we are ALWAYS on call.....well unless you're one of the (3) HP's that is already at the plant. Our shift compliment is (3) HP's on duty 24/7.....so we are betting that at least (5) of the other (22) HP's will respond during an emergency. Being the fatigue rule gets thrown out of the window during an actual emergency (which makes me wonder why there is even a fatigue rule) even HP's who just got off (12) hour duty can turn around, return to the plant and support the ERO.

[scotoma]

A little clarification. At VY, the shift crew was the E plan. The exempt employees were on-call in a 4 section roster. The union workers were issued pagers, but they didn't have to wear them home and did not have to respond (although management expected them to). The union asked for additional money to wear the pagers and be on call, but the company said "NO". Consider yourself fortunate that your company was generous enough to include you in the E plan and pay you as long as they did. The E plan at most plants that I know of do not pay anyone to be on call. It's considered part of the job. I don't agree, because they are controlling your time at no cost to themselves. I would have been happy to have made money staying sober within 1 hour of the plant.

[JessJen]

Man, get paid to be on call for emergency staffing, that sounds amazing. Here at Columbia, being part of the ERO essentials, we are ALWAYS on call.....well unless you're one of the (3) HP's that is already at the plant. Our shift compliment is (3) HP's on duty 24/7.....so we are betting that at least (5) of the other (22) HP's will respond during an emergency. Being the fatigue rule gets thrown out of the window during an actual emergency (which makes me wonder why there is even a fatigue rule) even HP's who just got off (12) hour duty can turn around, return to the plant and support the ERO.

The fatigue rule portion is to basically keep you fit for duty until that point so that you aren't already bedraggled before you're needed. I know I know, people love to argue that one, but that is the intent atleast.

[Bonds 25]

I know the intent, but the magical hour restrictions are pretty dumb. I get up at 3:40am to make it to work by 5:30am.....I'm consistently changing from days to nights....I work a stretch of 8/9 days....(4) 10 hours days....(1) day off then (4) 12 hour duty days. Yet, these don't trigger that magical number that some person in the NRC dreamt of. Plus it's backwards when you look at actual risk.

Security....most stringent, literally zero percent chance they ever have to display their skill and protect the plant from attack.

Operations, Chemistry, HP.....second most restricted, not sure why HP and Chemistry get lumped into this category. Operations is understandable.....they can actually SCRAM the plant or cause damage to safety systems.

Mech.....least restricted, yet they do the majority of the work involving heavy lifting, working on valves and other various jobs that involve a serious industrial hazard.

Contractor craft, unless they are working on a "safety system", they literally have no restrictions. Yeah....guys moving heavy stuff, welding, building scaffold.....they can and will work 20+ days straight during outage.

I've been off work for 4 straight days during my long change....yet I was still unavailable for overtime because of what I worked the previous 5 weeks. Unless you are gonna monitor what individuals do after their shift, the fatigue rule is nothing but an unnecessary pain in the ass. If the fatigue rule was based on personal safety I wouldn't have an issue with it, but it is not.

[scotoma]

This thread is not "fatigue rule". It is "do you get paid to be on-call".

[hamsamich]

He's from NY AND Washington state so....you know.....

[Bonds 25]

This thread is not "fatigue rule". It is "do you get paid to be on-call".

Oh, forgive me for giving my opinion on something (the fatigue rule) when I'm replied to that goes hand in hand with ERO.

[SCMasterchef]

 ???I've been in this business for over 45 years, primarily in HP and have never been in house and got paid for my ERO requirements.  In all cases, that I am familiar with, it is part of the hiring package that is given.  The expectation is identified that as a house person you are expected to respond to ERO requirements.  Obviously, if you do not meet the FFD requirements you are required to notify the notifying person that you may be considered unfit for duty and they make the decision on your reporting status.  Generally, if you have reported to the responsible person that you may be unfit then they will test you upon arrival at the site and make the determination.  Obviously, if you are in a manual/union situation and the union has an agreement which includes pay upon arrival for a given period of time then the agreement conditions would apply.  If your union situation gets you paid then don't complain take the money and run, if it doesn't then understand the requirements of your hiring agreement and do your job.