HR and employment law Solicitor, Sarah Buxton, is the latest expert in dentistry to share her expertise and advice with practice managers and business owners.
The age-old phrase ‘prevention is better than cure’ has no better use than here. If you’re a practice manager or business owner, having to recruit a new member of staff or let go of a current one can be a taxing situation, but taking advice before you act can save you a lot of time, effort and money in the long term.
You need to consider the CQC and employment law when you’re faced with recruiting and terminating staff; if they’re not on your radar, then they should be! Failure to adhere to them can be costly for a business, so make sure that you have access to updated CQC requirements and are implementing them successfully.
Employment law is a must. If you’re recruiting and terminating employees, you need to remember that they have rights that you need to meet, otherwise the worst-case scenario is an employment law tribunal. A claim can be brought for unfair dismissal, discrimination or unfair deductions from pay – and if you didn’t know, these claims can be made against you by anyone applying for a job, even if they didn’t have an interview or get the position.
“It can be challenging to keep on top of what should be included in a contract…”
There are dental practices that have a variety of different types of contract in the workplace: employed, self-employed, sub-contracted, locum, part-time, full-time, maternity cover, zero hours, etc. It can be challenging to keep on top of what should be included in a contract, what shouldn’t, what policies should be in place and if these should be different from full-time to part-time, maternity cover to zero hours. Everybody needs a contract and all of the examples above have different policies and procedures that need to be adhered to.
Bringing employment to an end can be an upsetting situation for both parties. Your practice should have a procedure in place to safeguard you and your employees. If you don’t then this is something that you need to implement instantly, as it could have serious repercussions in the future. You need to have a good reason for dismissing someone – such as their inability to keep up with important changes in the job, e.g. a new computer system. However, you have to give the employee a chance to improve, this may be done through offering them appropriate training. You need to cover all angles and leave no stone unturned when it comes to the dismissal of an employee.
Recruiting and dismissing staff is an important role in a dental practice. They can lead to perfect partnerships with new staff, who bring life and energy into a practice or persistent problems that wreak havoc on staff morale and the office environment. Make sure that you’ve got the necessary knowledge when you’re recruiting and terminating employment, it will give you a greater position of power.
Sarah is going to be exploring the topics discussed above in a regional event ‘From Recruitment to Termination and Everything In-Between’ with upcoming dates in Worcester and East Midlands. The events will be exclusive to Practice Plan and Medenta members and attendees will find out more about the policies and procedures needed to make their practice bulletproof and remain compliant with the CQC and employment law.
Find out more information about the event here.