This answer always downplays what "on call" really means. Even if you only get paged once a year, if you're "on call" and the expectation is that within X minutes you are at a computer working, this affects the life you live. You can't go camping, out to a nice dinner, on vacation, etc without lugging a laptop, internet connection, etc with you.
I've heard managers often tout that "if your code is stable you'll never get paged". But that hides the fact that you're still on the hook to be available. So either you start shirking your responsibility or you reshape your life around some percent of non-working hours being owned by the company still.
I've heard managers often tout that "if your code is stable you'll never get paged". But that hides the fact that you're still on the hook to be available. So either you start shirking your responsibility or you reshape your life around some percent of non-working hours being owned by the company still.