Transcription:
Part 1: Common Clauses in Dental Employment Contracts

VO: This podcast is intended to provide information only on certain risk management topics, and is not to be construed as providing legal, medical, or professional advice of any form whatsoever. Because federal, state, and local laws vary by location, nothing in this podcast is intended to serve as legal advice or to establish any standard of care. Legal advice if desired, should be sought from competent counsel in your state.

Host: Hello and welcome to ForCast, the new podcast series brought to you by Fortress Insurance, the leading professional liability insurance coverage provider for dentists.

I'm Dr. Julie Goldberg, the Education Program Developer at Fortress Insurance. I'm a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Dentistry, and a licensed dentist in the states of Illinois and Florida. Before we dive into our first episode, I want to take a few moments to introduce this series, and provide an overview of why we're bringing you valuable information in a podcast format.

As dental professionals, we know you're busy and value your preferences for receiving timely updates and vital information to help you succeed as you grow in your profession. The ForCast series will include information on insurance coverage, employment contracts, the litigation process as it relates to medical professional liability claims, and risk management considerations specific to the field of dentistry.

Now, the name ForCast represents a combination of our name, Fortress and all the knowledge and protection we provide to our members and forecasting a decision making tool to support predicting future outcomes based on past events and professional insight. Not familiar with Fortress Insurance yet? Get in touch with Fortress and find an agent by visiting our website at dds4dds.com. That's d-d-s, the number four DDS.com.

All right, here we go. Let's launch our inaugural episode by welcoming Stephen Pavkovic, Senior Risk Manager at Fortress Insurance, and an attorney and nurse who brings a wealth of insight for new dental professionals to consider regarding employment relationships and contracts. Welcome to our podcast and thanks for joining us.

Guest: Thank you Julie. It's great to be here and participate in the first episode of what I'm sure will be an important source of information.

Host: Yeah, thanks. We're excited to be bringing this to our listeners, Stephen. I think back to my own experiences as I neared graduation from dental school and it was really an exciting time, but I also felt like some of you may be feeling as you start your own journeys, I've not done this before. How do I make the right decisions in determining how and where I practice and who do I turn to for assistance with the things I'm not an expert in?

Well, the good news is you're not expected to have all the answers. There are numerous resources to help, including this podcast series, your school's resources, your classmates and alumni networks, professional mentors, professional societies, and numerous websites that are great starting points.

Guest: I agree. Specific to today's topic of employment relationships and contracts; in addition to the resources you've mentioned, many build a team of professional advisors to help them during this transition time. Some of the advisors on that team could include a competent lawyer licensed in the state where you'll be practicing for advice and counsel.

This attorney can assist with the review of equipment and property leasing agreements, software licensing agreements, state licensure and regulation interpretation, maybe billing or insurance reimbursement questions, and also as the topic of today's subject, the negotiation of employment agreements. An insurance agent with dental practice experience can guide you through various insurance considerations like medical professional liability coverage, and general liability coverages. On the money side, a certified public accountant or CPA can provide assistance with the management of financial, tax and other related business matters.

Host: So Stephen, are these the only three outside professionals needed as our listeners start and move through their dental careers?

Guest: Most likely not. There's additional professionals that may be required or suggested based on the specific practice situation. Maybe individuals with expertise in credentialing, billing, coding, maybe even marketing. New to practice dentists may also benefit from guidance of a career development coaches or professional mentors. Many of the new dentists may feel overwhelmed about who to include on their advisory team. There are numerous resources out there as Dr. Goldberg you already mentioned for us. I think it's important to work with your school and the providers in your area for some of those specific resources.

Host: Great. Stephen, I'm really glad you brought that up. Asking trusted dental providers in your area is a great way to find recommendations and to network within your local dental community. It's really so important to new professionals.

Guest: Absolutely. You know, throughout your careers, I believe you'll find that there's great value in having trusted recommendations from your professional network. I know that's been my experience in my legal career.

Host: Yeah, well said. Let's now turn our focus to a really important topic to new dental professionals, employment agreements. And before you dive in, Stephen, I understand you have a reminder to share with our listeners.

Guest: Correct? While I am a licensed attorney, I am not your attorney, specifically talking to our listeners. Right. I'm providing general information about employment relationships, and contracts. Since employment contracts involve the application and interpretation of state law and other considerations, each listener should consult with a competent council in your state. Please note, a full discussion of employment terms, employment agreements for new to practice professionals could easily fill several days worth of content. That's not our goal, by any means at all today. Rather, what we would like to do is just to provide an introduction to employment contracts for dentists.

Host: That's all really important background information. Stephen, I think we better start with some more basic information, like what is a contract and why are they used for employment?

Guest: That's a good place to start. In general, employment agreement or employment contract, we use both those terms today, is established where one party agrees to compensate the other party for the performance of services and where the compensated party agrees to perform those services and agrees to be bound by specific negotiated restrictions.

That's a very kind of textbook definition. Let's look at that with a few more dental terms and a little more dental focus. An employment agreement is established where a practice, a dental practice, agrees to compensate a dentist for providing dental treatment and where the dentist agrees to perform dental treatment, and agrees to be bound by specific negotiated terms of that agreement.

Host: So Stephen, does an employment contract need to be in writing?

Guest: Well, whether or not an employment agreement needs to be in writing to be enforceable is likely determined by each state's law. One thing that is clear, is that the written contract is used to memorialize the understanding of the parties in the attempt to limit confusion, and also at the same time to protect both parties.

Another way to limit future confusion is not to sign any agreement if there are any questions on your part about the content or terms of the agreement. I believe this is today's main take home lesson. If you find yourself with questions about the content of any portion of an agreement, consider consulting your professional network, including the advisory team we've mentioned. And of course, your own legal counsel before signing the agreement.

Host: That helps with the background, Stephen. Can you provide some examples for us of topics frequently covered in employment agreements, which might be of interest to our listeners?

Guest: Sure. One of the first and kind of basic topics to consider, what is the relationship between the parties and specifically looking at some of the control between the parties in the performance of services. As a dentist, you'll likely enter an employment relationship, either as an employee or as an independent contractor hired by a dental practice to provide services. As an employee, the dental practice may have more control over the performance of your services. And what we're talking about here, common employment matters like the payment of income taxes, providing benefits to the dentist, maintaining dental equipment, managing billing protocols, scheduling the hours worked and making hiring decisions for practice staff. This is the type of decisions that would be performed by the dental practice.

This compares then to an independent contractor relationship where you are generally considered essentially as a self-employed professional with more autonomy regarding the details of work. This could involve paying your own taxes, having more of a say or control in the management of your regular schedule, and also providing potentially your own professional clothing. While, there can be benefits or disadvantages from each employment model, whichever one the new dentist finds themselves in; it's important that the employment contract accurately reflects the nature of the employment relationship.

Host: So, Stephen, you mentioned negotiated terms. What can be negotiated in an employment contract?

Guest: That'll depend on each situation, but theoretically, almost anything in a contract can be negotiated. Some topics though, such as whether or not a dentist is graduated from an accredited program, whether or not a dentist obtains and maintains a state license for practice of dentistry; these topics cannot be negotiated.

Now, some of the topics, which can be, would be traditional items on the day-to-day manner, such as compensation, the duties, the location, and hours of, vacation time, benefits like health and life insurance coverage, continuing professional education and membership funding, retirement access. Also possibly even professional liability or malpractice insurance coverage. If malpractice insurance coverage is part of the negotiations with your employer, you may want to ask if the employer covers the cost of malpractice insurance or contributes to the cost.

It's important also to ask if the employer requires all dentists to purchase coverage from the same carrier, or if each dentist selects their own coverage. It would be advisable to work with an insurance agent as part of your professional team that we mentioned, with a focus on the protection of dentists and also with a company that specializes in dental malpractice coverage, such as with Fortress Insurance.

Host: Yeah, that's really important for our listeners, Stephen. We're going to dive into more details of professional liability or malpractice insurance in a future episode, so make sure you follow so you don't miss this very important information.

Guest: Absolutely. That is important information and I'm sure our listeners will not want to miss that. Another important topic to think about during the negotiation period is the term, the length of the contract itself, and also the renewal of the employment agreement if applicable. For example, will the term be fixed or predefined, such as for a one year term, or will the agreement be silent as to the term?

So then in that situation, it may be possible or likely that the dentist would be considered an at- will employee. As an at-will employee, either party could terminate the employment relationship at any time. Regarding renewals, are the renewals automatic at the end of a term? Or is there prior notice that could be required, for example, like 90 days before the end of the contract term. And if the notice is not provided during that 90 day period, that would mean that the renewal is waived. These are the details which would end up in the contract, and you'd want to make sure the contract accurately reflects that.

Host: Wow, Stephen, that's really a lot of information for new dentists to consider regarding employment contracts. So we're approaching the end of our session today. Do you have any take home messages for our audience?

Guest: Yes. Just to reinforce what we've said, when negotiations are completed, the agreed upon terms that relate to the provision of your professional services need to be included in the contract. And if those terms are not accurately included in the contract or if you do not understand the terms, it's important to obtain the professional advice and not to sign the contract until those questions are answered.

Host: Well, that's helpful to understand. And that's about all the time we have for today. It went by really fast and I wish we could chat longer. Thanks so much, Stephen for joining us, a really special episode as we kick off this podcast series helping our listeners navigate some basic information about employment agreements.

Guest: Thank you very much for having me and congratulations again on sharing this important information.

Host: So we thank you, our listeners for joining us today for the maiden voyage of our ForCast podcast series where we provide our members with vital information to help them move forward in their dental profession and protect themselves and their practices. So tune in next time where we'll continue our discussion on employment agreements, turning our attention to the most common types new dental professionals will encounter. Make us a favorite so you don't miss out.

VO: Do you want to learn more or do you have a specific question to ask? Contact Fortress Insurance through our website at dds4dds.com. That's d-d-s, the number four dds.com.