DVMs fail to qualify for overtime provisions

SAN FRANCISCO —Veterinarians cannot qualify for overtime protection under the Fair Labors Standards Act (FLSA), which requires time-and-a-half pay for hours on the job in addition to a 40-hour week.

That's according to a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision filed in December, which grouped veterinarians in the same class a physicians and surgeons when it comes to FLSA overtime exemptions.

The decision favors the case made by United Emergency Animal Clinic, Inc., which appealed claims by former employees Drs. Lisa Clark and Margaret Saiki that the San Jose emergency practice violated California Labor Code.

The case has national significance, says Gregory Dennis, an attorney watching the case.

"These two California veterinarians want what many veterinarians want — pay for the time they work," he says. "They argued that since veterinarians weren't specifically mentioned in the Act's illustrative list of exemptions, they were entitled to be paid overtime wages. The trial and appellate courts have disagreed, making this a precedent-setting case." Clark and Saiki, who claimed in court documents to work 12 hours per shift, could not be reached for comment.

Broad language

Under FLSA, certain professionals are exempt from overtime requirements if they are paid on a salary basis. But certain physicians and practitioners can be paid hourly and still be exempt from the overtime provisions of FLSA.

"Veterinarians are doctors of medicine, they have advanced degrees, and they are licensed," the decision says, adding that no state or federal regulations indicate a distinction between doctors who practice on humans and those practicing on animals. Therefore, veterinarians "plainly and unmistakenly" are exempt from overtime because they are engaged in practicing the profession, the ruling adds.