Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Stephen Courtney — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:24:54 GMT

In-house CPD and meeting food tends to be pizza oriented - something I find appalling. Lately we have hd other options e.g. deli sandwiches, thai take away and memorably, fish and chips all round. much better!

Expecting employees to stay late for a meeting without any form of hospitality is bad manners - I wouldn't expect payment but I would expect refreshments. which is exactly what we get in our workplace.

I too am interested to know what the OP's outcome was but suspect that his/ her boss is on here too and had something to say about washing dirty linen on fora...

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:37:28 GMT

Depends on the food. I over-indulged on a lovely meat-based pizza from a local takeaway, and it didn't end well for my insides...

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:54:49 GMT

[quote user="Joyce Whitehead"]It would be interesting to get an update from the OP as to what happened to this situation - was the news worthy of a special meeting?

[/quote]Possibly no longer working there for being too stroppy - that was what the meeting was about!!

Only just come to this thread (must be bored in-between ski trips). It sounds like a storm in a tea cup to me. The OP is IMO being unreasonable expecting to be paid and/or fed for one hour of his/her time for a one-off meeting. If it becomes every week then maybe but I would expect my staff to attend if it was just a one off (and I would myself when I was employed) and quite honestly I don't think they would complain.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Joyce Whitehead — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:35:26 GMT

It would be interesting to get an update from the OP as to what happened to this situation - was the news worthy of a special meeting?

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

George Cooper — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:36:15 GMT

The only thing that employees have to sell you /give you is their time, and that should be compensated. If they have knowledge and expertise that is useful then that compensation is at a higher value. And while that PM's behaviour is just a bit OTT it could be that she was heavily stressed by things as well, so perhaps some understanding offered?? It really boils down to the usual - communication, and to 'do it' in a calm, assertive, pleasant manner.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Chris Milligan — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 23:46:26 GMT

Totally, totally unacceptable to do this in my view. I'm not sure how the profession has reached a stage where working 10 hour days and then being irritated by it even being suggested that you stay essentially out of hours for a practice meeting is even remotely ok. It shows a staggering disrepect towards employees. Simple rule: is it an emergency? No? Then penpushing and moaning about colleagues can wait until tomorrow. A reasonable partner would tell your practice manager that you were damned right to be annoyed!

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

George Cooper — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 23:37:19 GMT

Just makes me Bluddy glad I no longer own a practice and have to juggle these things AT ALL. Fwiw I used to provide food - but expect attendance.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Ben Nicholas — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:48:04 GMT

We always provide food! Apart from the fact that it's just a nice thing to do, it makes for a more sociable meeting, which usually means better communication - always a good investment in my view.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Gareth C. — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 20:46:31 GMT

There needs to be a bit of give and take from both sides. If it's a one off I'd bear with it. Next time you get a drug rep in ask them about unpaid hours worked (or anyone else in a decent job )

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

rachaelyost — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 14:16:35 GMT

I would expect food at least. Any overtime I do goes down in the lieu book ( within reason). We have lunch meetings and some times in the evenings. We get little spare time to ourselves as vets as it is so I would expect the practice to appreciate that.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 18:53:01 GMT

Anon doesn't actually say they work every day.... As they are paid by the day I doubt they are in 'normal' full time employment.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Robin Grimmer — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 18:23:31 GMT

Never mind the practice meeting, I'd be seriously hacked off working those hours. 8pm finish every day??

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 17:30:36 GMT

PS to above. If it's routine to expect staff to work(stay on for meetings) without pay, or recompense in lieu, then I'd question the legality. If this is the 1st time this has occurred, then hold your fire until you know why. Maybe they are going to tell yousomething so devastating that you willnone of you be in a fit state to work for a few hours after.

Wynne

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 16:41:05 GMT

Having re-read the 1st posting "These things usually last an hour" I realise that I've assumed AnOn was writing about meetings in his/her current practice. If this is the case,then it's worth finding out the reason for the change before reacting. If it's the normal custom in this practice, then I just wonder what their staff turnover happens to be?

Wynne

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 16:11:20 GMT

[quote user="David Mills"]Everyone likes a team player and moaning about meetings is unlikely to get people onside.[/quote]

Ahhh... that brings to mind Dilbert.

"I label you, 'Not a Team Player'"

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 16:07:20 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"] I asked will food be provided and I was told to bring a packed lunch.[/quote]

This is certainly taking the proverbial.

[quote user="An On MRCVS"] I told the practice manager that I was unhappy with that and she stormed off in a huff, announcing that she was going to tell the partners that I had no interest in attending the meeting. Gah! [/quote]

Heavens preserve us from practice managers too big for their blinkin' boots.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Charlotte Marshall — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 16:00:34 GMT

Regular periods of downtime? Sounds nice. We have moved to the partners seeing each group at a time e.g. receptionists, nurses, vets and they take us to the local pub or occasionally we have had one for everybody and they got pizza in.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

David Mills — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 15:07:17 GMT

Not providing hospitality is bad manners regardless of the meeting subject.

However, how busy are you during the day? Do you have regular periods of downtime? Most privates in my experience have a lull in the middle of the day or afternoon - if I was a practice owner I would point out that whilst your hours are stated, you are not actually working at that time.

We regularly have meetings after hours, but our days are 9-5 with little/no downtime (or breaks except lunch). And they are not regular enough to become an issue.

Everyone likes a team player and moaning about meetings is unlikely to get people onside.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 14:09:23 GMT

Stigen. If you join SPVS and have access to thier figures, I think you'llfind very few practice partners are making hundreds of thousands. I agree that expecting employees to work without pay is unacceptable, but the fact that previous meetings were held in working hours makes me wonder if something unusual is brewing. Hopefully AnOn will enlighten us after the meeting.

Wynne

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Braden Collins — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 13:28:14 GMT

We have full staff meetings every 6 months outside of work hours. We hire a private room at a pub, put on a 3 course meal and pay for the drinks. We get full attendance every time and no grumbles yet. If we didn't put on a good feed, I'd expect to pay them for their time. But like others have said, find out what the meeting is about first before getting too stroppy.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 13:16:01 GMT

True enough.I was just imagining a practice meeting in the corner of the bar.

Wynne

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

ChrisBVSc — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 13:05:03 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

The pubs not a good idea, unless you want all the practice's business to be gossiped about, but certainly decent refreshments, and maybe the bosses taking you to the pub later.

[/quote]

You just need to find a pub with a private room you can book, used to have practice meetings like this in a previous job - no public in sight and good food/drink!

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 10:28:30 GMT

The pubs not a good idea, unless you want all the practice's business to be gossiped about, but certainly decent refreshments, and maybe the bosses taking you to the pub later.

Don't jump to conclusions too quickly though. Since previous meetings have been during working hours, and since the practice manager rather over-reacted (she may already know the reason for the meeting), there may be a valid reason for this apparently selfish behaviour. Go to the meeting, and, unless the practice has some catastrophic news they would rather not impart during the working day, then bring up the unacceptability of the timing at the meeting. That way you should get backing fom colleagues, so won't appear to be the only awkward one.

Wynne

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

ChrisBVSc — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 10:18:33 GMT

It should be pub or at the very least pizza! If I was in that situation then it would be a case of being "otherwise engaged" for the evening, unless it was clearly a very important one-off meeting.

Re: Practice meeting OOH payment ( a bit of a rant sorry)

Bob Russell — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 09:17:40 GMT

We do pizzas!