Am I obliged to carry out duties not in my contract of employment ?

Question

For the last 7-9 years of my employment I have been required to be on-call on a rota basis to "man the phones" of an engineering company that offers 24-7 coverage. This has been seen as "part of the job". In the last two years, the company has been sold to new owners and I have been presented with a contract of employment which make no mention of a requirement to be on call. My question is, can I inform my employer that I no longer wish to be on call (for which I am not paid) or because I have done it for so long is it now seen as part of my job  ?

? · Answer

Yes. As everyone had pointed out, most contract doesn't specify what specific responsibilities are required.

Anonymous · Answer

Your employment contract generally doesn't specify specific job duties.  It may only list the title of your position and maybe not even that.

You can tell your employer your preferences, but they aren't obligated to agree.  I'll bet there's nothing in that contract that prevents them from firing you if you do not perform as instructed to.

As far as "not being paid" goes, you haven't given enough information.   If you are an overtime exempt salaried employee, you ARE being paid for being on call.  Your salary is for you to do your job whether it takes you 30 hours or 60 hours a week.    If you're not overtime exempt, your employer is required to pay you for all the hours you work including any time you spend talking to customers outside your regular working hours.

Tavy · Answer

A description of duties is rare on a contract. Why don't you ask them not a bunch of strangers.

Gert · Answer

Most employment contracts uses the phrase "and other duties as assigned" at the bottom of the document.  So, Yes.

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Am I obliged to carry out duties not in my contract of employment ?

4 Answers