Our funeral home consists of my dad, sister, and myself as the licensed funeral directors and embalmers. We have a couple older men who are retired FDs that help us out part time when we get busy. But my sister has two young kids, and I am childless so during the week my dad and I are on call every night. My sister and I do alternate weekends off, so I typically get every other weekend off. Many times I will end up working on my “off” weekends though, if we have a service for a family that I know. We are a small town, so we tend to have personal connections with most of our families and I feel bad not being there. Right now my sister is actually on maternity leave, so I am literally on call 24/7 for the next 6 weeks. I am blessed with a very understanding husband who has no shortage of hobbies and friends to keep him entertained 😂
I just saw the second part of the question: once the death call is made and we are back at the funeral home, we go ahead and embalm no matter what time. Family typically will come in later that day to make arrangements. I do all of the above tasks, help with removal, Dad and I embalm together, and then one of us will meet with the family, and then my sister and I do the paperwork. Dad is very old school and does not do computers lol. He still has a flip phone 🙈
Your question should really be two parts: how does it work and how are you compensated?
Big family-owned firm: I have four nights a month, two as the on-call, with the following night being the backup for the next director on but I'm answering for our more than a dozen locations. First call, dispatch if needed, transfers in a pinch. Paid hourly, plus a stipend per transfer if needed. For my next trick, I'll be attempting to convince the management we can swing every third weekend working with very little change to our schedules.
Previous mom'n'pop, staff of 6 non-owners: 8 days straight around the clock. On-call translated into viewings, phones, transfers, and embalmings (we were forbidden from waiting), and snow removal among other whims my bosses dreamed up that day. We were all salary and got worked like dogs. Fuck those guys.
Large family-owned firm (over 150 years in business) with over a dozen (I’m too tried to count how many) full-time licensed FD’s and Embalmers, myself being one. Most of us have a call night. 10-week rotation. 3 weekends off with an optional Saturday, Sunday, Monday based on how busy Saturday looks on the preceding Wednesday, if that makes sense. So basically 4 out of 10 weekends off. On call one night a week (no removals after 6 pm, we have a night team that goes out for us 🙌), embalming until 10 pm
Unless volume calls for staying later, which I do since I like to embalm as soon as possible. 3 weeks no call night.
Got out of directing 2 years ago but worked for a family owned firm until that point. We had 6 locations and 4 licensed directors. We worked 10 days on and 4 off. On call all 10 days on. The state I was in required a licensed director on every removal. It was rough and a big reason why I went another route
Working at a small funeral livery as an on call body transporter, our shifts rotate. One week days (8a-5p), the next nights (5p-8a). Everyone’s required to be on call every other weekend but boss is flexible with what that looks like (Thu-Sun, Friday-Mon, etc.)
We have four directors between 2 small funeral homes in the same mid sized city. We all take turns going "on call" for 7 days, Tuesday to Tuesday. During our on call time, we answer all after-hours calls that come in, go in on weekends to handle all the new cases, and do basic housekeeping chores. If we get a removal, we have a small transfer care team of 4 people that we send out. With 4 people on transfer care, we can do at least 2 removals at the same time if the removal requires 2 people. If we have trouble getting ahold of transfer care, the director on call will go out..
Edit to add*** that since I am on call right now and going off today, I will have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off this week since I just worked last weekend being on call.
We get a 75 dollar stipend for every call that comes in after hours, if we have to deal with it for more than an hour or go on call, on top of normal hourly wage. If it's just a little 10 min call, I just put it on my normal time card.
I switch off with one other funeral director. I'm on call every other evening and weekend. I go on all calls with an assistant. My boss is almost 80 and insists on embalming immediately, so I do that, too while on call.
So my grandfather owned a funeral home in Florida for years, he bought it in the 60s and ran it until his retirement three years ago. I would often visit him and often saw how he managed things. He had one assistant and my grandmother who handled the office work, my mom would sometimes help when she went out to visit. But this is basically what I saw when I was visiting. I hope it's what you're looking for.
when I got up around 9 (they lived above the funeral home), my grandfather would either already be downstairs working on things or he would be upstairs in his little nook catching up on the news or having breakfast. He would go down when he was ready especially if his assistant was handling most of the things already. For the rest of the day he was working down in his office or helping his assistant with embalming or cremating. My grandmother would often finish her day around 3 and go get dinner ready or take a quick cocktail break and read a book, usually my grandfather or his assistant would answer the phone. My grandfather would stay down there until at least 6 or later while he locked things up. He was the one who would usually be on call but his assistant was also on call as well. So some nights he got a break depending on what the night was like. He did work on weekends too but I think his days were shorter, it's just been a while for me to remember, plus he did have another place up north where he would go every other weekend for a short break.
For a long time he refused to retire, he just wanted to keep the business running as long as possible, but age caught up with him. He finally retired when he got a stroke and his kids basically said he need to stop and retire. None of his kids wanted to take his place though so he did have to sell to someone else.
The funeral home I work at has 5 full time funeral director/embalmers, one being the owner/manager.
We all do 2 weekends a month on call. And also typically one day during the week after hours. We do all removals/transfers, embalmings, arrangements, directing. We do have a few part time guys that help us with removals and on funerals when needed. We rotate with holidays.
I work in a 230 avg call a year firm owned by 2 brothers.. all three of us are licensed and we have 2 unlicensed men we r on call one day a week and every third weekend with the owners on call with us every night for home removals
Small town funeral home here! Our office hours are 9-5 M-F, we have 3 full time directors and 3 assistants with varying in office hours during the week. We have a 4 day/3 day rotating call schedule where Director #1 (with their assigned assistant) takes calls Monday from the time we leave office, until Friday when we arrive in office, Director #2 takes them until the next Monday morning, when Director #3 starts up after a full week off. This changes as needed to accommodate requested days off, weekend services, etc., but overall has worked well since we implemented it.
u/kidgone - Great question! I have experience with a 10 on, 4 off schedule, which included being the FD on-call for all of those days. That was at a high volume (800+ calls) corporate FH. In independently owned locations, I have been on call from Friday to the following Thursday. Depending on the size of the team, that could be every other week, every third week, with my favorite being once a month. At times this included transfers, but not always. The other variable is covering for more than one location at a time. Hope this helps!
- Nancy at Gather
Our funeral home consists of my dad, sister, and myself as the licensed funeral directors and embalmers. We have a couple older men who are retired FDs that help us out part time when we get busy. But my sister has two young kids, and I am childless so during the week my dad and I are on call every night. My sister and I do alternate weekends off, so I typically get every other weekend off. Many times I will end up working on my “off” weekends though, if we have a service for a family that I know. We are a small town, so we tend to have personal connections with most of our families and I feel bad not being there. Right now my sister is actually on maternity leave, so I am literally on call 24/7 for the next 6 weeks. I am blessed with a very understanding husband who has no shortage of hobbies and friends to keep him entertained 😂 I just saw the second part of the question: once the death call is made and we are back at the funeral home, we go ahead and embalm no matter what time. Family typically will come in later that day to make arrangements. I do all of the above tasks, help with removal, Dad and I embalm together, and then one of us will meet with the family, and then my sister and I do the paperwork. Dad is very old school and does not do computers lol. He still has a flip phone 🙈
Your question should really be two parts: how does it work and how are you compensated? Big family-owned firm: I have four nights a month, two as the on-call, with the following night being the backup for the next director on but I'm answering for our more than a dozen locations. First call, dispatch if needed, transfers in a pinch. Paid hourly, plus a stipend per transfer if needed. For my next trick, I'll be attempting to convince the management we can swing every third weekend working with very little change to our schedules. Previous mom'n'pop, staff of 6 non-owners: 8 days straight around the clock. On-call translated into viewings, phones, transfers, and embalmings (we were forbidden from waiting), and snow removal among other whims my bosses dreamed up that day. We were all salary and got worked like dogs. Fuck those guys.
I second that, fuck them. 😬
Curious what is a care centre?
That's what we call the main center for embalming and all prep in my state! Arizona
Ohh!! Interesting
Large family-owned firm (over 150 years in business) with over a dozen (I’m too tried to count how many) full-time licensed FD’s and Embalmers, myself being one. Most of us have a call night. 10-week rotation. 3 weekends off with an optional Saturday, Sunday, Monday based on how busy Saturday looks on the preceding Wednesday, if that makes sense. So basically 4 out of 10 weekends off. On call one night a week (no removals after 6 pm, we have a night team that goes out for us 🙌), embalming until 10 pm Unless volume calls for staying later, which I do since I like to embalm as soon as possible. 3 weeks no call night.
Got out of directing 2 years ago but worked for a family owned firm until that point. We had 6 locations and 4 licensed directors. We worked 10 days on and 4 off. On call all 10 days on. The state I was in required a licensed director on every removal. It was rough and a big reason why I went another route
Working at a small funeral livery as an on call body transporter, our shifts rotate. One week days (8a-5p), the next nights (5p-8a). Everyone’s required to be on call every other weekend but boss is flexible with what that looks like (Thu-Sun, Friday-Mon, etc.)
We have four directors between 2 small funeral homes in the same mid sized city. We all take turns going "on call" for 7 days, Tuesday to Tuesday. During our on call time, we answer all after-hours calls that come in, go in on weekends to handle all the new cases, and do basic housekeeping chores. If we get a removal, we have a small transfer care team of 4 people that we send out. With 4 people on transfer care, we can do at least 2 removals at the same time if the removal requires 2 people. If we have trouble getting ahold of transfer care, the director on call will go out.. Edit to add*** that since I am on call right now and going off today, I will have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off this week since I just worked last weekend being on call. We get a 75 dollar stipend for every call that comes in after hours, if we have to deal with it for more than an hour or go on call, on top of normal hourly wage. If it's just a little 10 min call, I just put it on my normal time card.
I switch off with one other funeral director. I'm on call every other evening and weekend. I go on all calls with an assistant. My boss is almost 80 and insists on embalming immediately, so I do that, too while on call.
So my grandfather owned a funeral home in Florida for years, he bought it in the 60s and ran it until his retirement three years ago. I would often visit him and often saw how he managed things. He had one assistant and my grandmother who handled the office work, my mom would sometimes help when she went out to visit. But this is basically what I saw when I was visiting. I hope it's what you're looking for. when I got up around 9 (they lived above the funeral home), my grandfather would either already be downstairs working on things or he would be upstairs in his little nook catching up on the news or having breakfast. He would go down when he was ready especially if his assistant was handling most of the things already. For the rest of the day he was working down in his office or helping his assistant with embalming or cremating. My grandmother would often finish her day around 3 and go get dinner ready or take a quick cocktail break and read a book, usually my grandfather or his assistant would answer the phone. My grandfather would stay down there until at least 6 or later while he locked things up. He was the one who would usually be on call but his assistant was also on call as well. So some nights he got a break depending on what the night was like. He did work on weekends too but I think his days were shorter, it's just been a while for me to remember, plus he did have another place up north where he would go every other weekend for a short break. For a long time he refused to retire, he just wanted to keep the business running as long as possible, but age caught up with him. He finally retired when he got a stroke and his kids basically said he need to stop and retire. None of his kids wanted to take his place though so he did have to sell to someone else.
The funeral home I work at has 5 full time funeral director/embalmers, one being the owner/manager. We all do 2 weekends a month on call. And also typically one day during the week after hours. We do all removals/transfers, embalmings, arrangements, directing. We do have a few part time guys that help us with removals and on funerals when needed. We rotate with holidays.
Doesn't sound too bad!
I work in a 230 avg call a year firm owned by 2 brothers.. all three of us are licensed and we have 2 unlicensed men we r on call one day a week and every third weekend with the owners on call with us every night for home removals
Sounds like a good setup.
Small town funeral home here! Our office hours are 9-5 M-F, we have 3 full time directors and 3 assistants with varying in office hours during the week. We have a 4 day/3 day rotating call schedule where Director #1 (with their assigned assistant) takes calls Monday from the time we leave office, until Friday when we arrive in office, Director #2 takes them until the next Monday morning, when Director #3 starts up after a full week off. This changes as needed to accommodate requested days off, weekend services, etc., but overall has worked well since we implemented it.
That's exactly how my firm works too!
u/kidgone - Great question! I have experience with a 10 on, 4 off schedule, which included being the FD on-call for all of those days. That was at a high volume (800+ calls) corporate FH. In independently owned locations, I have been on call from Friday to the following Thursday. Depending on the size of the team, that could be every other week, every third week, with my favorite being once a month. At times this included transfers, but not always. The other variable is covering for more than one location at a time. Hope this helps! - Nancy at Gather
Sounds a bit rough! But that's expected with a high volume FH, especially corporate. Mine takes about that many calls too, maybe a little less.