The Four Day Week in Veterinary Practice: How Four 10s Work, What Goes Wrong, and How to Try It

Ask a veterinary technician what would make them stay and one answer comes up again and again: a schedule they can plan a life around. A growing number of practices are answering with the compressed week, most often four 10 hour days. Done well it gives staff a weekday off, covers the long clinic day without a shift change in the middle of surgery, and becomes a benefit that is hard for competitors to match. Done badly it produces exhausted teams, overtime bills and gaps at the worst times.

This guide covers what the data says, how hospitals that run compressed weeks actually do it, and how to try it without betting the practice.

Why schedules matter now

The AVMA's census data shows full time veterinarians averaged 48.7 hours a week in 2023, down about an hour from the 2021 and 2022 peak but still above pre pandemic levels. The AVMA noted that burnout followed the same trend as hours.

For the rest of the team, AAHA's 2023 "Stay, Please" study of more than 14,000 people in small animal practice found that 30% planned to leave their current position within a year. Teamwork, modern medicine and meaningful work were the strongest reasons people stayed, with fair pay, job flexibility and appreciation rounding out the top six. AAHA put average annual team turnover at 23%. Flexibility is not the whole answer, but it is one of the few levers a practice can pull without raising its fee schedule.

What a compressed week looks like

Four 10s for technicians and support staff

The most common pattern. AAHA's reporting on accredited hospitals that run it describes why it works in general practice:

• Continuity of care. A technician at Teegarden Veterinary Clinic in Illinois described checking in a surgery at 7:15 a.m. and still being there at 5 p.m. to discharge it. No handoff between a morning and an afternoon technician.
• The day off is the benefit. A practice manager at Morris Animal Hospital in Indiana said the weekday off reduces requests to leave early, because people book appointments on their own day.
• Longer lunches. The same hospital stretched lunch to an hour and a half to make the long day survivable.

Not every day in a row

At Riverview Animal Hospital in Colorado, staff asked for four 10s but not four in a row, because by the fourth straight day "you're just toast." The manager splits them. Four 10s with a midweek day off is a different job from four 10s followed by three days off.

Three 12s

Some practices, especially emergency hospitals, use 12 hour shifts. A practice administrator in Massachusetts who had worked three 12s described them as taking a toll, because in veterinary medicine a 12 rarely ends at 12. Emergency hospitals in AAHA's reporting rotated nights and weekends so no one worked every weekend, and capped doctors at a set number of shifts a month.

The traps

Overtime

Federal law requires overtime for nonexempt employees above 40 hours in a workweek, and some states have daily overtime rules. California, for example, generally requires overtime after 8 hours in a day, unless the practice adopts an alternative workweek schedule through the state's formal process. Before you change schedules, check your state's rules with an employment adviser.

Even where overtime is weekly, four 10s leave no margin. One Massachusetts practice in AAHA's reporting schedules 36 hours a week on a four day pattern, so that shifts that run long do not push people into overtime.

Fatigue

A 10 hour day on your feet is hard, and errors rise with fatigue. Watch for it in the last two hours of the day: missed callbacks, rushed records, short tempers. Breaks need to be real, not taken standing at the treatment table.

Coverage gaps

Compressed schedules shift when people are present. Map your appointment volume by hour and day before and after the change. Many practices find the old 8 hour schedule left a crunch at shift change, and the 10 hour day fixes it. Others find Friday afternoon suddenly thin.

The doctor schedule

Four 10s are easier for support staff than for associate veterinarians, whose production and appointment books may not fit. Some practices give doctors four days of shorter hours instead. Decide this explicitly. A team on four 10s and doctors on five 9s creates resentment in both directions.

Not everyone wants it

Parents with school pick ups, people with second jobs and those who simply prefer shorter days may not want 10 hours. The Colorado hospital in AAHA's reporting kept special arrangements for exactly these people. A compressed week works best as the default with exceptions, not a mandate.

How to pilot it

1. Ask the team first. Who wants it, which day off they would choose, and who would need an exception.
2. Map the hours. Look at appointments, surgeries and phone volume by hour for the last three months.
3. Write a draft schedule and check every hour has the technicians, assistants and front desk it needs.
4. Check overtime law for your state, and decide how long days and call ins will be handled.
5. Run it for 90 days with one team or one role.
6. Measure: overtime hours, sick calls, unfilled shifts, client wait times, and what the team says.
7. Tell people it can change. Present it as a schedule you will review, not a permanent right, so you can adjust without breaking trust.

Put it in the job post

If you run a compressed week, say so at the top of every job ad. "Four 10s, every Wednesday off, no on call" tells a technician more than "great work life balance." See how to write a veterinary job posting and the before and after job ad rewrite.

Schedules are one part of keeping a team. Our post on why vet techs leave and what keeps them covers the rest.

How Zuse helps

Practices on Zuse Hire can post openings with the schedule in plain words, and on Zuse Talent technicians browse vet tech jobs with pay and schedule shown.

Sources

• AVMA, Chart of the month: Work hours continue to exceed pre-pandemic norms (May 21, 2024)
• AVMA News, Study: Fair pay, appreciation for work top factors in employee retention (March 4, 2024), on AAHA's "Stay, Please" study
• AAHA Trends, Flexible work schedules: Alternative workweeks can benefit both practice and employees (2020)
• US Department of Labor, Overtime pay, and California Department of Industrial Relations, Alternative workweek schedules

This article is not legal advice. Check overtime and scheduling rules for your state.

FAQ

Do four 10 hour days work in a veterinary practice?

Many accredited hospitals use them for technicians and support staff. They improve continuity of care and give staff a weekday off, but need longer breaks and careful overtime planning.

Does a four day week cause overtime?

Not under federal weekly overtime if hours stay at or under 40. Some states, such as California, have daily overtime rules unless a formal alternative workweek is adopted. Long shifts that run over can also push people past 40.

Should veterinarians work four 10s too?

It depends on the appointment book and how doctors are paid. Some practices give doctors four shorter days instead. Decide the doctor schedule explicitly so the team and doctors are not on mismatched patterns.

How do I try a compressed schedule?

Ask the team, map hourly demand, draft a schedule, check your state's overtime rules, and pilot it for 90 days with one group, measuring overtime, sick calls and client wait times.

Does schedule flexibility help retention?

AAHA's 2023 study of more than 14,000 practice team members found job flexibility among the top six reasons people stay, alongside teamwork, meaningful work, modern medicine, fair pay and appreciation.