[duxup]

I used to work a tech support job overnight. Some nights I'd take two calls.

This was expected for the reasons you noted. When there was an emergency someone needed to be idle in the first place so they could immediately respond fully focused.

[zrobotics]

Same story for me, they just needed someone available for emergencies. As long as I could respond when pinged, they didn't care what I did with my time. My boss came in one morning, saw I was playing Fallout 4 on my (personal) laptop, and just asked if it was any good. I finished a lot of books I wanted to read, and had lots of time for personal projects, but ultimately the boredom and overnight schedule were too much. I'd rather feel productive, personally, but for a certain type of person that job would have been paradise.

[duxup]

I whish I had been productive.

I played a lot of Civilization 3 and Quake 3 on company time.

[nprateem]

If you're available for work you're working. Only taking 2 calls isn't slacking. They're paying you to be available and so they should because they're impinging on your free time.