Profession must be more open about pay, new BVA guide says

The BVA has urged the sector to talk more about pay after its research suggested one in four vets are unhappy with their current salaries.

The organisation has published a new guide for members, which it hopes will increase transparency and help professionals – regardless of their role – to approach the issue effectively.

Taboo subject

BVA president Malcolm Morley said: “We know that pay can be a fraught, and even somewhat taboo, subject.

“But it is one that we all have a responsibility to tackle if we want to ensure that veterinary professionals are fairly rewarded for their work.”

The launch of the guide follows the recent publication of analysis by NSV Veterinary Recruitment, which found that more than a fifth of veterinary sector staff (22%) had received no pay rise at all during the previous 12 months.

Its survey, based on salaries of more than 3,000 workers, also suggested that fewer than 1 in 10 of all staff (9%) had received a rise in line with current inflation levels.

Disparity

But research carried out for the BVA by IFF Research suggests that while overall pay satisfaction rates appear largely steady, the proportion of professionals placing themselves at either end of the fulfilment scale is growing.

A total of 481 professionals, 439 of whom are currently working, were asked to rate their pay and benefits on a sliding scale from excellent to terrible for the BVA’s autumn 2022 Voice of the Veterinary Profession survey.

Of those, 7% rated their conditions as “terrible”, up from 4% in 2014 and 5% in 2018.

Happiness levels

But the overall level of unhappiness, encompassing respondents who chose both “terrible” and “not very good”, fell from 31% in 2014 to 25% in 2022.

At the other end, 42% said their conditions were either “good”, “very good” or “excellent”, down a single point from 2018, but up from the 35% recorded in 2014. The proportion answering “excellent” grew from 2% in 2014 to 4% in 2022.

Earlier BVA research found that more than three-quarters of vets (77%) listed pay among their top five priorities when looking for a job.

Good workplaces

Dr Morley said: “Fair, transparent and equal pay is one of the keystones of good veterinary workplaces.

“Whether you’re an employee, a manager or an employer, it’s vital that everyone feels confident that their workplace approaches pay in a clear and consistent way.

“This isn’t about paying everyone more; 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.”

Advice

The 28-page document offers advice for employees, managers and employers alike about how they should approach pay issues.

It said pay transparency can improve staff satisfaction and retention, and therefore has a role in addressing the sector’s current workforce challenges.

But it also highlighted the concept of total reward, which suggests the pay on offer is just one element of the package that is necessary to both attract and retain staff.

Culture

The guide listed factors such as a positive workplace culture, work-life balance, career development and the chance of higher pay in future as intrinsic rewards that can be part of the overall package for an individual role.

It added: “Perhaps more than ever, getting pay and total reward right plays a key part in strategies to attract, motivate and retain talented people.

“With a rising cost of living and scarcity of talent in the labour market, it is to be expected that employees will become increasingly sensitive to how the total reward they receive – and specifically the extrinsic financial rewards – compare with other options available to them.”

The guide is available to BVA members via its website.

It is also set to be accompanied by a series of blogs outlining the potential challenges and benefits of pay discussions.