Reachable is a product. Silent still counts.
The ask is not “work Saturday.” It is not “finish Friday.” It is not “park the brief.” It is not “join Monday’s Zoom.” It is: stay findable. Evenings. Overnight. Through a launch window. They may never ping. You still cannot sell those hours, fly, or go dark. Name that span before the ringer stays up. Pull the hourly floor from the hub (yearly keep, billable weeks, the tax buffer you entered there). This page does not copy that buffer and is not a 50-state tax table. Dollar marks exist so 5 × 8 × $90 × 0.25 is easy to read. Non-USD invoices belong on the hub. Build $90 on how to set a freelance rate if it is still made up.
Availability extra = days on call × hours of window you type × hourly floor × availability share. You type the share. Default 0.25 is a quarter-rate example so a thin slice of a silent span sits next to $90. It is not an industry standard. It is not “on-call is 1.5×.” This card will not invent that multiplier. Window hours = days × hours of window. Call-out billed = actual call-out hours × floor — full rate, not the share. A ring is labor. A silent span is availability. On-call total = availability extra + call-out billed. Type 0 share to eat the ringer. Type 1.0 if every hour of the span stays named at the floor. The card multiplies what you typed.
Worked USD: 5 days × 8h window × $90 × 0.25 = $900 availability + 0 call-outs
Preset: days 5. Window 8 hours. Floor $90. Availability share 0.25. Call-out hours 0. Window hours: 5 × 8 = 40. Availability extra: 40 × $90 × 0.25 = $900. Call-out billed: $0. On-call total $900.
That $900 is keep for staying findable. Five silent nights still cost the week. Confirm the number. Then leave the ringer up.
Same window, they rang two hours
Second preset: still 5 days, still an 8-hour window, still $90, still share 0.25. Call-out hours now 2. Availability extra is still $900. Call-out billed: 2 × $90 = $180 at the full floor, not 2 × $90 × 0.25. On-call total $1,080.
The ring does not cancel the window. The window does not swallow the ring. Two lines. Saturday labor that actually happens belongs on another card. A Friday squeeze belongs on another card. Stay here for the reachable span plus whatever they actually rang.
You were going to stay reachable for free
Third preset: same 5 × 8 at $90 × 0.25, still 0 call-outs. Availability extra is still $900. Eating the window does not make you easy to page. It trains the next “just keep your phone on this week.” The span still blocked other work. Name the share or give the ringer away on purpose — do not pretend a silent window was free.
Five neighboring clocks this card is not
Hours that actually happen on Saturday or Sunday — or after a day they already paid for — live on weekend-hours. That extra is weekend hours × this floor × a share you type; 0.5 there is a half-again example on labor that occurs. 0.25 here is a quarter-rate example on a span that may stay quiet. Do not paste a Saturday 0.5 onto “keep your cell on.”
The same job, fewer weekdays, lives on rush-job. That add-on is lost weekdays over the week they used to have, times job keep. A silent ringer is not lost Friday. Do not hide “be findable after the deploy” inside a rush sentence.
A live brief they froze, with Tuesdays left empty so they can restart, lives on pause-hold. Hold = weeks × hours/week you would have billed × this floor × a keep-share you type. A pause empties production slots. On-call tags evenings so they can page you. Do not paste a hold onto a ringer.
A standing Zoom already on the invite lives on weekly-call. Calls/week × hours/call you type × weeks × this floor. On-call is the inverse: no invite, phone on, they might never ring. Do not treat “we’ll hop on if we need you” as a free standup.
Typed hours after a quote that already ended at delivery — bugs and tweaks after ship, not a ringer — live on post-launch. Extra there is hours you type × this floor. 8h × $90 = $720. Not 30 days free. Not 10% of the project. A silent window is availability. A ticket pile after ship is labor. Do not paste a reachable-share onto “watch the launch for a week.”
0.25 is a quarter-rate example. It is not 1.5×.
The share starts at 0.25 so a quarter of the silent window is visible next to $90. Overwrite it. Type 0 and availability extra is $0 — you ate the ringer on purpose. Type 0.5 if the window should be thicker. Type 1.0 if every hour of the span stays named at the floor. This page does not ship an official 1.5× freelance on-call rate. It does not say time-and-a-half is the law for staying findable. Contractor availability is not employee FLSA overtime. You choose the share. This page does not invent a rate.
Window hours 40, floor $90, share 0 → availability extra $0; call-outs still at full floor. Same window, share 0.25 → $900. Same window, share 1.0 → $3,600. The share is yours. Not a rule. Not a hidden 1.5×.
Paste the line before the ringer stays up
Name days. Name the window hours you typed. Name the floor. Name the share. Name window hours, availability extra, call-out billed, and the total. Copy from the card.
- 5 days × 8h × $90 × 0.25, 0 call-outs. You asked me to stay reachable for 5 days with an 8-hour window (40 window hours). Availability extra at my $90.00/hr floor with share 0.25 is $900.00. Call-out hours are 0, so call-out billed is $0.00. On-call total $900.00. Please confirm that total before I leave the ringer on.
- Same window, they rang 2h. You asked me to stay reachable for 5 days with an 8-hour window (40 window hours). Availability extra at my $90.00/hr floor with share 0.25 is $900.00. 2 call-out hours at the full floor are $180.00. On-call total $1,080.00. Please confirm that total before I leave the ringer on.
- Eat the window. You asked me to stay reachable for 5 days with an 8-hour window. If I eat the on-call, I still leave 40 window hours tagged and I give away $900.00 of availability extra. On-call total is $900.00. That $900 is not a courtesy. Confirm it before I leave the ringer on.
Skip guilt, fake scarcity, and “on-call is 1.5× — industry standard.” A silent phone is not a lecture. There is no official on-call percent here. No confirm, no ringer. Saturday labor → weekend-hours. Fewer weekdays → rush-job. Floor moved → rebuild it on the hub before you name the window.
Planning numbers, not overtime law
Planning numbers only — not legal, tax, employment-overtime, or collections advice. No required 1.5× on-call rate, no statutory reachable-window fee, no FLSA overtime for contractors, no marketplace on-call schedule, no 50-state tax engine. Stick to the SOW you already use. If you need a line a court will enforce, a lawyer where you work writes it before the ringer stays up. Filling the card is not that line.
What you type: days on call, hours of window, hourly floor, availability share (default 0.25 as a quarter-rate example), actual call-out hours. What you get: window hours, availability extra, call-out billed at full floor, on-call total, one pasteable sentence. Dollars here; live currency and the tax buffer on the hub.
Rate calculator Hours that actually land on Sat/Sun Same hours, fewer weekdays Paused job, blocked calendar Bugs after ship, not a ringer Set the hourly floor
If billable weeks moved, reset the floor on the hub then come back. Stay-findable even if they never call is named here — share you type, not 1.5×, not employment OT. Actual Saturday hours: weekend-hours. Same hours, fewer weekdays: rush-job. Frozen brief, empty slots: pause-hold. Bugs and tweaks after a quote that already ended at delivery: post-launch.
FAQ
How do I charge a freelance on-call fee when they want me reachable after hours?
Availability extra is days on call × hours of window you type × your hourly floor × an availability share you type. Call-out billed is actual call-out hours × floor at full, not the share. On-call total is those two added. Default share is 0.25 as a quarter-rate example you can change. Planning numbers, not a contract.
Is freelance on-call 1.5× or time-and-a-half?
Not on this page. There is no 1.5× on-call rule here, no statutory time-and-a-half for staying reachable, and no claim that a quarter-rate is the law. 0.25 is a quarter-rate example you type. Change it. Type 0 to eat the window. Type 1.0 to name the full window at the floor. This card will not invent employment overtime or an industry 1.5×.
Is on-call the same as weekend hours, a rush job, a pause hold, or a weekly Zoom?
No. Weekend-hours prices labor that actually sits on Sat/Sun (or after a bought day). Rush-job prices the same hours packed into fewer weekdays. Pause-hold prices a frozen brief whose squares stay empty so they can restart. Weekly-call prices a scheduled Zoom that is already on the invite. Post-launch prices typed hours after a quote that already ended at delivery — bugs and tweaks after ship, hours × floor, not a ringer. This card prices the span they want you AVAILABLE — ringer up, even if the phone never rings.
What if they actually call me during the window?
Then type the call-out hours. Those hours bill at the full floor, not the availability share. 5 days × 8h window × $90 × 0.25 is still $900 of availability. Two hours they rang you is another $180 at the floor. Total $1,080. The window and the ring are two lines.
Is this on-call math overtime law, a 50-state tax engine, or a contract?
No. Planning numbers only — not legal, tax, employment-overtime, or collections advice. Dollar marks so 5 × 8 × $90 × 0.25 is readable. Currency and tax buffer live on the hub. Not a 50-state filing table. Not FLSA. Typing here does not write an on-call clause.