Etydhv

I work in IT and was recently promoted to a higher position. While I was okay with the responsibilities outlined when I accepted the promotion last week, today I learned it comes with 24/7/365 on-call to monitor mission critical systems. The first time I fail to fix it within 20 minutes, I will be fired. There is no rotation or anyone else looking out.

What the hell do I do now? I feel like I just got bait and switched and I want to go back to my old position. Frankly I have half a mind to leave. I feel like I'm expected to give my life to a company that doesn't treat its employees well. Am I being unreasonable? Is this just a fact of life for a career in IT?

"today I learned it comes with 24/7/365 on-call to monitor mission
critical systems. The first time I fail to fix it within 20 minutes, I
will be fired"

Then you have really nothing to lose. That's an absolute ridiculous and outlandish requirement. No sleep, no vacation, no beer after work, no private life ?

Go back to your supervisor and tell them this is an unreasonable expectation and that you won't do this. Offer an alternative suggestion that you are comfortable with (if that exists). If they don't accept, offer to go back you previous job. If you get fired, so be it, that was inevitably anyway.

What the hell do I do now? I feel like I just got bait and switched
and I want to go back to my old position.

If that's the case, you should ask for a one-on-one meeting with your manager and express your feelings about going back to your old position.

Don't delay. You don't want to wait until after they fill your old position.

If you got a raise with your promotion, be ready to give it back.

Frankly I have half a mind to leave. I feel like I'm expected to give
my life to a company that doesn't treat its employees well. Am I being
unreasonable?

It's up to you to decide whether you wish to leave or not.

Don't do it because you feel "wronged" though. Base it on the totality of the situation. Decide if going back to your old position would work for you in the long run, of if this is the time to decide to move on to a different company.

Is this just a fact of life for a career in IT?

No.

While being on call is pretty common, not having any rotation such that you are on call 24/7365 is not. You should be able to find plenty of other IT jobs that don't require this level of on-call commitment.

While I was okay with the responsibilities outlined when I accepted the promotion last week, today I learned it comes with 24/7/365 on-call to monitor mission critical systems

Was this in the job description in the contract that you signed? If not, then tell them that this is an unreasonable requirement, and you have no record of this being highlighted to you in advance through the job description or otherwise.

If it is, then you can still have a conversation with your manager, but be prepared for the "it was in the job description" argument. If this is the case, you're much more likely to have to work with him to find an alternative arrangement that suits the company.

In either case though, I'd start looking for new work. This was clearly not spelled out to you in advance as it should have been, and it sounds like they're trying to cheat you into the role. A company with no rotation on 24/7/365 mission critical callout is quite frankly insane (what if you're ill? On holiday? In hospital?), and from your experience clearly they don't value their employees.

This is one of those times when Gordon England's classic question would have been really useful.

When they sprang the 24/7/365/"20 minutes"/"no backup personnel" story on you, you could have had a lot of fun by sitting silent for about five seconds, then asking "What will you do if I'm in the hospital?", and then SHUTTING UP.

As it stands, I recommend, in the strongest possible terms, that you polish your resume' (CV in some places) and find another job, ASAP. I would not recommend trying to go back to your previous position with this employer: they've just told you everything you need to know about them. (I.e.: If they'd pull this stunt once, they'll pull it again. Or something worse.)

For the record, I am from Australia, but hopefully things are similar to where you are from. (Rather than prefix everything with "where I am from", I'm just going to state this up the top).

There are a few things I want to mention.

I am going to assume you are acting as an employee, NOT as a contractor, which would afford you significantly less rights, though in such a situation, the contract needs to be incredibly well worded.

I work in IT and was recently promoted to a higher position. While I
was okay with the responsibilities outlined when I accepted the
promotion last week

First of all, I would imagine that this new responsibility should have been outlined in your amended contract. You imply this was not the case.

today I learned it comes with 24/7/365 on-call to monitor mission critical systems. The first time I fail to fix it within 20 minutes, I will be fired. There is no rotation or anyone else looking out.

Ok, a few things there.

There is nothing terribly unreasonable about 24/7/365 on-call (with maybe the exception that there is no possibility for a holiday), but coupled with what is an incredibly demanding 20 minute Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR), this pushes the employment conditions into the extremely adverse territory. Note that even if it was on-call for 3 hours, 20 minutes is very restrictive.

Broadly speaking, there is no hard and fast rule, but if you are not able to enjoy your life while being on-call, you should not be on-call, but rather on-the-clock.

This would mean that you are effictivly working a single shift a year, for the whole year, with no breaks, at what is (probably) below the minimum wage. Employment law frowns down upon this.

In addition, again assuming you are not a contractor, they cannot fire you for poor performance. So, at the very worst, they can issue you a written warning for failing to meet the 20 minute target. Then they would be obliged to form a performance improvement plan for you to follow that includes training, and possibly simulations during work hours that would allow you to practise dealing with incidents.

They would only be able to fire you on the spot for misconduct. Not being able to fix an issue is a performance issue, which is different.

What the hell do I do now? I feel like I just got bait and switched
and I want to go back to my old position. Frankly I have half a mind
to leave. I feel like I'm expected to give my life to a company that
doesn't treat its employees well. Am I being unreasonable? Is this
just a fact of life for a career in IT?

First off, ensure you get everything you can in writing. If they have an on-call policy, get a copy of that.

You then need to determine what you are inclined to support and for what price. Are you able to do any on-call? What would work for you? How much additional money makes this worthwhile for you. Do not sign any contracts that makes you liable for not being able to resolve an issue, it may be outside you control.

Then you go back to them, say everything you've told us. Outline what you consider the options to be.

Though, you should really be looking for another job.

The first time a mission critical system fails, spend 20 minutes trying to fix it and then tell them that as they are going to fire you anyway, you quit, effective immediately. See how long it then takes them to rescind that condition...