Call Stipends

Submitting Your Calls

In order to receive payment for calls, residents must submit a Call Stipend form with their monthly call schedule attached. After they are completed, calls can be submitted up to 30 days after each block.

The block dates, submission deadlines, and pay dates are below. Walkthroughs for submitting call to the online systems can be found below in the green gallery.

Reminder: Residents are paid per call, so you must submit a form for each call completed in order to receive payment. Only one call type may be submitted per 24 hour period. While you are able to enter more than the allowable call, you will not be paid for calls that exceeds the listed maximums.

Submitting Call

  • In-Hospital Overnight
  • Converted Out of Hospital Call
  • Evening Call
  • Out of Hospital Overnight
  • Weekend Day Call

Resident is scheduled to remain in-hospital for a minimum of 12 hours. Please note that as of Block 8, “immediately available” calls may only charge for this rate if the resident is scheduled to remain in-hospital for the entire duration of the shift.

Before Block 8 of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the rate of payment for a unit of In-Hospital Overnight Call is $120.00 on weekdays and $180.00 on weekends. Beginning in Block 8, the rate of payment for a unit of In-Hospital Overnight Call will be $140.00 on weekdays, $210.00 for a partial weekend (if the duration of the call is less than 24 hours), and $315.00 for a full calendar day weekend (the duration of the call is 24 hours or more).

An In-Hospital Overnight call that is scheduled to start on Saturday 8:00 am and to end on Monday 8:00 am, will be considered two units of call. 

Residents may enter a maximum of 7 in-hospital overnight calls per block.

Submission Instructions (New System)

When submitting an in-house or immediately available overnight call, please enter the beginning and end dates/times for your shift. Confirm the “I was” option is set to “On-Site.” Confirm the total amount of hours is correct on the right and that there are tick marks for both “overnight” and “in hospital overnight”.

If you have questions while completing the form, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.

A resident can complete 7 converted calls or 7 in-hospital calls, or a combination of the two call types, but the total cannot exceed 7 calls.

If you are scheduled for Out-of-Hospital Overnight Call but work more than four (4) consecutive hours on-site during the call period, of which more than one (1) hour is past 11:00 pm and before 6:00 am, the call converts.

Please note that for cross coverage calls, the on-site hours do not have be accumulated at the same site.

Before Block 8 of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the rate of payment for a unit of Converted Call is $120.00 on weekdays and $180.00 on weekends. Beginning in Block 8, the rate of payment for a unit of Converted Overnight Call will be $140.00 on weekdays and $210.00 on weekends.

Submission Instructions (New System)

A resident can complete 7 converted calls or 7 in hospital calls, or a combination of the two call types, but the total cannot exceed 7 calls.

When submitting a converted overnight call, please select “converted” under “I was.” Enter the date and times that you were on call, as well as the specific hours during which you worked on-site. Confirm the total amount of hours is correct to the right, and that there are tick marks by “overnight” and “converted out of hospital overnight.” If you have questions while completing the from, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.

Evening call must immediately follow a regularly scheduled work period of at least 8 hours, from 5 pm to 11 pm.

Before Block 8 of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the rate of payment for a unit of Evening Call is $60.00. Beginning in Block 8, the rate of payment for a unit of Evening Call is $70.00.

Submission Instructions (New System)

When submitting an Evening call, please select “on-site” for “I was” (Only on-site Evening calls are eligible for a stipend). Enter the dates and times for which you were on call. If your call lasted more than 24 hours, you should not be entering an Evening Call, please see the definition for “In-Hospital Call”. Confirm the total amount of hours is correct to the right, and that there’s a tick mark by “evening call.” If you have questions while completing the form, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.

Scheduled to be available for a minimum of twelve hours, but not required to be on-site. If on-site attendance is needed, the resident must go in.

If you are regularly scheduled for “backup call” and expected to remain ready to perform service if activated on the day of the call shift, you may submit the backup call as an out-of-hospital call. BEFORE 2022-2023 Block 8 only: If you’re scheduled for out-of-hospital call but are required to be available within 15 minutes, you are eligible for the in-hospital rate. Please complete an in-hospital overnight call submission. Please note that proof of the call being IA will be generally required.

Before Block 8 of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the rate of payment for a unit of Out-of-Hospital Overnight Call is $60.00 on weekdays and $90.00 on weekends. Beginning in Block 8, the rate of payment for a unit of Out-of-Hospital Overnight Call will be $70.00 on weekdays and $105.00 on weekends.

Out-of-Hospital Overnight call that is scheduled to start on Saturday 8:00 am and to end on Monday 8:00 am, will be considered to be two units of call. 

Residents may enter a maximum of 9 out-of-hospital overnight calls per block.

Submission Instructions (New System)

When submitting an out-of-hospital overnight call, please select “off-site” under “I was.” Enter the date and time of your call shift. Confirm the total amount of hours is correct to the right, and that there are tick marks next to “out of hospital” as well as “overnight.” If you have questions while completing the form, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.

In-Hospital call 8 am – 5 pm Saturday or Sunday.

Before Block 8 of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the rate of payment for a unit of Weekend Day Call is $90.00. Beginning in Block 8, the rate of payment for a unit of Weekend Day Call is $105.00.

Residents may enter a maximum of 2 weekend day calls per block, more if they were scheduled to work on statutory holidays.

Submission Instructions (New System)

When submitting a Weekend Day call, please select “on-site” under “I was” (Only On-site Weekend Day calls are eligible for a stipend.) Enter the date and time of your call shift. If your call lasted more than 24 hours, you should not be entering a Weekend Day call, please see the definition for “In-Hospital Call.” Confirm the total amount of hours is correct to the right, and that there is a tick mark by “weekend day.” If you have questions while completing the form, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.

Submission Errors and Issues

  • Editing a submission

    Resident Doctors of BC cannot adjust your entries, and you will need to resubmit. Please submit a new call form and include a note about the error in the comment section; we will accept your most recent submission as accurate.

  • Entering calls for the upcoming blocks

    Calls cannot be entered in advance because your call schedule may change unexpectedly. Whenever you, or another Resident, are sick, stays late, etc., you would need to update your submission, which would potentially lead to errors in overwriting entries. Therefore, calls must be completed before they can be processed for payment.

  • ER Shifts

    ER shifts are not not eligible for call stipend payments. Calls are scheduled on-top of regular duties hours. This means a resident who is entitled to an Evening call stipend has already worked that day for 8 or more hours.

  • Missing the deadline

    Calls can be submitted as soon as they are completed. The final deadline is still 30-days after the Block ends.

    There is a 30-day deadline for all submissions for the prior block; should you submit your form after this deadline, it will NOT be processed and you will not be paid.

    You may contact RDBC to file a late call submission application, which will be held for review by RDBC and the JIC several times a year. Payment is not guaranteed and will only be considered in cases of extremely extenuating circumstances.

  • Monthly Schedule

    Residents with a monthly schedule are expected to submit their calls by the 30 day deadlines as listed.

  • Never submitted

    Residents are informed about the Call Stipend process at New Member Orientation. Additionally, reminder emails with submission deadlines are sent out regularly, as well as posted to our website. We understand residents are very busy; however, Resident Doctors of BC cannot pay residents who do not submit within the 30-day deadline. If you missed the final deadline, we advise you request and fill out a Resident On-Call Reimbursement Form for the missed block for us to keep on file. All late submissions must go to the JIC for consideration and payment is not guaranteed.

    Please add info@residentdoctorsbc.ca to your address book to ensure messages reach your inbox, and review the Resident Doctors of BC website regularly for new information. You can also email us at any time to confirm what block we are currently processing.

  • No Schedule

    An uploaded Call Schedule is mandatory; if your rotation does not provide one to Residents, please create your own using a Word, Excel or Calendar with the dates, hours, and presence (on-site, off-site or converted) of your calls. Please also include the contact information of a supervisor with whom we can verify the schedule, if necessary. Call schedules need to be uploaded at least once per Block. If your schedule changes throughout the Block, you are sick, or take a call shift for another Resident, please upload a new schedule to reflect these changes, or make a note in the Comments section.

  • Weekend Overnight Call

    A call shift from Saturday to Monday is two overnight calls; please enter them as two separate calls as you are entitled to two payments. Please enter Saturday overnight, and Sunday overnight; this ensures you get paid for the work and hours you have done.

Stipend Questions

  • Corrections after a stipend has been paid

    Email Resident Doctors of BC with your employee ID number and a copy of your payslip for the call in question as soon as you can; the sooner you contact us the more likely we will be able to correct it.

  • More calls than pay

    As per the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC), which establishes the protocols and processes for the call stipends, Residents are not paid for contravening the scheduling rules in the Collective Agreement. Programs without an approved variance from the JIC will have a grievance filed against them for scheduling residents for excessive call.

  • Multiple call shifts in 24 hours

    Residents are only eligible for payment of one call type per 24-hour period. Only enter the highest paid call type, either converted, or In-house call to ensure you are paid the maximum amount of stipends.

  • Pay after Graduation

    As Residents are given 30 days to submit calls after a Block ends, payroll will not process the last call stipend payment for an academic year until mid August. Those Residents who are graduating on June 30 will have their last direct deposit through payroll around the first two weeks of July. In August, a cheque will be sent for your call payments to the address payroll has on file for you. If you need to update your address with payroll, please reach out to VCH Payroll and PHSA Employee Records and Benefits.

  • Pay dates

    On-Call payments are paid once per month. Please review the on-call stipend calendar. Submissions will be paid approximately two weeks after the submission deadline.

Variances

Variances are up to the discretion of the Joint Implementation Committee (made up of representatives from Resident Doctors of BC, UBC, and HEABC); this committee meets twice a year to review submitted requests.

If you would like to request a variance for review by the Joint Implementation Committee please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca for detailed instructions. You will need to provide this Form as part of your review.

Programs with approved variances are as follows:

 

Adult Neurology Dermatology
Diagnostic Radiology Developmental Pediatrics
Family Medicine – Kelowna Family Medicine – Nanaimo
Family Medicine – Northern Rural Family Medicine – Prince George Obstetrics
Family Medicine – Prince George Palliative Care and Geriatrics Family Medicine – Salmon Arm
Family Medicine – SPH Inuvik Family Medicine – Vancouver Fraser
Family Medicine – Victoria Gynecological Oncology
Internal Medicine – Obstetrics and Gynaecology Medical Biochemistry
Nephrology (VGH & SPH) Ophthalmology
Orthopedic Surgery Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Psychiatry (VGH) Public Health & Preventative Medicine
Urology Pediatrics (night float)
Family Medicine – Strathcona Dentistry
Cardiac Surgery Rheumatology (Adult + Pediatric)

For more information on variances, please contact schedules@residentdoctorsbc.ca.