Locum Life is booming in the veterinary industry. But how can you ensure success as a locum to yourself and to the industry you love. Well, this is the article for you!
Freedom, Flexible working, Paid your worth, gain experience quickly, whatever your reason is to locum there is a way to ensure success.
Success in finding your passion.
Success in saving for your first home.
Success in recovering from burnout and low morale.
Molly Fiander
MFL Founder
There are lots of different routes, reasons and success stories as locums because we all lead very different lives. But I have been passionate about educating, empowering and encouraging veterinary professionals to find their place in this industry through locuming and the following 4 steps. Because as much as I love locum life. There are areas which require a certain amount of security, education and confidence which will determine whether you simply ‘dip your toes’ or ‘dive in head first’.
Step 1
Pick your financial route and sort your tax
When you decide you want to locum, you are deciding to start a business. A service business offering your veterinary knowledge and skills to practices in exchange for money. You can do this via temporary employment, self employment or via a limited company.
If you choose to be a sole trader/self employed this money you earn will be ‘non-taxed’ money. If you earn more than £1000 in a year, you will need to tell HMRC and be taxed on it. You can claim expenses and overall be more tax efficient.
This is the same with limited companies however, no matter what you earn, you will be taxed and is the most financially beneficial route yet comes with more paperwork and deadlines. Not to mention, there are still some practices which won't take LTD locums due to IR35 ( A complex government regulation which determines employment status of a contractor.. I won’t get into this now).
(This is not taking in to account tax codes/allowances or expenses)
If you work under an umbrella company you are employed. So, if you are picking up odd shifts alongside your permanent job, you will; to HMRC; have 2 jobs. The umbrella company will let you work wherever, with whoever, whenever you want. All you need to tell them is when, where and how much is owed. They then sort your tax and pay you the difference but for a fee. SO, no tax work which is brillant, simple and easy but there is a fee. A fee you can just add in your hourly rate I might add.
Another employed route is via temporary contract with individual practices. In simple terms, this is exactly the same as the contract you signed when you took a permanent job; however, it's temporary, meaning you are not required to work any shifts you don’t want too and the practice doesn't have to give you any shifts if they don't have any. The advantage? No tax work, just a lovely little payslip each month for the shifts you worked. Disadvantage? The more contracts you take the more ‘jobs’ you have under HMRC and the more tax you pay. More than 2 contracts are not advised and working under an umbrella and temporary contract is not also not the greatest route to take.
In summary, picking your route requires making an informed decision. To make that informed decision you need to sit down and work out each route and compare it to your life. Do you feel confident to submit tax returns? No? Maybe an employed route would be better suited or using an accountant for your sole trader or ltd route. Looking to earn over 40K - Limited company is the most financially beneficial route but paperwork and deadlines are required.
I might be scaring you right now but once you find your route, it really is quite simple. It is just so important to get this section right, it is your money after all! So, take some time to really understand each route and then just focus on one. I am always here to help anyone that requires support so feel free to reach out.
Step 2
Get proper insurance
We are fortunate enough that VDS exists. Taken from their website (updated 2022) a VDS policy provides you with:
Professional indemnity insurance, exclusive to the veterinary profession
A team with unparalleled experience of RCVS/VCI disciplinary proceedings
Highly experienced claims consultants, each of whom is a qualified veterinary surgeon, to handle your claim
Cover for support staff working under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon member
A choice of indemnity limits for professional negligence
Indemnity limits that are applied to each separate incident during a period of insurance (up to the stated aggregate claim limit for that year)
No premium increase as a result of a successful claim.
A VDS policy means:
A minimum £250,000 (€300,000) small animal cover for all insured members.
Built-in £200,000 / €240,000 cover for representation for criminal proceedings resulting from normal veterinary work (cover for RVNs is £150,000 / €180,000).
Built-in £10,000,000 (€12,000,000) cover for personal injury resulting from veterinary negligence.
No premium increase as a result of a successful claim.
A range of Professional Indemnity (PI) limits for each risk group (it is very important that you choose an adequate indemnity limit for each of these. This allows us to defend you and your reputation, and to settle claims when appropriate).
(Reference : https://www.thevds.co.uk/our-policy )
A little side note to say that this is for Vets. VDS can support Vet nurses with their legal fees but due the the veterinary surgeon act 1966 where is states vet nurse work under the direction a vet VDS can not offer professional indemnity or liberty insurance to nurses.If the Vet practice has VDS practice policy, then nurses are covered under that but is a huge deterrent for practices to take on that responsibility. The cost of VDS varies between £200-700 for vets and around £60 for nurses. It has become something of a necessity when registering with corporations for locum work.
Other insurances like health insurance and income insurance are also very important. If locum work is about to become your full time job, I strongly recommend income insurance which can protect and continue to pay you up to 60% of your average salary.
From as little as £9 per month, it’s worth it just to sleep easy at night.
Step 3
Find work
Finding work is often seen as the most time consuming part of locum life. Spending hours scrolling through different recruitment agency websites or emailing practices directly with a little cover letter about you and your availability. Recruitment agencies charge the practice per day for you working there but they are free for locums to use. The advantage? The scrolling and negotiations with practices are dealt with by your trusted recruiter. The disadvantages? There are more recruitment agencies than ever before so finding one to trust is difficult. The fee they charge can also be an issue to practices (more independent than corporates).
Going direct to practices requires some graft. Googling practices, facebook forums, reverse recruitment on social media and emailing and calling to sometimes get no reply can be quite degrading. But, it only takes 1 ongoing position or 2-3 practices with odd shifts to build a good salary.
Plus, lucky you just starting out now has management for Locums to rely on. When I started my locum journey 6 years ago, there was no help. It was just grafting and hoping to get paid.
Management for Locums has now created a place to not only educate yourself on each route with super help resources and a bunch of great experts. It now has a job board filled with trusted agencies, a load of practices and even fellow locums offering out shifts they can cover.
It’s a one stop shop, because we want variety but we don't want to have to spend the time finding it.
So, be sure to check Management For Locums out on socials and join the facebook community. (Don’t have socials? Email me info@managementforlocums.com)
Step 4
Stay organized and up to date
New information on finances, RCVS guidelines and more come out every day. When you are locum you are responsible for keeping up to date. No more practicing emails on things ‘to be aware of’, you need to find that out yourself.
It's not hard, you will most likely hear it all when working. However, the business side is a little different. CPD is also a thing we locums like to forget about but the best thing is as we locum at different places with different teams we are learning, we develop new skills and That is CPD!
Staying organized with your invoice and expenses on a monthly basis (sole trader or LTd locums only) or keeping your payslips safe (umbrella/ contract locums) is super important.
Grab yourself a financial advisor or accountant who can be sending your reminders, and information or there is accounting software now which can be helpful.
Conclusion
The veterinary industry needs locums because we
Promote flexible working
Can share our skills and knowledge
Fill vital roles
The industry needs locums, even if it was fully staffed. Holiday, maternity, sick…all still need covering. Actually on average there would be 147,000 shifts per year that would need covering if the industry is fully staffed.
It's not, so now more than ever, locums are needed.
You are needed!
Look after yourself, build your business correctly and then thrive in the industry you love. Locuming has changed my life and I know it will change yours!
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