National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues - News Feeds

Staff compensation data and advice

• Healtchare reform: What it means to your veterinary practice
  New healthcare regulations mean big changes for veterinary practice owners. Here's a sneak peek at what's in store.
  
• The veterinary compensation conundrum
  How pay affects the job satisfaction of associates and others. Flexibility is a factor, too.
  
• Your employee rights were violated. Now what?
  Protect yourself and preserve a strong working relationship with these three tips.
  
• The Four Tier compensation formula at work
  Here's how the three owners of practice are paid.
  
• 5 facts about employee rights
  Many team members blindly stumble through issues of breaks, overtime pay, and family leave. Find out whether your practice gives you enough—or whether you expect too much.
  
• Cheaters may prosper in your bonus system
  Study finds pre-set practice goals for employee bonuses could lead to fudging.
  
• The new meaning of healthcare reform
  National Report — While sweeping healthcare reform legislation passed Congress, it will take until 2014 to create the infrastructure needed to support small business, experts say.
  
• 10 answers to your HR questions
  Test your knowledge of human resources and tweak your procedures to keep out of the doghouse.
  
• Avoid a wage and hour audit
  Q: Will a wage and hour audit happen to my practice?
  
• NAVC panelists address veterinary workforce trends, student debt
  Orlando — How insidious is escalating veterinary student debt?
  
• What's fair compensation?
  Keep employees happy and engaged with competitive compensation and benefits.
  
• Risks, rewards of commission compensation
  Some practices will benefit from production-based compensation packages, while others could be injured by them.
  
• Ask Amy: Part-time work for full-time pay — it's not fair
  Amy offers advice on equity in pay.
  
• Practice owners cut back on raises during this recession
  Many team members aren't getting raises this year.
  
• How to offer veterinary team members the benefits they want
  Ask team members what they want, compare local wages, and consider offering more time off
  
• Staff compensation: What's fair and viable (Proceedings)
  According to Benchmarks 2009, non-doctor staff compensation represents 25% of revenue.
  
• Helping team members be their best: Skill based compensation plans (CVC Proceedings)
  One of the most difficult parts of managing a veterinary practice is setting wages and salaries.
  
• Veterinary practices offer these benefits to team members
  A list of veterinary team member benefits by percentage of practices
  
• Benefits and pay: Making a slow upward climb
  While average earnings are up from years past, 2009 isn't a banner year for team pay.
  
• What do you make?
  Here's a look at average employee earnings by position and region. How does your pay stack up?
  
• How the new minimum wage affects your practice
  Minimum wage laws are changing. Here's what you need to know.
  
• Overtime rules for veterinary practices
  Operate by the book when it comes to the Fair Labor Standards Act
  
• Should technicians earn $70K?
  Here's what a few experts think.
  
• Shawn McVey's two cents
  Shawn McVey says a $70,000 salary is possible.
  
• Production-based pay: An economic necessity
  Our immediate future is about 80 watts short of bright.
  
• Past NAVTA president speaks up
  Julie Legred, CVT, talks about the overwhelming need for veterinary technicians.
  
• Dr. Karen E. Felsted responds
  NCVEI CEO, Dr. Karen E. Felsted, responds to CBS's claim that technicians can earn $70,000 a year.
  
• Stimulus plan brings COBRA changes
  Government is subsidizing premiums, but employers pay up front
  
• Audio tip: How salaries relate to overhead costs
  Practice management consultant Shelia Grosdidier, RVT, explains the relationship between overhead costs and employee salaries.
  
• Raises out, bonuses in
  If you can't afford to give raises, use bonuses to keep employees happy.
  
• 5 ways to avoid layoffs
  Think twice before laying off good employees.
  
• Forecast: Salary outlook not grim, not great
  National Report — Salaries might be flat this year, but the demand for veterinary services remains strong, DVMs say.
  
• In 2009 raises will come ... for some
  More than half of employers expect to raise salaries in next three months, according to survey.
  
• Nine smart ways to downsize
  If your practice's finances are down, you may need to downsize. Follow these tips to do it the right way.
  
• DVM salaries up since 2005, but trend could be slowing
  Veterinary salaries are growing at a higher rate than inflation, according to a new AVMA report.
  
• Monitoring your practice in today's economy
  Paying attention to demographics, finances, diagnostics yields benefits.
  
• A winning bonus program
  This bonus program rewards employees fairly.
  
• Tackling turnover
  Lakewood, Colo. — Associate veterinarians are jumping jobs faster than the average American worker, according to a new study, and salaries that don't keep pace with inflation could be partly to blame.
  
• True or false? Take this compensation quiz
  Complete this quiz—and size up your salary smarts.
  
• Give your team a cut
  Bonuses give team members a strong incentive to succeed.
  
• Salary vs. hourly pay
  You might be entitled to overtime pay even if you hold a degree or have "supervisor" in your title.
  
• Low-cost benefits, big-time payoffs
  People make your practice a success, so take care of your team members—and earn a profit too. Try these 3 ideas.
  
• Calculating the annual cost of labor
  A wake-up call might be in order when we study the profit-and-loss ledger for the year. What might look like a 25 percent labor cost is really 33 percent. A huge difference.
  
• Summer volunteers raise legal, insurance and pay issues
  I remember the summer days of my youth. My dad's veterinary practice, within walking distance of the local high school, was always fully staffed with local adolescents who just loved to be around animals. True, they didn't know anything about animal restraint or when to use gloves or pretty much anything else, but they were eager and willing and looking for a chance to get some experience with a veterinarian.
  
• Check out this data to learn about veterinary practices' approach to personnel management
  These study results illuminate issues that help a veterinary practice run smoothly, with a strong focus on personnel solutions.
  
• Colorado surveys employee compensation
  Denver — The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) wants to know what practice-owning members are paying their employees.
  
• Playing the percentages Beware of pay pitfalls
  Lou Swinney wheeled his new SUV into the cramped parking lot. A cup holding his morning java suddenly jarred forward as he made the abrupt stop. The inertia sent a quarter of the contents on an additional journey. Swinney quickly wiped the rim and base of the cup with a tissue and barreled out of the vehicle toward the front door, a wide briefcase trailing from his right arm like a broken rudder.
  
• If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
  You get what you pay for, so it should be no surprise that paying peanuts yields less-qualified, more-likely-to-be-unhappy employees—and high turnover.
  
• Reality check for a receptionist
  Our receptionist is excellent at her job, and the clients love her—when she's here. She's been with us for less than a year, but she's frequently absent and still asked for a raise. So we switched her wages from hourly to salary, but now she wants even more money and doesn't want to work Saturdays. Am I being taken advantage of?
  
• Sticky salary situation
  I've been with the same clinic for seven years. There's a lot of turnover, and my boss hires new graduates. Depending on my day, I'm stuck playing teacher with up to three new veterinarians. My boss isn't around much and says I'm not pulling my weight given what I'm being paid. How can I explain the situation to him?
  
• "I save the owner 25 hours a week—and then some."
  Practice managers lower turnover, free up the doctors' time so they can focus more on patients and clients, and improve the owners' sanity. Could you use one of these gems in your practice?
  
• Reality check: the true cost of living
  Salaries make up a big chunk of your total expenses, but when team members cover their basic living expenses, there may not be much left.
  
• Perfecting team pay
  Are you paying your team too little, too much, or just about right given your location and their experience?
  
• Sweeten the deal
  Make sure your benefits stack up well against the other options team members could find in your area—and give employees more reasons to stick around.
  
• The ins and outs of worker's compensation
  As an employer, you want to provide the safest environment for your workers. Yet even with extreme precautions, accidents happen. Worker's compensation is designed to provide medical care and compensation to those who are injured in on-the-job accidents?and to protect employers from lawsuits resulting from workplace accidents.
  
• Taxability of service rewards
  What tax rules apply to awards given to employees for service?
  
• Compensation Statement
  A form to help you determine the costs of employment, such as health insurance, continuing education, dues, license, retirement programs, and payroll taxes.
  
• Health care eats up more of employers' costs
  The rising cost of health care is taking a bigger chunk of the pie when it comes to the total compensation employers pay to employees.
  
• Controlling unauthorized overtime
  I have an employee who regularly stays for overtime that I haven't authorized. My attorney says I have to pay her for the time, even though I didn't schedule it. What can I do to keep team members from working unapproved overtime?
  
• A moment of truth about your receptionist
  Do you give this critical player the respect and responsibility she deserves?
  
• Ill employees and the law
  How should I handle a chronically sick employee who calls in at the last minute or struggles to come in ill? I previously switched her from hourly- to salary-based pay, and I'm considering changing her back.
  
• Pay with a personal touch
  Let staff members know how much you appreciate all they do by adding a personal touch to their paycheck stubs, suggests Dr. Laura Lee at Acres Animal Hospital in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
  
• Create a strategy for effective employee compensation
  Practice owners need to strategize on employee compensation.
  
• Face the facts: Teams want more
  Surveys show that staff members want you to say thank you more often, delegate more, and offer more benefits. Here's why you should.
  
• Show staff members the total value of their compensation package
  To show staff members how much they earn each year--not just in salary, but in benefits, too--give them a total compensation statement. (PDF)