Short-term employees are considered employees by the State of California and require additional documentation. This toolkit covers hiring, paying and terminating temporary employees.

This guidance outlines what you need to know when bringing non-traditional workers, temporary employees, minors and observers into the practice, including wage and hour obligations, supervision requirements, patient confidentiality, workplace safety, insurance considerations, and best practices for reducing risk.

A comprehensive resource to help employers navigate the complexities of CFRA compliance as of July 2026, including determining employee eligibility, meeting time-sensitive obligations and managing leave.

When a patient requests a copy of their records, the dental practice must follow specific procedures. Written policies regarding how and when you provide a patient with their records ensures your practice team consistently follows both state law and HIPAA rules. Transparent communication with patients will also reduce potential liabilities.

FAQ on infection control, other Cal/OSHA regulations, training, personal protective equipment and inspections. This resource is part of the Regulatory Compliance Manual. Updated June 2026.

Individual cities and counties across California have passed local ordinances relating to minimum wage and sick leave laws — with eligibility rules varying from city to city. Check with local city government as to whether any local minimum wage ordinances may apply to employees in your practice. Periodically check local websites as rates in these cities could change at any time.

Lists posters required at dental offices and required pamphlets. Poster sets are distributed to practice owners biennially. This resource is part of the Regulatory Compliance Manual. Updated May 2026.

The promotion of dental software using artificial intelligence seems overwhelming as vendors and others promote the benefits of their use. The benefit potential of artificial intelligence is high but so are the risks if users implement it without knowing its limitations and potential risks. The dental practitioner must be able to separate the hype from reality, be cognizant of applicable laws and regulations and be transparent with patients and employees when using artificial intelligence in clinical decision-making and procedures, along with administrative functions. This article highlights current laws and regulations and how they impact a dentist’s use of artificial intelligence. It will be reviewed and updated regularly.

For the safety of your patients and to provide quality dental care, all medical and dental health information should be current and accurate. Patients must review and update their health history form regularly. Maintaining up-to-date health information is essential to delivering safe, effective care to patients while protecting you from risk.

California eavesdropping law requires an individual give authorization before or when another individual or entity records them speaking in private conversation. This sample consent form is provided in response to increasing interest by dental practices to use artificial intelligence-enabled software to record patients and treatment providers in order to draft notes for the clinical chart.

Best practices for developing a job description outlining required qualifications, expectations and job duties for every employee. Includes sample descriptions for key positions in the dental practice.

Customize sample plan to describe how the practice complies with safe work practices, communicates with staff and more. This resource is part of the Regulatory Compliance Manual. Updated June 2024.

All employers are required to provide a set amount of paid sick leave (PSL) to employees who work California. The law establishes minimum requirements, but employers have options with how they provide and manage the time. 

This toolkit covers recruiting, interviewing, hiring and onboarding, and provides a general list of basic hiring documents. 

Checklist to help prepare for planning an optimal new employee orientation and onboarding process, including lists of forms, acknowledgements and brochures required in CA.

An employee emergency contact form is an onboarding form that employees can fill out to provide you with their emergency contact information in the event of a practice emergency. Employees may also provide any other information that they think you might need to know in case of an emergency, such as food allergies or allergies to any medications.

Keep this form organized in your employee confidential personnel records and review and update annually.

Gauge your understanding of leave management and learn the potential risks of getting it wrong.

By March 30, 2026, employers must allow employees to designate an emergency contact or collect this information from new hires…

Starting on February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, employers must provide each current and new employee with a stand-alone written Workplace Know Your Rights Act Notice via regular communication methods (e.g., in person, email, or text). Employers must provide the notice in the language typically used for work-related communications.

Dentistry is an ever-evolving field, and CDT codes are critical to the everyday workings of dental practices.

This is a handbook contains summary of key information and requirements of the Medi-Cal Dental Program program.

Sample form to obtain patient consent for use or disclosure of patient information as required by HIPAA and state law.

Both federal and state laws protect patient health information (PHI) in part by establishing rules for its use and disclosure. This article reviews those rules.

Developed to be used specifically in a dental practice this template reflects policies in the areas of discrimination, harassment and retaliation prevention and training requirements, pregnancy disability leave, meal and rest break requirements and more. Updated for 2025.

This quick-reference chart will help you understand the key points of nine new laws and one privacy protection law in California and the required actions for employers. Use it along with linked CDA resources to start your path to compliance.

HIPAA and California law require individuals be notified when specified personal information, including health and medical insurance information is breached. This resource summarizes the requirements, provides a checklist of steps to follow when patient information may have been breached or accessed without authorization and includes a sample notification letter.