Part 3 — Trends & Entitlements
Averaging Agreements
Welcome to a new series from the BCDHA designed to help you understand workplace benefits and entitlements in BC. This series will help you understand trends in dental hygiene benefits, entitlements your employer is legally required to offer, and tips for negotiating your compensation.
What You Need to Know
Have you heard of averaging agreements? They can offer flexibility in scheduling, but it’s important to understand the implications.
- Averaging agreements allow employers and employees to average out working hours over a set period, typically one to four weeks. This means you might work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week on some occasions, but as long as the average over the agreed-upon period doesn’t exceed those limits, your employer isn’t required to pay overtime.
- There are both potential benefits and drawbacks to averaging agreements. They can accommodate varying patient volumes but may also result in longer workdays and impact overtime pay.
- There are legal requirements for averaging agreements, including the need for a written agreement and specific limits on daily and weekly hours.
By understanding how averaging agreements work, you can make informed decisions about whether they’re right for you.
