On-Call Policy Template
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
- GuideHow to Design an On-Call Schedule That Actually Works
- GuideOn-Call Compensation Models for Engineering Teams
- GuideEscalation Policies: How to Build a Reliable Fallback Path
- ToolOn-Call Readiness Assessment
- TemplateOn-Call Handoff Checklist
- TemplateEscalation Policy Worksheet
- GlossaryOn-call
- GlossaryStandby
- GlossaryRecovery time
- GlossaryOverride
Opening the template editor…
Original 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]