Dear Lee – The Pager Isn't a Perk

I recently started a new job in recruitment. In my first week they gave me a cell phone and a pager. I thought it was just a perk, but it's turning into anything but! It seems like my employer expects me to be on call 24/7. Other than just turning them off – and risk upsetting my boss – how do I draw the boundary between working hours and my own?

Sincerely,

Want to Pitch the Pager!

This is one of the major problems with cell phones and pagers. People can contact you whenever they feel like it … unless, like me, you choose not to own them.

Did you know that you might be expected to be available after hours? Or is it that you didn't expect to have to be available so much? And is this just a particularly busy time?

If you knew there might be some on call work, but the amount was not specified, and the current demand on your time is excessive and isn't due to a temporary crisis, then talk to your boss. Perhaps the previous recruiter was willing to be available 24/7, and your boss is used to calling at all hours of the night. Suggest a system where you're only contacted in the case of an emergency, and work together to clearly define what an emergency is, e.g., a candidate en route to your facility has missed his/her connecting flight. Or suggest that you will be available by cell/pager during specific times, e.g., within two hours of leaving the office, or Sunday afternoons, etc.

If, on the other hand, the position requires that you are on call after hours, and you knew this before you took the position, then – short of quitting – you're just going to have to deal with it.