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all of the following job requirements must be met:
1. Primary job duties (greater than 50%) must
require “advanced knowledge”, meaning they
must be intellectual in character and require the
consistent exercise of discretion and judgment
2. Advanced knowledge must be in a field of
science or learning
3. Advanced knowledge must typically be
acquired through a prolonged course of specialized instruction (example: academic degree and
licensing)
The learned professional job duties exemption is
what typically makes veterinarians (and lawyers,
CPAs, human medical doctors, etc.) exempt employees.
The Minimum Salary Test
The minimum salary test is just what it sounds
like. It provides the bare minimum salary that you
can pay an employee for them to be considered
“exempt”. Currently, the minimum salary is $455
per week, or $23,660 per year.
Anticipated Overtime Rule Changes
The minimum salary test is where the proposed
overtime rule changes currently come into play.
In July of 2015, the Department of Labor issued a
notice of proposed rulemaking that sets out to
update the minimum salary thresholds required
for exempt employee status. The proposed rule
would increase the salary threshold to $970 a
week, or $50,440 per year, more than doubling the
current minimum salary requirements. The proposed rule might also index the minimum salary
threshold to inflation.
Currently, there are no proposed rule changes for
the duties test, but that is still to be determined,
pending public feedback to the DOL. Stay tuned.
The proposed rule change has an anticipated finalization date of late 2016, with an anticipated effective date of the beginning or middle of 2017.
Recommendations
In a veterinary practice, it can be very difficult to
classify any non-veterinarian employee as exempt
from overtime. If you currently employ any nonveterinarian personnel and compensate them on an
exempt, salaried basis, now is the time to reevaluate employee compensation structure to
o ensure they are not improperly classified
as exempt.
Remember the burden of proof remains with the
employer. If you opt to keep any employee classified as exempt, make sure you have the documentation and records to prove your case. We strongly
recommend time clock records on all employees,
in the event an employee was to prevail in a claim
for overtime pay.
Penalties and damages for any labor law violation
are harsh. State labor laws, including those related
to overtime, can be stricter than the federal rules
discussed here. Talk with your labor attorney
whenever making any decision that can be
impacted by labor laws.
Steps to Defuse Angry
Clients
In veterinary practices, the team interacts with pet
owners who experience many emotions. One of
the most difficult emotions for employees to deal
with is anger. While no one likes to be confronted
by a livid client, team members who are trained to
respond with compassion will find these encounters less stressful and be better able to reach a positive outcome. Here are steps all team members
can use when responding to a disgruntled client.
Stay Calm
Sometimes clients take their anger out on team
members even though no one in the practice did
anything wrong. In these instances, it’s human
nature to feel unjustly accused or insulted. As a
result, employees’ first tendency may be to
respond with argumentative or defensive comments. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help the situation. Likewise, a team member with an irritated
expression won’t be successful in calming irritated
pet owners. Instead avoid escalating tensions by
responding to angry clients with a calm demeanor.
Focus on taking deep breaths and controlling your
own emotions. Remember, staying calm is not the
same as being silent. In fact, silence can be aggravating to clients who seek solutions to their problems or want to feel heard.
Seek to Understand
Allow clients to vent their frustrations or to thoroughly explain what they are angry about. If you
interrupt them too quickly, you may exacerbate
their anger. The goal is to clearly determine the
underlying reason for the client’s anger. Are any
of their complaints legitimate? Are they under
stress? Are they afraid their pet may die? Do they
seek attention or reassurance? When you correctly
identify the motivators for behavior you’ll be more
likely to respond appropriately. The best way to
uncover the client’s feeling is to ask open-ended
questions. Open-ended questions help to avoid
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Amanda L. Donnelly, DVM,
assumptions and ensure you discover all the
reasons why the client is upset.
Here are some examples of excellent questions
to ask:
• “Can you tell me more about what hap
pened?”
• “Mrs. Taylor, I know this is a difficult
time. Tell me what you’re thinking”
• “Mr. Wright, I sense you’re frustrated.
What can we do to help?”
• “I know yo u’re angry that Dr. Fowler
didn’t call you back. Is there anything
else?”
Realize that some people use anger as a shield
for fear or sadness. They may act angry when
in reality they are really just afraid or sad about
what is wrong with their pet. They may be
afraid of how they will afford to pay for medical services, afraid of how family members
will react or afraid that their pet is going to die.
It is helpful to use phrases such as, “I know
Charlie is a beloved member of your family
and we will do everything we can to help him.”
Apologize When Appropriate
Be sure to apologize when mistakes are made.
Quick apologies usually serve to defuse anger.
An apology should be offered if someone on
the team failed to provide excellent service or
deliver on their promise. Examples of times
when an apology is warranted include forgetting to send a toy or leash home with the pet,
failing to prepare a prescription on time and
not making return calls as promised.
There are many times when it is appropriate to
say “I’m sorry” but the expression is used to
convey sympathy. For example, you may say
“I’m sorry but Dr. Taylor just got called away
to treat an emergency” or “I’m sorry for the
communication breakdown.”
In these