So Now I'm "On Call"...

Today my sup told me that I am on-call next week, and possibly the week after that. Low volumes, he says, are the reason. Anyone have any other ideas why? Is my performance really that bad? Are they trying to avoid getting me to the seniority period? We had four people on vacation this week, and now that they'll be back he says I will need to call in every night.

Volume always dips down after Labor Day. Something to think about: If your on call now you could be completely laid off after Christmas. I would ask around.

Being on call isn't a bad thing - it is a business reality at UPS. When the volume drops, the most senior people get to work. That is contractual. If your Sup put you on call, he/she may plan to give some days off, so you might work next week.

I would not worry too much about after Christmas. We always hire a lot of help for peak season, and the people laid off after peak are usually people hired in October, November, and December.

Proups do you think volume after Christmas is going to be more then right now? That is what it will take to put this guy on full time. If your answer is No then he will be stand a good chance of being laid off.

When I started for UPS in 1976 they had a position called "Casual Hubman" which is what I hired in as. I had to wake up every morning at 1:30 am and call in to see if they needed me. This went on for a month or so before I was "promoted" to part-time status. Don't think it is performance related... it could be, but volume is a bit lower from what I hear.

A

I wish I could be laid-off for a week or two, thats the disadvantages you have being one of the senior senority guys!!

The heck with calling in. Just show up at 15 minutes before your normal start time. You'll have people volunteering to go home if they're overstaffed.
pick me...pick me...

<font color="0000ff">That is what I was going to say. We had a situation like that recently. Instead of laying the new guy off every day our part-time sup would schedule layoffs a week in advance. We all pretty much rotated days off by seniority. pgraening...I would definately show up each day if I were you.</font>

there is no such thing as being on call. we had a driver who was told he was on call for that day well the next day he filed a grievance for the prior day because he spent the whole day setting by the phone waiting for it to ring and guess what he got 8 hours pay for it and since then there has not been another on call driver here.

Browndude do you think that is a good move if he hasnt made senority yet?? Be a good boy now. You have a whole career after to choose how you are going to be.

well i won't be setting by the phone waiting for it to ring.

I don't have seniority yet. I'm confused - one minute management is telling me that I'm progressing, I'm doing great, and I have a helpful attitude, and the next, I'm getting put on call.... it just bugs me a bit.

"I'm getting put on call.... it just bugs me a bit."
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You are being trained and given the opportunity to work at UPS. You, in turn, are giving your time and efforts to become a full time employee.

It will come. When the volume is down people are put on call. When people don't show up for work, they call the people on call, etc. I can understand your frustration but that is the way it is. You vent your frustrations on this board but doing so is a waste of time. Work with your supervisors and fellow workers to let them know how anxious you are to become full time.

If you vent long enough and often enough you run the risk of "getting an attitude" and that could be become a determining factor on your future full time employment.

I wish you luck in all your endeavors.

Kid: I don't know if he works in a Hub or extended center. That might make a difference after peak.

Clarkie and upslocal480 make my point about people willing to go home so there will be no layoff.

The best thing to do is show up and there will probably be a PT'er that will take a day off.

I work in a hub. Part-timer. I'm not disagreeing with management at all - I understand, low volume, people returning from vacation, it all adds up to not needing me. I just have to call them up every night to see if I have to come in. But I'm afraid this would mean I'm not going to get seniority or stay on...? That's the only thing that worries me.

This is my first week of college, though, so not having to work every night may be helpful.

I think all ups employees have one thing in common, "hours" we dont get enough hours, or we get too many hours. When you finally get one, you want the other. On call isnt fun, you have to put your whole day on hold. You will make it, hang in there, soon you will be begging for a day off.

if you are planning to be a full-time ups employee, why are you going to college?

If you are going to college full time, why not get an easy job at McDonalds?

pgraening: don't listen to those that would suggest that you quit college or work elsewhere. You sound like you will make a good UPSer.

As for seniority, look at a contract book. Unless your local supplement is different, if you work 30 consecutive days in a 90 day period, you gain seniority. You'll get those 30 days during peak, and since you work in a Hub, you probably won't face a layoff after peak.

Proups is half right. There is a blocked out period coming into peak where your 30 days wont count. I would ask your stewart on what is going on. Becareful here because you will get the "feel good" answer at this UPS board.See how Proups said you would probably not get laid off.( nothing personal Proups)You need to be prepared for what really could happen. Work harder then all the on call people and you stand a better chance, but have plan if things dont work out.

Some of you make a college education sound like a bad thing. Dont ever quit college, somewhere down the road something may come along or happen to you at UPS and you need to be in the position to find other work. You will never regret an education no matter what you are doing.

do you have a college degree? just curious.

Since you are curious, yes I do,amd working on doing online course to go further,since work isn't real helpful as to hours available to attend a university, whether or not my employer will pay for them. I was a full-time student when PT at UPS and gave it up since I got my "dream" job. But I realized an associate wasn't any better than a high school diploma. Cant hurt in the market today. There is nothing wrong with driving a truck and trying to better yourself, or driving truck til you retire. I just decided I needed to be prepared. Nothing lasts forever, and there are no guarnatees what you are doing today will be there tomorrow, or that tomorrow you will be able to do it. I just know what it takes to get even an associate, and I would never discourage anyone from furthering themselves just because they are full time at UPS. I do not want to advance at UPS, but anyone who does needs at least a Bachelors degree. At least in this area.

As the spouse of a 25 year UPSer, the best advice that I can give you is to stay out of this board/chatroom and others like it as much as possible. There is way to much negative talk here, and it only leads to a bad attitude. Stay with the company, work hard and keep a good attitude. You will do well with the company! Also, stay in school, you never know when that degree will come in handy!! If you work for any company for any length of time, you will have good times and hard times, good bosses and bad bosses, just remember that is the REAL world. And to all of you gripers out there, just be thankful that you do have a good job with a reliable company, with great pay and benefits. JMHO}}

RD0127....If the best advice you can give is to stay out of these chatrooms, What in GODS name are you doing here.Everything you said made a whole lot of sense except that comment.If what people in cyber land write on a computer affects the way you perform your job, I think its time to see a mental doctor.This site has lots of good information about UPS for the UPS people.If you dont like what you read, then turn off your computer.....Knowledge is POWER.....