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oncall.fyi

On-Call Policy Template

TemplateWritten by Burak YReviewed by Burak YLast reviewed 3 September 2026

Use this when your team has agreed how on-call should work in conversation, but nothing is written down that a new responder or a manager could read.

Placeholders

Everything in [square brackets] is a decision your team has to make. Replace all of them before you circulate the document.

An on-call policy is the document a new responder reads before their first shift and the document a manager returns to when the rotation stops being sustainable. It should answer, without a meeting: who is covered, who responds, what is expected, what happens when the first responder cannot act, and what the organisation gives back in return.

What this template covers

Thirteen sections: purpose, scope, roles, schedule, pre-shift readiness, response expectations, escalation, handoff, compensation and recovery, safety and wellbeing, training, review, and approval.

Before you adopt it

Two sections need real work rather than a placeholder swap. Compensation and recovery must be checked against your contracts and local requirements — this template describes a shape, not a legal position. Response expectations should state operating targets, not personal guarantees, because tooling, connectivity and human availability all sit between an alert and an acknowledgement.

Related

Template

On-Call Policy

Replace every [bracketed] placeholder before you publish this internally.

1. Purpose

This policy defines how [team/company] provides on-call coverage for [services/systems], how responders are contacted, what is expected during a shift, and how the organization supports sustainable participation.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

  • Teams: [teams]
  • Services: [services]
  • Environments: [production/other]
  • Coverage window: [24/7/business hours/custom]

Out of scope:

  • [items]

3. Roles

  • Primary responder: First person responsible for acknowledging and beginning triage.
  • Secondary responder: Backup responder and technical support for the primary.
  • Incident lead: Coordinates response when the incident meets [severity/criteria].
  • Manager/program owner: Owns schedule health, fairness, and policy review.

4. Schedule

  • Rotation length: [duration]
  • Handoff day/time: [day/time/time zone]
  • Schedule source of truth: [system]
  • Minimum notice for planned changes: [duration]
  • Override/coverage request process: [process]

5. Readiness before a shift

Each responder must confirm:

  • Contact methods are verified.
  • Notification permissions and Do Not Disturb exceptions are configured.
  • Required access works.
  • Laptop, power, connectivity, and secure access are available.
  • Current risks and recent changes have been reviewed.
  • Relevant runbooks and dashboards are accessible.

6. Response expectations

  • High-urgency acknowledgement target: [target]
  • Low-urgency acknowledgement target: [target]
  • Escalate immediately when: [conditions]
  • Create/declare an incident when: [criteria]
  • Communication channel: [channel]

Targets are operating goals, not personal guarantees. Tooling, network conditions, safety, and availability can affect response.

7. Escalation

The active escalation policy is stored at [location].

  • Step 1: [target], wait [duration]
  • Step 2: [target], wait [duration]
  • Step 3: [target], wait [duration]
  • Stop condition: [acknowledged/resolved/manual]

Responders are expected to escalate early when they lack context, access, authority, or capacity.

8. Handoff

Handoffs must include:

  • Active incidents
  • Degraded services
  • Recent deployments or changes
  • Temporary mitigations
  • Noisy/suppressed alerts
  • Upcoming maintenance
  • Known coverage changes

9. Compensation and recovery

  • Standby compensation: [model]
  • Active response compensation: [model]
  • Weekend/holiday treatment: [model]
  • Minimum callout rule: [rule]
  • Recovery after disrupted night: [policy]
  • Time recording method: [method]

This section must be reviewed for applicable contracts and local requirements.

10. Safety and wellbeing

  • No responder is expected to work while unsafe, medically unfit, or unable to access required systems securely.
  • Asking for cover or escalating is not a performance failure.
  • Repeated night disruption triggers [review/recovery threshold].
  • Managers review load distribution at least [cadence].

11. Training

Before primary duty, a responder completes:

  • Product/service orientation
  • Access check
  • Alert and runbook review
  • Shadow shift
  • Controlled paging test
  • Escalation exercise

12. Review and improvement

Policy owner: [role] Review cadence: [monthly/quarterly]

Review data:

  • Pages per shift
  • After-hours pages
  • Actionable rate
  • Escalation depth
  • Coverage gaps
  • Difficult shifts
  • Runbook gaps
  • Responder feedback

13. Approval

Owner: [name/role] Approved on: [date] Next review: [date]