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What are you losing if you don’t put a Pay Rate in your job ads?

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I recently did a very quick survey on social media in a veterinary group, to ask whether people find it frustrating when a pay rate or salary range is not given in a job ad – 100% of respondents said yes, they did find it frustrating.

Other job advertising companies have done large scale surveys, and found that salary is one of the top three drivers of attraction to a role, along with work-life balance and career development, across all industries. In fact, there’s a 36.9% increase in job applications when salary is shown on a job ad.  73% of candidates find it frustrating when salary isn’t included in a job ad and many candidates wouldn’t even consider applying for a job if the salary isn’t advertised.

You may have thought that making applicants apply for a job without knowing the remuneration might give you a bigger pool of applicants – however, besides that impression not being supported by surveys, it wastes time on both sides when someone who has got through interviews and been offered the vacancy then turns the job down.

Pay can be expressed as an hourly rate, or an annual rate, and it’s important to include detail in a job ad about the basis on which someone will be paid. Listing a Salary in your advert does NOT mean saying “salary above Award”, or “negotiable depending on experience”. It is understandable that some veterinary employers may prefer to advertise a range so they can assess through the recruitment process what salary best fits the candidate’s skill level, particularly with the current shortage of qualified veterinary staff. Regular evaluation of a new employee is a good way to adjust pay rate to closely match their skills, if necessary, and  produce a good outcome for both employer and employee.

Why is there such a reluctance to list salaries or salary bands in veterinary job ads? Is a pay rate in general practice so totally dependent on the skill set of the vet that it’s impossible to estimate? Why is there no pay grading on the work that the applicant will be expected to do? And the situation is even worse for vet nurse and vet techs – 99.99% of job ads don’t even mention salary.

Start mentioning the pay rate, and you may be surprised at the interest in your next vacancy.

Author:

Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

09/10/2023 |

Employing Overseas Vets & Vet Nurses – September 2023 Update

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Visa picture

Information below has been sourced from the Department of Home Affairs website www.homeaffairs.gov.au in September 2023.

Skilled Occupation List

The Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) was temporary and existed while Australia recovered from the COVID pandemic.

It has now been replaced by the Skilled Occupation List. This combined list comprises occupations on

  • the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL),
  • the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL),
  • the Regional Occupation List (ROL)
  • or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) ROL List

The following visas, which may be of interest to vets and vet nurses, are available to individuals qualified to work in the eligible skilled occupations. Please see www.homeaffairs.gov.au for details of additional visas.

  • Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482)​
    • See extra information below
  • Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494)
    • Regional areas – all areas of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
    • Length of stay – up to 5 years
    • Under 45 years of age (some exemptions exist)
    • 3 years’ experience
  • Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186)​
    • This is a permanent visa
  • Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa (subclass 187)
    • This is a permanent visa, for workers transitioning from a 457 or 482 visa & continuing to work for their sponsoring employer

Employers – Standard Business Sponsor

Before an employer is able to nominate a vet to sponsor in the TSS 482 or Regional 494 visa categories, they must be, or have applied to become a standard business sponsor. Once approved, this status lasts for 5 years.  ( Further eligibility requirements exist in order to be an Accredited sponsor, including NOT being a sole trader or partnership ). As of 6th September 2023 this is the direct link for information on the procedure:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/sponsoring-workers/becoming-a-sponsor/standard-business-sponsor#Overview

Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482)

The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) replaced the old 457 visa in March 2018.

TSS visa holders can work in Australia in their nominated occupation for their approved sponsor under one of three streams:

Short-term stream

  • Length of stay – up to 2 years
  • Vet Nurses are currently on the Short term Skilled Occupation list (STSOL)
  • Requirements for eligibility include English language requirements, skills assessments (by VETASSESS for VNs), nomination by an employer, health and character requirements.
  • Must have worked in the nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years
  • There is no age requirement
  • The current link for skills assessment for migration for Vet Nurses is https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-assessment-for-migration/professional-occupations/application-process

Medium-term stream

  • Length of stay – up to 4 years
  • Vets are currently on the Medium term Skilled Occupation list (MLTSSL)
  • Requirements for eligibility include English language requirements, skills assessments (by AVBC for Vets), nomination by an employer, health and character requirements.
  • Must have worked in the nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years
  • There is no age requirement
  • The current link for skills assessment for migration is https://avbc.asn.au/for-veterinarians/skills-assessment-for-migration/ You can only apply for a skills assessment once you hold full registration with an Australian Veterinary Registration Board.

Labour Agreement stream

  • This stream is available if your employer wishes to sponsor you (as an overseas worker) and has entered into a labour agreement with the Department

Application for the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) involves a three-step process:

Step 1: a sponsorship application by the employer

Step 2: a nomination application for a skilled position by the employer

Step 3: a visa application by the proposed employee

Labour Market Testing requirement –  Subclass 482 (TSS) and Subclass 494 (Regional)

For a nomination to be approved, the Department must be satisfied that a suitable qualified and experienced Australian worker is not available to fill the nominated position.

For most nominations, advertising must be done within the 4 months immediately before lodging a nomination application. Advertising must meet all of the below (further requirements may apply – please see www.homeaffairs.gov.au for up to date information – the direct link is currently https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/sponsoring-workers/nominating-a-position/labour-market-testing  as of September 2023):

  • the nominated position has been advertised in Australia
  • the advertisement was in English and included the following information:
    • the title, or a description, of the position
    • the name of the approved sponsor or the name of the recruitment agency being used by the sponsor and
    • the annual earnings for the position ( unless the annual earnings will be greater than $96,400 ) It is acceptable to publish a salary range.
  • at least two advertisements were published:
    • on a national recruitment website. Note: a general classifieds website is not an acceptable method
    • in national print media
    • on national radio or
    • if the sponsor is accredited – on the business’ website.
    • advertisements, including on websites, are expected to have run for at least 4 weeks

Kookaburra Veterinary Employment can supply a statement on request with information regarding your job advert, the period that it was listed, and the total cost of advertising.

Additional Requirements for nominations lodged on or after 1 October 2020

In September 2020, the Australian Government introduced new labour market testing measures for employer sponsored applications. 

In addition to the 2 advertisements mentioned above:

  • the nominated position must be advertised on the Government’s jobactive website ( https://jobactive.gov.au/ )
  • the jobactive advertisement must have included all of the information required to be included in the other 2 advertisements mentioned above
  • jobactive advertisements are expected to have run for at least 4 weeks
  • applications or expressions of interest for the advertised position must have been accepted for at least 4 weeks

Note: advertising may have been undertaken by a third party if authorised to do so by the sponsor (for example, an associated entity or a contracted party, such as a recruitment agency) – there is no requirement that the sponsor placed the advertisement themselves

Evidence of a total of 3 advertisements, including an advertisement published on the Government’s jobactive website, must be provided at the time the nomination is lodged.

Meeting TSMIT requirements

Both the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for the nominated occupation and the guaranteed annual earnings that will be paid to the nominated overseas worker, excluding any non-monetary benefits (for example, accommodation or car provided to them as part of their salary package), must not be less than the TSMIT (Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold).

TSMIT is currently set as AUD$70,000 for applications lodged on and after 1 July 2023, as specified in the relevant legislative instrument. For applications lodged before 1 July 2023, it was AUD$53,900.

The requirements and process for visa application can be very complicated and there are more conditions than are listed in this article – you can find more information at www.homeaffairs.gov.au

Migration Agents

If you are considering engaging a migration agent, you should ensure they are registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). This registration demonstrates they have sufficient expertise and are a fit and proper person to provide immigration assistance. The OMARA registrar can be found at portal.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/. It is recommended that you look up a migration agent to ensure they are on the registrar before engaging their services.

Author:

Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

06/09/2023 |

Therian – Designing for a Veterinary Start-up

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It can be daunting for any professional to take the leap and start their own business. However, with the right team of professionals, it can be a relatively straightforward undertaking. Whilst you may have confidence in your ability to build your veterinary team, putting together a team to design and build a veterinary clinic may not be as comfortable.

A Commercial Real Estate Broker should be one of the first professionals engaged to help with finding the ideal property for your new clinic. The Broker should be able to provide a market analysis to help identify potential properties and help you narrow down the budget that should be allowed for leasing or purchasing a property. One of the first things your Real Estate Broker will need to know is how much space or how large of a property you need. By working with an experienced Veterinary Architect when you begin to search for property, you can set yourself up for success early on and minimise the time and expense of building, which is essential to every budget critical start-up.

Pre-design services available from an Architect include “Needs Assessments” and “Feasibility Studies”. As part of a “Needs Assessment”, an Architect should be able to provide you with a veterinary specific design questionnaire that will ask you all the relevant questions about your intended business, to inform the project brief. Once the project brief is established, the Architect can then accurately estimate how much lease space or land is needed to suit your intended operational requirements. Having an accurate estimate of what is needed will quickly narrow the search by your Real Estate Broker. The Architect can then help evaluate the right-sized properties as part of a Feasibility Study. This process should help you confirm the suitability of specific properties for your start-up, and help you start to consider the potential costs involved with building your practice. There can be a broad variation in costs to fit out different properties. A feasibility study should identify the major costs to be expected, in addition to how well they may be suited to veterinary practice use.

An Architect that has worked specifically with start-up veterinary practices should be able to suggest cost-saving design ideas, to help minimise the cost of the build, and maximise the revenue-generating potential for any given size clinic. It is important for every start-up not to “over-build”. Controlling the cost of the build starts with the needs assessment by establishing the size of the clinic that is needed. The Architect’s concept design has the potential to impact construction costs and potential income by optimising space usage, maximising revenue-generating areas, and minimising non-revenue-generating areas.

Lastly, during the detailed design, striking the right balance for quality of materials that minimise initial costs, while still delivering a facility that will be easy to maintain and suitable for the intended purpose is key. An experienced Veterinary Architect can advise on the relative cost of materials and the performance trade-offs between one vs another.

When considering a new build, be sure to pre-qualify and interview your Architect as you would anyone you are going to employ. Scrutinise their specific, relevant experience, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. The Architect should serve as a trusted adviser to support you throughout the design and build, so if they are unwilling or unable to explain the process in a way you can understand, they may not be the right fit for your project. Success starts with building the right team.

To learn more about us or to get started, please call +61 7 5657 6777 or visit: therian.com.au/veterinary-clinics-hospitals/

10/08/2023 |

Update on the Workplace Staff Shortage – May 2023

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With the AVA Annual Conference coming up, it’s a good time to release some current figures to update the trends that Kookaburra Veterinary Employment is seeing in Australia, for the “State of the Market” panel discussion.

Vets

table showing Australian permanent vet jobs advertised with kookaburravets.com from 2014 to 2023

Of the current 735 open vet vacancies, 131 have been continuously advertised for more than 8 months.

In the last 3 months (February, March, April 2023), 1125 jobs have been advertised.

  • 27% of these have been filled by Kookaburra,
  • 2% have been filled by other advertising, or through personal contact
  • 9% have been removed because the clinic either gave up looking or restructured their clinic staff to cope – although some clinics are now reporting having a reduced workload, following the post-covid boom
  • 62% are still available.

As of 30th April 2023, 52 clinics had been advertising continuously for longer than 2 years without filling their vacancy

table showing comparison of three 3 months periods of job listings in 2020, 2021 and 2023

Vet Nurses

In March 2020 we had 236 vet nurse jobs listed.
In April 2021 we had 337 vet nurse jobs listed.
As of May 9th 2023, we have 316 vet nurse jobs listed.

Discussion

Kookaburra has noted the following factors

  • An increase in the numbers of vets required to cover the workload in individual practices
  • An increase in the numbers of new clinics opening – both corporate, and privately owned. 10 years ago Kookaburra had roughly 2100 clinics listed in Australia – we now have over 2600.
  • Many of the practice owners and managers that we talk to on a daily basis are highly stressed by the workforce shortage, and many are also resigned to having great difficulty hiring suitable new staff

Kookaburra circulated a Salary survey in the winter of 2022 and one of the questions we asked was about future plans (see chart below).
26% of vets (63 vets ) who responded to the Kookaburra Vets Salary Survey 2022 said they were planning on leaving general practice by 5 years’ time, either retiring, leaving the profession entirely, taking a break, or moving into another area of the veterinary industry.
In the 2019 survey, 24% of responding vets (142 vets) were planning on leaving general practice by 5 years’ time. That’s a lot of vets leaving general practice – and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.

(copy of the full Salary Survey 2022 report available here: https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/salary-survey-2022/ )

Chart showing survey results - 5 year plan

Author:
Wendy Nathan
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

15/05/2023 |
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