The British Veterinary Association has launched a new resource for members, “Talking About Pay in the Veterinary Profession,” to help teams navigate difficult employee compensation discussions.
“Fair, transparent and equal pay is one of the keystones of good veterinary workplaces. It’s vital that everyone feels confident that their workplace approaches pay in a clear and consistent way,” said BVA President Malcolm Morley, BVSc.
“This isn’t about paying everyone more,” Dr. Morley said. “It’s about using objective criteria and transparent pay scales to ensure the whole team understands how decisions about reward and recognition are made and what they can do to access higher pay.”
According to a 2022 Voice of the Veterinary Profession survey, 77% of veterinarians listed pay as a top five priority when job searching, but only 42% said their pay was “good,” “very good” or “excellent.”
The BVA created the guide as part of its Good Veterinary Workplaces campaign, which is designed to improve satisfaction and retention rates in the veterinary field.
The guide covers:
- Why pay transparency is important, and how to tell if a pay structure is fair.
- What constitutes total reward and fair pay.
- What employees, managers, and employers can do to ensure fair pay.
- How to request a pay raise and structuring conversations around compensation.
“We know that pay can be a fraught and somewhat taboo subject, but we must tackle the topic if we want to ensure that veterinary professionals are fairly rewarded for their work,” Dr. Morley said.
BVA members can download the resource at bit.ly/41qEXuB.
DID YOU KNOW?
The 2022 Merck Veterinary Wellbeing Study found that only 47% of veterinarians would recommend a veterinary medicine career. Meanwhile, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 40% of veterinarians are considering leaving the profession.