| POLICY NAME | POLICY NO. | APPROVING BODY | RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance On-Call Policy | BA423 | President/Cabinet | Business Affairs – Facilities & Operations |
| EFFECTIVE DATE | VERSION NO. | REVISION/REVIEW DATE | DOWNLOAD PDF |
| 15-DEC-2014 | 01 | 12-SEP-2024 | BA423_Maintenance On-Call Policy |
PURPOSE:
To ensure the University’s needs are met after regular work hours, on weekends and during holiday breaks in a reliable and timely manner.
POLICY:
Western New Mexico University is a residential community. The on-call program ensures that the after-hour’s needs of the University are met in a reliable and timely way. The WNMU Facilities & Operations regular work hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. On-call services are provided Monday through Friday from 4:30 pm to 8:00 am the following day and 24 hours a day on weekends and holidays. It is Facilities & Operation’s responsibility to maintain and operate the campus in a safe and orderly fashion. This necessitates employees being called back after hours to handle emergencies.
An on-call list is assigned on a rotational basis having skilled craft employees and general maintenance staff employees on-call each week.
ON-CALL/CALL OUT PROCEDURE:
All WNMU Facilities & Operations general maintenance trades staff are required to participate in the on-call program.
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Lock/Key shops
- General Maintenance
- HVAC Technicians
Scheduling:
The Office of Facilities and Maintenance will maintain a rotating schedule of on-call participants. The schedule will be issued on a bi-annual time period. If a participant leaves the University, their position on the rotation will be filled by seeking a volunteer. If no volunteer is found, the vacancy will be filled by assigning it to another participant in the same section on a rotating basis. New employees who started during the year will be eligible for relief coverage once their supervisor feels they are ready. Efforts will be made to make sure the same person does not work the same major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day).
- On-Call Duty: Monday 4:30 PM through the following Monday 8:00 AM
On-Call Participant Responsibility:
Each participant is responsible for providing on-call coverage for the week assigned to them on the rotation schedule and they are not allowed to switch their schedules without first obtaining written or verbal authorization from their supervisor. Employees are required to immediately review the schedule and inform their supervisor of any conflicts. The replacement person may cover the entire on-call period or any portion thereof. Each individual on-call will be available for work throughout the assigned on-call assignment. Each on-call employee must be prepared to come to work at all times and respond to university calls within 30 minutes.
If the employee is sick and not able to participate, the supervisor will designate a replacement for that employee until the employee returns to full duty. The replacement employee will be paid the hourly on-call. The person assigned after hour’s on-call for the Maintenance Operations will make every effort to determine if the request is an actual emergency as opposed to support maintenance. An emergency is unscheduled work that requires immediate action to restore services, remove problems that can interrupt critical activities or to protect life and property. If the request is given an emergency status, it is given to the appropriate staff for immediate completion.
“ON-CALL” – RESPONSE IS MANDATORY. Under no reasonable circumstances can an employee on-call refuse to respond. Failure to respond to a call and failure to call back a missed call or calls when so required is serious misconduct subject to disciplinary action. All the rules and regulations of the Universities Policy Manual will apply while an employee is on-call.
- It is the responsibility of the employee “on-call” to take the university provided call-out cell phone home. In addition, the employee is to keep the phone with them and the volume turned up to be heard at all times when they are on-call.
- It is the responsibility of the employee “on-call” to monitor on a regular basis the university provided cell phone to ensure that the equipment is kept in working condition, phone batteries are kept charged and to make sure there are no missed calls. If missed calls are discovered, the call must be returned immediately to find out the situation. A log entry must be made to reflect the missed call and the resolution. The supervisor must be notified immediately if there has been no resolution to the call.
- It is the responsibility of the employee “on-call” to notify the supervisor of any malfunctions of the university provided cell phone immediately.
The following outline is to be used as a general guideline if an emergency exists.
- Life Safety/Fire Emergencies – Call 911. The University Police (575) 538-6231 or after-hours emergency police dispatch (575) 388-8840 must immediately be notified of all emergencies as well as, provided details such as, what building, what room, type of emergency, etc.
- University Police or a student Housing representative will notify the appropriate person “on-call” of the emergency. If the issue is not a life safety or Fire related situation the caller can call the “on-call” person directly at (575) 538-1770. If the on-call person deems the situation a non-emergency and determines that it is unnecessary to come to the campus, University Police or the on-call person will notify the initial caller of this decision.
- Maintenance on-call employee reports to the campus to resolve the problem. The employee is to contact University Police and keep them informed of the status of the call-out.
NOTE: Always call the Facilities & Maintenance supervisor on duty for additional help, access, support, supplies, equipment or materials needed. The supervisor will provide Maintenance Staffing contact sheet in the on-call logbook that should be accessible to the employee on-call while they are on-call.
- Always try your best to make the caller aware when the problem has been resolved. If the University Police or caller are not available, the on-call person will need to make that notation on the log immediately upon returning to work the following day.
- On reporting back to work, the employee informs the supervisor that a call-out existed. A log is to be maintained and filled out by the employee on-call stating what the problem was and what should be done to prevent it from recurring.
Emergency call-out authorizers:
University Police, University Administration officials which includes housing, and direct line Facilities & Maintenance supervisors can verify that the call-out is an emergency and that a Maintenance Operations employee is needed. If any of the above-mentioned authorized officials deem that the call is not an emergency, the call will be handled on the next work day during normal working hours. The on-call person is required to make that notation on the log the following day immediately upon reporting to work.
Compensation:
- ON-CALL STANDBY – The University maintains an on-call standby system in which employees assigned to be on call/standby respond to calls in accordance with university procedures. Employees designated as on-call/standby shall receive one hour of compensatory time for each day they are on-call. Compensatory time shall be scheduled in accordance with the rules utilized for scheduling vacation.
- CALLBACK PAY – Employees who are assigned to be on-call/standby shall receive two- and one-half hours of pay for each time they are called in. If another call occurs while an employee is in call back status, they shall not receive additional call back pay but will receive the original two and one-half hours pay or the actual time worked, whichever is greater.