The on-call app for your schedule
On-call duty (Rufbereitschaft) means staying reachable while choosing where to spend the time. Under German working-time law it is therefore usually rest time — the actual call-out becomes working time, and in individual cases the whole standby period does, if the constraints significantly restrict how freely the time can be used (CJEU C-580/19). What is typically proportional is the pay, not the working time. An on-call app therefore needs two things: a standby window that spans the change of day, and the agreed valuation. vigotime does both in the same schedule that holds the shifts. These notes do not replace legal advice.
On-call duty in vigotime
spans the change of day
0–100 % per standby type
in the same schedule
on-call ≠ on-site standby
Why on-call duty needs its own rules
Standby lives in a second list next to the schedule – nobody sees both together
One plan: shifts and standby side by side, checked against the same configured rules
The night counts either as a full working day or not at all – both are too crude for valuation
A valuation factor per standby type: mere availability, proportional or full
Standby across midnight falls apart into two entries
One window across the change of day, so the gross duration stays correct
On-call duty and on-site standby are treated as the same thing
Two standby types, each with its own window and its own valuation factor
On-call duty: app instead of list
| With vigotime | Spreadsheet or paper plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | In the schedule, checked against configured rules | Separate list, no checks |
| Valuation | Factor 0–100 % per standby type | Flat rate or nothing |
| Change of day | One window across midnight | Two entries, error prone |
| Visibility | Shown as a code in the personal plan | Only the planner knows the list |
Can you beat the schedule?
Staff a mini week with early, late and night shifts — then see what automated planning changes.
Early
Late
Night
Mon
E + L + N
Tue
E + L + N
Wed
E + L + N
Thu
E + L + N
Fri
E + L + N
Frequently asked questions about on-call duty
Under German working-time law it is usually rest time: staying reachable while choosing your own location is not work. The actual call-out is working time. If the constraints significantly restrict how freely the time can be used, the entire standby period can be working time (CJEU C-580/19). On-site standby at a location set by the employer, by contrast, is working time in full. German working-time law knows no intermediate category of “partial working time” — what is proportional is the pay, for example under a collective agreement. These notes do not replace legal advice.
It reflects the share at which a standby type is valued in your organisation: 0 per cent for mere availability, an intermediate value for a collectively agreed flat rate, 100 per cent when the time counts in full. The factor is configured once per standby type instead of valuing every single standby by hand. Which value applies to you follows from your collective or works agreement.
Through a time window that includes the change of day. The gross duration comes from the window rather than from a number of hours, so standby from 18:00 to 06:00 stays one entry instead of falling apart into two days.
Yes. Standby appears as its own code in the personal plan, next to the shifts of the same day.
Yes. Standby and shift are separate entries on the same day. What feeds into the configured working-time rules is the valued standby time — window duration times valuation factor, not the raw availability period.
With on-call duty, employees choose their own location and only have to stay reachable. With on-site standby the employer sets the location, and that time is working time in full. In vigotime these are two standby types, each with its own time window and valuation factor. Which category applies in a specific case is a legal question, not a software setting.