YOU’RE HIRED! 

The staff members at Tri-county tell me that they get frequent questions from member-doctors about how to set up a ‘working interview’ with a prospective employee. The doctor inquires as to whether they must pay that employee for their time even if it is relatively brief, whether they have to deduct taxes from the employee’s pay if the potential employee is compensated, how long a working interview should be, etc. Therefore, Penny requested that I address the interview process for such prospective employees in this month’s column. 

First, let me come right to the point. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A WORKING INTERVIEW. When an employee does any sort of work for you at your direction, you have hired that person. And certainly you must pay that employee for all time spent. Obviously, this simple fact leads many of you to then have to pay unemployment benefits for that employee that you believed you did not hire. And then you call me, How come? Why? But I didn’t even hire her! How could that blankety-blank do this to me? But yes, you did hire that employee, in the eyes of the law. 

This issue most frequently arises with dental assistants. Before we get further into the interview process, what should you do when hiring a dental assistant with unknown skills? The answer is: Go through a regular interview process, ask whether she can make temporaries and take proper radiographs, etc., check references, and take a leap of faith. If you find out day one that this employee certainly does not have the skills she represented to you, then you fire her. Easy enough, and you have her skill representations in writing from her and should have no legal repercussions.  Of course, you may still have to pay unemployment if she does not get another job right away. But you will have to pay it if she does a working interview as well, and you may not have all the documentation on her skills that you should have if you complete a regular interview process.

And, don’t even think you can have this prospective employee sign an agreement or a waiver or anything else that will make any difference. If you are a regular reader of this column you know that nothing an employee may sign or agree to has any effect on their legal rights and is not binding if not in accordance with state or federal law. She can sign her life away and laugh all the way to the unemployment office. 

Now, on to the proper interview process. First, determine what you want in an employee and develop a check list that applies specifically to your office. This ensures uniformity in the interview process and helps protect against possible discrimination claims. You can use the first part of this checklist on the telephone to screen potential applicants for licenses and skills and you can use the remainder of the checklist during the actual interview process. For example, on the telephone you can say: Do you have an R.D.A. license? Can you make acrylic temporary crowns? Can you work Saturdays? You may even want to make salary statements such as: This job pays approximately $9.00/hour, would this be acceptable to you? If the prospect passes this step, set them up to come into the office. Now is the time to try to find out more about the potential employee, in a legal manner. You may ask open-ended questions such as: Why would you like to work here? Do you like working in fast pace offices or do you prefer slower pace offices? What type of relationship did you have with your past employer? Who was the best ‘boss’ you’ve ever had and why? May I check all your references?

Also remember that neither you nor any of your staff members, your consultant, your wife, or anyone else that represents you may ask questions that are not legal pre-employment questions in California. You may not ask whether an applicant is married, if she has children, if she is pregnant or plans on becoming pregnant. You may not ask an applicant that tells you voluntarily that she has children whether she has reliable childcare. You may not ask about an applicant’s age, what language she speaks, whether she has a disability. All your inquiries must be job-related. 

Hopefully, after all this, you do indeed select the employee best suited to your practice and all goes well. But, if it is clear to you after the first week this employee does not have skills you need, that is the time to end the relationship. Don’t let months and years go by and then attempt to terminate an employee who had no idea you have been unhappy with her for all that time. That is when trouble usually begins.

© Bette Robin, DDS, JD