Beware of employment contract clawbacks, radiologists caution job seekers
In a hot job market that frequently has physicians hopping from one gig to the next, radiologists are warning peers to watch out for clawbacks and other landmines in employment contracts.
Over the past decade, the frequency of job turnover, particularly among early career rads, has risen, Benjamin E. Northrup, MD, and Kurt A. Schoppe, MD, wrote Wednesday. Members of the specialty should begin their next job with an exit strategy in mind or risk losing a hefty sum in the process, according to an opinion piece published by the American Journal of Roentgenology.
They cited pre-pandemic data, which showed that about 40% of radiologists changed jobs at least once in a four-year period.
“As frequent job turnover has become part of the current radiology landscape, job seekers—especially trainees and early-career radiologists—should begin with the end in mind when reviewing job offers,” Northrup and Schoppe, with Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and Radiology Associates of North Texas, respectively, wrote Sept. 3. “Legal language can have numerous pitfalls, and job seekers should consider consulting a lawyer with experience in contract review,” they added later.
The two cited today’s increasingly large signing bonuses as one contract provision subject to clawbacks. Understanding payment terms is “vital,” they noted, with duration of employment required to keep the full amount a particularly important provision. If a radiologist fails to meet the full duration, they’ll likely need to pay part of the amount back. Licensure and credentialling costs, which can range from $10,000 to $15,000, also are often paid by a new employer. Typically, rads must pay a flat fee or prorated cost-sharing amount, if departing before one or two years.
Northrup and Schoppe also urged others to pay attention to the nuances of benefits, malpractice coverage and noncompete clauses. On the latter, departing radiologists must pay a buyout if they want to remain in a particular geography. Typically, negotiations begin at an amount matching the radiologist’s annual compensation, the writers noted. To help better prepare for these challenges, they recommend residency programs and educational sessions focused on the business of radiology and structure of entities that typically employ radiologists.
Read the full opinion piece in AJR here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.