On-call roster (in shift work): Schedule for employees who must be available to work on short notice.
On-call roster
A schedule for employees required to be available to work at short notice, typically in service-oriented industries. This roster ensures adequate coverage during peak demand or emergencies, allowing you to respond rapidly to workforce needs.
What is an on-call roster
This backup schedule maintains a list of employees who are expected to be ready to work at any given time. This can be due to sudden staffing shortfalls caused by illness, vacation, or unexpected surges in demand.
For example, in a restaurant, a manager may create an on-call schedule to have additional staff ready for busy weekend nights. Shift workers may be notified a few hours prior to their shift, leading to flexibility, but this unpredictability can also be challenging.
On-call rosters are invaluable in sectors such as healthcare, where essential personnel must always be accessible to respond to emergencies. A robust on-call roster system includes clear communication about how and when staff are notified, expectations for response time, and the method of choosing on-call employees.
What an on-call roster is not, however, is a chaotic or unstructured plan that leaves employees feeling uncertain or underappreciated. This lack of clarity can lead to resentment among staff and result in burnout. And this defeats the purpose of having a flexible workforce. Therefore, creating a well-thought-out on-call roster goes hand in hand with transparency, fairness, and clear communication to build trust and reliability.
Best practices
- Clearly define availability expectations for your on-call employees; they should know how quickly they need to report to work.
- Use a fair rotation system to ensure all employees have an equal chance of being on-call; no one wants to feel singled out!
- Communicate transparently about how shifts are assigned and how notifications are delivered; keep the flow open and reduce confusion.
Common pitfalls
- Avoid over-relying on a small pool of employees for on-call duties; it can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.
- Don’t forget to provide adequate rest time between shifts; your staff needs to recharge!
- Neglecting to gather feedback regarding on-call experiences can result in unresolved issues; always ask for input from your team to improve the roster.
How we can help
With many options available, not every tool is suitable for managing an on-call roster. We’re inviting you to try out our self-scheduling software, Zelos Team Management, which is developed specifically for on-demand rosters in mind. Sign up for a free account on our website to see if it suits your requirements!
Shift work glossary
- Schedule adherence
- Schedule lock
- Schedule optimization
- Schedule request period
- Schedule template
- Schedule transparency
- Scheduling conflicts
- Scheduling constraints
- Scheduling fairness
- Scheduling horizon
- Seasonal roster
- Self-scheduling
- Self-scheduling rules
- Shift bidding
- Shift differential
- Shift eligibility
- Shift Fatigue
- Shift marketplace
- Shift pattern
- Shift release
- Shift rotation
- Shift swapping
- Shift trade
- Split roster
- Split shift
- Staggered shift roster
- Swing shift