Standby rate...how much?

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Hi Guys,

One of our clients is asking for out of hours support and we need to give him a quote. I don't have a clue how much to charge so would like to ask your advice, advice and comments from anyone are welcome but I would be especially interested in hearing replys from people who already do this as part of their job role and how much they get paid to be on stanby (also whether they think this is a fair rate).
So basically we are going to be supporting the customer from 5 -10pm on weekdays and 9-5 saturday and sunday.
This will be spread between 6 engineers so we would probably do a week each in turn, I was thinking of charging time and a half during the week if I actually have to do any work and double at the weekends, the part I don't have a clue about is the standby rate, how much is a reasonable amount to expect to get paid to be on standby (not actually doing any work). Would it be a one off payment for the week you are on standby, a rate per hour or rate per shift. I would really like to know what people are currently getting for being on standby so we can quote the customer a realistic amount,

Thanks everyone, hope you are all well

 

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We get 170 for the week flat fee. From half 5 onwards, however, it's swings and roundabouts, you may get 170 quid for nothing, you may get 170 for a lot of work. That's what the engineer gets, so heavens only knows what the client is charged.

 

I used to provide this for around £3000 a year / one week in three providing 24hr cover, so about the same as westernkings (around £173 / week). I got time back for any work at an hour for an hour (inc weekend and B Hols) using time off in lieu.

Just so you know I never liked the T&Cs of my on call working. I know other engineers who get a higher flat fee and then a call out / disturbance cost, then an hourly rate after two hours work.

I guess the cost is based on the SLA with the supplier and how much you want the work.

 

It depends really. We get a flat fee here too, not too dissimilar to WK. For that, we cover 7am-10pm every day (of course, a good chunk of that is in working hours, so it doesnt really count). However, we are almost never called out. On top of that, we only support one project and three apps.

You need to consider likelyhood of being called out really. If its almost unlikely, then it shouldn't necessarily be as high as if you are likely to get called out every day.

 

We get paid ~£260 a week for being on-call. This is based on 9 on-call periods in a week:

5pm-8:30am Monday-Friday (5 periods)
+
8am-8pm and 8pm-8am Sat and Sun (4periods)

On top of this, for every call we charge a 2 hour overtime minimum. standard rate during the week, time and a half Saturday and double time Sunday.

 

On my new job -which I'll be starting in march- they have a standby shift in the weekends.
There are 8 people in the team, so 1 out of 8 weekends I'll be on standby.

For that I get € 75 (net) each month, even when it's not my turn that month.
That's not a contracting job though, just a humble employee

 

We have an out of hours service and you get £35 per weekday, plus £35 per call you get and £65 on saturday, sunday and bank holidays plus £65 per call. So it can be a good moneymaker.