Hiring, Firing & Performance

With an increasing demand for dental assistants throughout California, CDA is encouraging member dentists to consider transferable skills while recruiting and hiring. Smile Crew CA aims to create a pool of qualified candidates by targeting job seekers who have been displaced from service roles with adaptable skills that would make them a viable dental assistant.  

Tips on how to recruit and hire new employees during the COVID era. The following strategies can help practice owners recruit talent that best fits business needs while also remaining in compliance with legal and safety regulations.

Employers in California can now visit a single website to help them understand their requirements under a new law that further restricts their ability to classify their workers as independent contractors. Launched late last year by the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency, the website provides employer-specific resources and FAQ summarizing AB 5 and the ABC test and more.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, it will be more difficult for most employers in California to classify workers as independent contractors, rather than employees, and in some cases will make employees out of independent contractors. And although CDA secured an exemption for dentists, employee classification still isn’t clear-cut, and dentists will need to err on the side of caution when classifying their workers.

Commonly, a dental practice will hire a temporary dental assistant, hygienist or front-office staff to fill in briefly for employee sick days, when the practice’s needs have increased or for an employee’s long-term leave of absence. CDA Practice Support finds that many employers are still puzzled about the requirements when hiring, classifying and properly paying these short-term employees.

Every employee’s employment life cycle ends eventually, whether due to resignation, retirement, termination or other reason. In the dental office, any employee who separates should do so in a structured and professional manner with minimum disruption to the patients, staff and practice. Still, depending on what triggers an employee’s departure, separation can be an awkward situation for employers to navigate. Such discomfort can be lessened if clear policies and practices are in place.

Employees miss work for myriad reasons, but what happens when an employee is a no-show and has not communicated with the employer about his or her absence? There are no telephone calls, emails or texts — the employee has made no contact of any kind with the employer. While this can be a frustrating situation, it is not a “free ticket” to terminating the employee.