Up to 50% OFF a Complete Dental Assessment for Dogs & Cats Learn more
Blackhall Properties Limited, trading as Village Vets, provide expert care for pets across over 20 clinics in Ireland with 280+ employees.
When determining reward and pay for our employees, we balance several factors, including the general economic climate, company performance, and the external market for the variety of roles that we offer. Our reward systems are designed to recognise the accomplishments, commitment and performance of our people.
People are at the heart of our organisation. We are committed to listening to the needs and feedback of all our team members, regardless of gender, to ensure our reward systems align with their needs. The Village Vets Leadership team is fully dedicated to improving the working lives of all our employees
Village Vets promotes a series of initiatives to support a diverse and inclusive workforce. Over the past few years, Village Vets has invested significantly in our extensive CPD and training plans. We continue our long-standing partnership with University College Dublin, where we support the next generation of Veterinary Surgeons by facilitating first opinion rotations for undergraduates in our clinics. Reflecting the wider veterinary profession, we also have a workforce which has a high female population and actively support more women in joining this important profession.
Workforce 2025
Gender Pay Data
Narrative and Trends Observed:
Gender Representation in Pay Quartiles:
Female representation remains strongest in the lower pay quartile, reflecting gender concentrations in certain cohorts of staff and broader industry gender trends and demographics. However, there was a notable decrease in this quartile to 91.7%, due to the effects and changes of the company implementing career progression pathways.
Gender Pay Gap:
The mean hourly rate for women is 29.8% lower than for men, and the median hourly rate gap stands at 25.4% lower. These gaps can be attributed to factors such as differences in job roles, responsibilities, qualifications, seniority, and tenure.
Bonus Pay:
In 2025, men’s mean bonus pay was 3.6% lower than women’s, while women’s median bonus pay was 14.1% lower than men’s. These shifts show a narrowing of the bonus gap, due to changes in bonus structures which were streamlined across the organisation, performance metrics, and increased access to bonus-eligible roles for women.
The percentage of employees receiving bonus pay increased for both genders, with 27.3% of men and 16.0% of women receiving bonuses. This reflects our expanded and streamlined bonus program and improved tracking and reporting of bonus distribution.
Benefit in Kind (BIK):
A slightly higher percentage of women than men received a Benefit in Kind in 2025, which is linked to an increased participation in programs offering non-cash benefits.
Actions We Have and are Taking:
Ensure unbiased recruitment and promotion processes to increase female representation in higher quartiles through interview and bias awareness training and the introduction of more collaborative interview processes. We are establishing salary bands for further transparency.
In attracting more women into the organisation and ensuring we retain them; we promote flexible working practices and strive for better alignment towards all our employees to benefit from such schemes whilst building their career. We continue to explore job share opportunities and, subject to government policy, we will continue to support childcare schemes for our employees.
Village Vets is dedicated to supporting our employees both professionally and personally. In line with this commitment, we introduced a paid family leave policy during the year to support new parents. This initiative is designed to provide essential support during a critical time, helping employees balance their personal responsibilities while temporarily away from the workforce.
Village Vets has established strong partnerships with UCD, collaborating on initiatives such as first opinion rotations for undergraduates and supporting various research projects. We are committed to expanding these efforts by encouraging colleges nationwide to support more Vets, Nurses, Animal Care Assistants, and Front-of-House colleagues. Our goal is to inspire young women to consider careers in these fields.
We actively foster a culture of diversity through inclusive recruitment processes, aiming to attract candidates of all genders and backgrounds. By promoting diversity and inclusion, we strive to create a workplace where everyone can thrive. Additionally, we are implementing programs to develop diverse leadership within the organisation, ensuring that our team reflects the varied perspectives and experiences of our community.
We have developed an employer survey to regularly gather feedback from employees on pay and reward systems. This involved establishing a culture council who provide additional feedback and allow us to deep-dive further and we use this feedback to make informed judgements regarding compensation practices and benefits.
