Salary Rate for On-Call Technologists

Surgical technologists organize the instruments and supplies needed for operations.

Hospitals and medical facilities employ a variety of technologists. These important staff members have specialized vocational educations in various aspects of patient care and medical support, including sterilizing surgical instruments, assisting in surgery, analyzing laboratory specimens, taking X-rays and operating diagnostic equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. When a facility asks a technologist, or any staff member, to be available for work if called, it must pay an "on-call" rate for restricting the use of the employee's personal time.

Differentials

Hospitals pay their on-call staff a straight-time rate plus an on-call differential. Although state laws and individual facility policies vary, differentials are commonly $2 to $3 per hour. Policies apply to all forms of medical personnel, which means technologists of all varieties are treated the same as nurses, rehabilitation therapists and other patient-care professionals when it comes to on-call pay and procedures.

Base Pay

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2008 surgical technologists earned a median pay of $38,740 across the country. Naturally, technologists in different states see regional variances in wages. Michigan, for example, reported that in 2009 its median wage for surgical technologists was $38,949 -- close to the national median -- but that some were making as much as $43,909.

Example

A surgical technologist who makes the BLS-reported national median of $38,740 receives $18.63 per hour of standard pay. If the technologist's hospital pays a $2-an-hour differential for on-call time, then the technologist makes $20.63 when on-call. A fortunate technologist could make $165.04 for a day spent at home or in the local area without reporting for work.

Called In

When a hospital calls in a technologist, she moves from on-call status to called-in. Her pay increases automatically. Although state laws allow for variance, hospitals typically pay 1.5 times a health-care worker's standard hourly wage for time worked when called in. That means that a technologist whose standard wage is $18.63 gets $27.95 while working when called in. To compensate for the disturbance a call-in can create, hospitals often have guaranteed hours a technologist receives for a call-in. For example, Indiana University pays for a minimum of two hours to called-in employees.

References

• Indiana University at Bloomington: Pay Programs
• University of North Carolina at Asheville: On-Call and Emergency Call-Back Pay
• Woodley and McGillivary: Federal Employees
• Michigan.gov: Surgical Technician
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Surgical Technologists
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: On-Call and Call Back Pay