QUARTERLY BEAT / JULY 2024
2. WORK SCHEDULE How many scheduled hours per week must the employee work, and beyond the schedule, how many additional hours will employees actually spend phoning clients, performing diagnostics, interpreting laboratory work, overseeing patient care, etc. What is the schedule for any required emergency work? Is it equitable? 3. DUTIES What are the associate’s responsibilities? May employees decline (without penalty) to perform procedures they deem ethically wrong? How much emergency duty is required? 4. COMPENSATION Is compensation a fixed salary or commissions based on the revenue generated by the employee and collected by the practice, or is it a hybrid system under which the employee earns the higher of a base salary or a percentage of generated (and collected) revenue (a.k.a. percentage-based compensation)? How are production bonuses calculated? Is there a performance bonus and, if so, what are the evaluation criteria? What is it based on? Is emergency work paid extra? How much? · National starting salary information is published at least annually in the Journal of the AVMA. 1,2 See also the latest biennial edition of the American Animal Hospital Association’s Compensation and Benefits- An In-Depth Look and the AVMA’s Economic Report on Veterinarians and Veterinary Practices. 3 Two periodicals, Veterinary Economics and Veterinary Hospital Management Association Newsletter, also regularly publish helpful articles. 5. EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Practices usually offer at least some of the employee benefits described below to their employees. The cost of many benefits (such as health, professional, and disability insurance, and qualified retirement plans) are tax deductible business expenses to the employer and are not · Pay attention to deductions. What will be deducted from employee compensation? Some employers deduct not only the employee’s portion of payroll taxes but also the employer’s share.
included in the employee’s income, resulting in savings to the employee of 25 to 40%. Not taking advantage of this juicy gift from Uncle Sam is wasteful. On the other hand, employees must realize that the practice probably can’t afford all the benefits they desire. One leading veterinary management consultant has calculated that small animal veterinary employers cannot afford to allocate more than 23 to 27% of the collected income generated by an associate veterinarian to pay his or her salary and benefits (due to lower overhead, the range is 28 to 32% for large animal practices). 4 · H ealth I nsurance Does the employer offer health insurance? If not, what does the employer do when he gets sick? If so, what kind of medical plan is it (e.g., fee for service, HMO, PPO)? What about pre-existing conditions, vesting, eligibility, deductibles and co-payments? · D isability I nsurance Employees at age 25 have a 58% chance of becoming disabled for more than three months (with an average disability duration of three years), so employees need disability insurance to protect their greatest asset: the ability to work. If the employer does not offer disability insurance, employees are well advised to get it on their own (after asking, of course how the employer, protects himself or herself against disability). · P rofessional L iability I nsurance PLUS L icense D efense Do employers pay the premiums on the employees’ professional liability insurance? · R etirement P lans Has the employer established a retirement plan for the employees? (Profit-sharing plans are the most common type of retirement plan offered by veterinary practices.) When do employees become “vested” or “eligible?” If the employer does not offer a retirement plan, employees will need to save on their own (and that means more than just the annual IRA contribution). · V acation One week? Two weeks? More? How many consecutive days may be taken? How much advance notice must be given? May unused vacation days be carried forward to next year? How are vacation days paid for percentage-compensated employees?
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