Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Nick Shackleton — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:50:35 GMT

Most BSc degrees include working for free look at vets doing 'seeing practice'

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sal the 1st — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:43:08 GMT

I think its fair comment re the degree - if you choose the degree route surely you would know about the working for 'free' bit when you sign up? and also can expect a better wage when you qualify and come into practice so i guess it is swings and roundabouts

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Fiona Leathers — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:54:40 GMT

I was a YTS!! But I started at £26 so I must be much older than you!! I can remember it went up to £35 just before I finished!!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Lisa Whitehouse — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:22:50 GMT

When i started training i started on the old YTS scheme!! how many people remember that & £29.50 p/w.

It was a low wage but well worth it all

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Ceri Boyd — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:01:25 GMT

Yep, I'm doing the degree...I've been at my practice for 8 months and absolutely love it but the manager had said I would get minimum wage over summer to keep me going...however he said that months ago and I've yet to see anything! Love the work but can't wait to start earning my own money!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:49:33 GMT

But don't forget that there are loads of people at Uni doing work placements, in many different jobs, that don't get paid! That is the nature of the beast! The 'employers' also have to find the time to complete the portfolio with them and, as a 'stranger' in the practice, there is a limited amount of responsibility they can take on.

However, full-time members of staff, even trainees, deserve a decent living.

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Ann McAleer — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:30:32 GMT

[quote user="Nick Shackleton"]

[quote user="NurseAnnie"]

[quote user="Ceri Boyd"]

You guys are all so lucky getting paid ...I'm just going into second year and don't get anything!

[/quote]

can they do that??? i thought that they had to pay you?

[/quote]

I think Ceri is doing the degree and therefore the employer doesnt have to pay the student

[/quote]

aw i see.... that is sh!te

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Nick Shackleton — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:27:32 GMT

[quote user="NurseAnnie"]

[quote user="Ceri Boyd"]

You guys are all so lucky getting paid ...I'm just going into second year and don't get anything!

[/quote]

can they do that??? i thought that they had to pay you?

[/quote]

I think Ceri is doing the degree and therefore the employer doesnt have to pay the student

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Ann McAleer — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:18:11 GMT

[quote user="Ceri Boyd"]

You guys are all so lucky getting paid ...I'm just going into second year and don't get anything!

[/quote]

can they do that??? i thought that they had to pay you?

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Ceri Boyd — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:06:31 GMT

You guys are all so lucky getting paid ...I'm just going into second year and don't get anything!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sal the 1st — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:15:13 GMT

but dont forget this was the time when dinosaurs still roamed

seriously tho - conditions havnt got any better and as you quite rightly say as long as there are people wanting to do the job and accept the conditions on offer nothing will change. The two practices I know of which are paying well below minimum wage to their trainees - the trainees wanted the job so badly they took abismal wage just to do the job (quite telling that they dont stick around long enough to qualify in fact in most cases dont make it to the end of the first year - but then there are always more queueing up to replace them sadly) I often wonder how many trainees are dependant on parents and partners to finance them?

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Mrs Dot Dot — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:42:26 GMT

P.S. Sal, your violins are louder than mine!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Mrs Dot Dot — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:41:30 GMT

[quote user="sal the 1st"]

... and bring out the violins .... my first job I got paid £32.50 per week. £17 of that was paid straight back to the practice as rent. £1.50 was taken off towards the phone bill, another £1.50 towards the tv license and we had slots for the gas and leccie. Living in was compulsory for trainees and 5 of us shared the flat, we got a 1/5 emergency phone answering duty. This was back in the dark ages but things havnt really moved on have they?

[/quote]

I don't think.... the hours are still atrocious when including weekends and on-calls... I know it varies hugely between practices but they play on caring people wanting to be qualified nurses, and then caring people being qualified nurses, and being geographically being tied to a practice. It is the usual story of lack of good management, low pay, long hours, lack of respect etc etc etc

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sal the 1st — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:32:22 GMT

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sal the 1st — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:22:14 GMT

ok - have spoken to somebody about this today. advice already given is correct , however, to be doing an apprenticeship means that the practice must be training you towards a recognised qualification - (presumably ANA or VN ) - if it VN route ensure they are a training practice and also that they will enroll you as soon as possible and not make you work 6 months+ (which is very common in veterinary practice) to make sure you will stay in the job before enrolling you - that is not the thinking behind an apprenticeship ( and yes there is a practice that has already tried this one). Your apprenticeship starts from the day you are taken on and as I understand it there is no probationary period.

having discussed this today I am not sure how I feel about the apprenticeships in veterinary practice - nursing staff are paid little as it is but this seems to be a bit of an excuse to pay them even less to me

will just add I know of two practices that pay trainees £100 per week - and that does not go up at all until they pass the second year.

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Kay Eminson — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:09:56 GMT

I qualified in June but I'm still on the same as I was when I was training, Its a fair amount above minimum wage so I suppose I should be grateful!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Mrs Dot Dot — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:09:32 GMT

What classes as an apprenticeship? What is its definition? It dosen't seem right in this day and age with the minimum wage........

P.S. When I started.... get ready for a Hovis story!.... I was on £50 a week, cash, and I paid £25 straight out for rent, not including bills........poor old me! To be honest, I don't know how I survived because I went quite alot as well.... guess I just didn't eat much......

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

loopylou711 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:01:15 GMT

seems like nothing when you think bout it!

glad i did 1st year at uni sayin tht any money would have been nice during unpaid placements :( nw jst need 2 find a tp to finish it all of!!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Nick Shackleton — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:15:43 GMT

When I strated training I was on £80/wk, but that did inc accom, but was still taxed on that cos of my housing!

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sara Benton — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:10:34 GMT

It does go up in your second year to the minimum wage that your age qualifies you for. Unfortunately all training places under the NVQ scheme are counted as apprenticeships, so yup, they can pay you anything in your first year. Sucks eh?

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Nick Shackleton — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:01:53 GMT

Fi i was reading on the direct gov website that they can pay you as little as £95/wk

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Fiona Leathers — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:00:12 GMT

Does that mean for the first year, they can pay you anything they want if you're an "apprentice"?? What happens after that?? Does it go up to minimum wage?

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Practice Manager — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:29:46 GMT

Hi Jaqui

Here is the information you need to know. This is from HM Revenue and Customs who, as always never flower it up with fancy words but get straight to the point.

Apprentices

From pay reference periods starting on or after 1 October 2006 the special rules for apprentices will be extended to apprentices aged over 25. This will mean that:

Apprentices under age 19 will not qualify for the national minimum wage
Apprentices over age 19 and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship will not qualify for the national minimum wage.

What are the current rates of the national minimum wage?

There are three levels of minimum wage, and the rates from 1 October 2008 are:

£5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older
A development rate of £4.77 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
£3.53 per hour for all workers under the age of 18, who are no longer of compulsory school age

So in short yes they can pay less than the minimum wage if they are proposing you work as an apprentice.

Ian Thompson

Practice Manager

Ashfield Veterinary Group

www.ashfieldveterinarygroup.co.uk

Practice Management Consultant

www.PracticeManagementConsultancy.com

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Avril Louise Jackson RVN — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:33:21 GMT

do your hours at college count as working hours? What is the minimum wage? Wages are rubbish! Rotas are rubbish too! :/

Re: Trainee vet nurse and minimum wage

Sal the 1st — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:40:22 GMT

see if this answers you questions - or maybe creates more questions?

http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/