Workers Across Industries Earn Just $3/Hr for On-Call Time That Limits Their Freedom

Standby pay rates of $3 to $4 per hour are common across nurses, EMTs, utility workers, and tech employees, despite requiring sobriety, proximity to work, and rapid response times. U.S. labor law under 29 CFR §785.17 distinguishes between 'engaged to wait' (compensable) and 'waiting to be engaged' (not required to be paid), a framework shaped by the 1944 Supreme Court case Skidmore v. Swift & Co. A 1999 Seventh Circuit ruling found that Wisconsin EMTs required to stay sober and respond within seven minutes were still not entitled to full pay for on-call hours. Recent contract data shows the pattern persists: IBEW Local 1245 raised standby pay to $3/hr in January 2024, and a New Hampshire public works contract pays under $1/hr for off-shift standby. Critics argue that while workers may not be actively performing tasks, the employer's ability to demand sobriety and a fast response represents a significant restriction on personal time that current compensation rates fail to reflect.