The BVNA Advisory Service has been advising and supporting student and qualified veterinary nurses for twenty-one years.

Access to our service is one of the benefits of membership with the BVNA.

A lot of our calls and emails are concerning employment issues, sometimes there are complex legal issues, other times it is about good employment practice and supporting the member to resolve a difficulty.

2020 like no other year, has brought significant employment issues, including redundancies and furlough (a word that most of us had never previously heard of!). Practices have had to intro-duce ‘COVID Safe’ working practices, the stress and strain on employers and employees alike has been reflected in the calls we have received.

Sometimes a Veterinary Nurse or Student is looking for support to manage a difficult and stressful situation, sometimes it is fac-tual advice that is being sought. We can offer ongoing support over a period of time, other times a quick telephone call is all that is required.

We can provide advice on a range of employment matters, financial issues and many other concerns you might have. We are an experi-enced team of HR professionals with a range of industry experience.

Students in particular, are often finding their feet in the workplace. There is a raft of employment legislation that a student is probably not aware of, there are expectations and responsibilities that take time to learn and become familiar with. Every workplace is different, but there are also rules and best practice that apply to everyone. Contracts, grievances, finance, discrimination professional concerns, or anything else you’d like to talk about, you can contact us. Our service is completely confidential, and your name or details will never be passed on from our service.

We are here Mon-Fri each week and can be contacted by phone on 01822 870270 or by email at AdvisoryService@bvna.co.uk. If you call us out of hours you will get a message with an emergency out of hours number you can use if your query can’t wait.

VOL 36 • March 2021 • Veterinary Nursing Journal