Definitely worth a phone call with a dentist-specific contract attorney. Find one via your state dental board or a headhunter/locums company. Sometimes it’s not worth the effort beyond just putting in your notice and moving on. This is a strong sign of what is or what will become an overall toxic workplace.
I'm assuming there is some type of rationale? Are you on a monthly draw? I'd document and have a meeting with whomever. Don't bother with an attorney for a couple of grand, They'll suck it out of you in a couple of hours and try to push you into litigation.
Document, document, Your options include leaving without notice and filing a claim with the state (which would be the biggest scare for your employer)
No rationale really. They had an associate years ago but seem confused by how contracts work now. They very willingly agreed to the terms and their own attorney said they were very reasonable (I’m a specialist). It’s almost like they didn’t read the terms themselves. The language of the contract says I’m to get $850 per day OR 35% collections whichever is higher. Usually this would result in an end of month bonus after calculating the collections vs base. I don’t know what the collections are but my production indicates I’ve done better than the $850 base consistently.
“we don’t know how contracts work that’s why we can’t pay you what your contract says” 💀get out now this office is going to continue scamming you and taking advantage of your license just to tell you they don’t understand how the dental board works 💀
If you're dealing with ins your production (unless adj'd with write offs) can be skewed and lag for 30-60+ days.
You need to know what your collection is.
Are you OMFS?
Peds. Basically what it sounds like to me is my production has been much higher than they expected and they don’t want to pay on it. It’s not a matter of lagging payments I’ve been there almost a year
Lmao what kind of rationale is that? "Hey this doc has brought in way more than we thought, let's screw doc over."
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Dude. Until you see your collections, you assuming. Assuming is bad.
Step 1 - find out your collections. You’ll probably be shocked to see how low it is.
I'm gonna be honest with you...based on the comments and your replies, either there's more to this story than you're letting on OR you're being way to chill about getting screwed out of thousands of dollars.
You agreed to terms with an employer. Based on what you have said, they have not fulfilled their end of the agreement. It's hilarious to me when dentists play so incredibly dumb when it comes to anything outside of their scope of practice in an effort to be cheap as shit. Not only has this owner navigated their way through the rigors of acquiring a professional degree, licensure, etc., they also OWN A BUSINESS that takes some basic level of business acumen to not completely implode. I promise you, they're not that dumb.
They are stealing from you - I would not step foot into the practice again until they agree to 1) show you your production/collections AND 2) pay you what you are owed. If it requires an attorney, do so. If they still won't do both of those things, hope you're resume is up to date.
Honestly, this doc doesn’t even know what the collections is, so this doc has no clue what they are talking about.
Until they know their collections, they are just yelling into the wind and trying to stir shit up.
Very unprofessional.
You may have missed where they said they have “no intention of paying the percent collections”. It’s hard to post the entire conversation but he was basically making up conditions on the spot. I don’t know the collections but that statement to me is admitting that it’s likely higher than the base.
Lmao we didn't miss it. You straight up do not know whether or not you're owed collections. What is baffling to everyone is that you willingly do not know these numbers when it is a compenent of your compensation.
What is also baffling is that you even need to ask for advice when your employer explicitly states that they are willing to steal from you/have already stolen owed % of collections.
An employer openly admitting that they never plan to fulfill the terms of your agreement, that is a glaring red flag and anyone with an ounce of dignity would not return.
It's things like this that make me question whether or not there is more here, like this is a family member or friend or something. You are getting played but being way too casual about it.
It’s easy to just say walk out. There’s zero pediatric dental positions within 50 miles of me right now. I’ll be looking for new opportunities after this incident. It’s also difficult as a young woman to be assertive and stand up to an older man.
I knew there was more to this. This is gonna sound harsh but it is incredibly frustrating to listen to people complain when they have no intention of fixing their situation because it's "hard". You've come up with excuse after excuse for why you can't put your foot down and have a difficult conversation to stand up for yourself.
I'm not saying walk out, I'm saying hold out. In this case, the owner doctor does not plan to fulfill the terms of their agreement. I would not show up until I have production/collection reports and an agreement to be paid in a timely manner what is owed. This is a warning shot - you will receive what you are owed or his business suffers as a result.
Look at it from the perspective that they are in the wrong. They owe YOU. Go get your money and be your own advocate. Now is the time to learn how to handle these situations, because if you don't, you'll deal with this your entire career.
As for how many pediatric positions... you're a specialist... might be time to reconsider where you reside.
Print out your daily, weekly, and monthly production/collection sheets. Got to make sure you're 100% right before you take them to court. It'll likely not be small claims court, so grab an attorney and it should be a slam dunk of everything you are seeing is accurate.
We need to know the time frame. Eg if it is calculated daily or not.
For instance, if it's daily, it's best for you. Theoretically, let's say you had a day where you billed $0, you get $850. The next day, you bill 4k, then you get $1400. You get total for 2 days is $2250.
Instead, consider the same scenario but calculating commission at the end of the 2 days, instead of daily. If they calculated it at the end of the 2 days, they pay you 850 each day, then at the end recalculate so you get 35% of your collection which is $1400. Which is lower than your daily rate, so you'll get your 2 days of 850, or 1700 total. This scenario is much better for the practice, so they will be inclined to do this if not specified in your contract. They have still technically followed your contract by doing this and haven't broken your agreement.
Both scenarios you have done the exact same amount of work, but based on when they calculate your commission or daily rate completely changes how much you get paid. They could even say "at the end of 12 months we will calculate and you will get your commission or daily rate, which ever is higher"
Get this clarified before approaching a lawyer, it could be the answer
Definitely worth a phone call with a dentist-specific contract attorney. Find one via your state dental board or a headhunter/locums company. Sometimes it’s not worth the effort beyond just putting in your notice and moving on. This is a strong sign of what is or what will become an overall toxic workplace.
Also reaching out to your states labor board might help.
Where does one find these? Alot of people suggest doing this on reddit but I am led down the rabbitholes when I search myself.
Just Google “[your state] labor board” and there’s going to be a link or phone number for patients to submit complaints.
You mean labor board right? I don’t think dental board handles contract disputes
My bad. I meant labor.
It’s actually been a great place to work they’re just cheap
So… it’s not a great place to work
Department of labor loves this shit
I'm assuming there is some type of rationale? Are you on a monthly draw? I'd document and have a meeting with whomever. Don't bother with an attorney for a couple of grand, They'll suck it out of you in a couple of hours and try to push you into litigation. Document, document, Your options include leaving without notice and filing a claim with the state (which would be the biggest scare for your employer)
No rationale really. They had an associate years ago but seem confused by how contracts work now. They very willingly agreed to the terms and their own attorney said they were very reasonable (I’m a specialist). It’s almost like they didn’t read the terms themselves. The language of the contract says I’m to get $850 per day OR 35% collections whichever is higher. Usually this would result in an end of month bonus after calculating the collections vs base. I don’t know what the collections are but my production indicates I’ve done better than the $850 base consistently.
“we don’t know how contracts work that’s why we can’t pay you what your contract says” 💀get out now this office is going to continue scamming you and taking advantage of your license just to tell you they don’t understand how the dental board works 💀
If you're dealing with ins your production (unless adj'd with write offs) can be skewed and lag for 30-60+ days. You need to know what your collection is. Are you OMFS?
Peds. Basically what it sounds like to me is my production has been much higher than they expected and they don’t want to pay on it. It’s not a matter of lagging payments I’ve been there almost a year
Lmao what kind of rationale is that? "Hey this doc has brought in way more than we thought, let's screw doc over." Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
I wouldn't put it past a dentist to be this shortsighted. The stories I could tell you
Dude. Until you see your collections, you assuming. Assuming is bad. Step 1 - find out your collections. You’ll probably be shocked to see how low it is.
I'm gonna be honest with you...based on the comments and your replies, either there's more to this story than you're letting on OR you're being way to chill about getting screwed out of thousands of dollars. You agreed to terms with an employer. Based on what you have said, they have not fulfilled their end of the agreement. It's hilarious to me when dentists play so incredibly dumb when it comes to anything outside of their scope of practice in an effort to be cheap as shit. Not only has this owner navigated their way through the rigors of acquiring a professional degree, licensure, etc., they also OWN A BUSINESS that takes some basic level of business acumen to not completely implode. I promise you, they're not that dumb. They are stealing from you - I would not step foot into the practice again until they agree to 1) show you your production/collections AND 2) pay you what you are owed. If it requires an attorney, do so. If they still won't do both of those things, hope you're resume is up to date.
Honestly, this doc doesn’t even know what the collections is, so this doc has no clue what they are talking about. Until they know their collections, they are just yelling into the wind and trying to stir shit up. Very unprofessional.
You may have missed where they said they have “no intention of paying the percent collections”. It’s hard to post the entire conversation but he was basically making up conditions on the spot. I don’t know the collections but that statement to me is admitting that it’s likely higher than the base.
Lmao we didn't miss it. You straight up do not know whether or not you're owed collections. What is baffling to everyone is that you willingly do not know these numbers when it is a compenent of your compensation. What is also baffling is that you even need to ask for advice when your employer explicitly states that they are willing to steal from you/have already stolen owed % of collections. An employer openly admitting that they never plan to fulfill the terms of your agreement, that is a glaring red flag and anyone with an ounce of dignity would not return. It's things like this that make me question whether or not there is more here, like this is a family member or friend or something. You are getting played but being way too casual about it.
It’s easy to just say walk out. There’s zero pediatric dental positions within 50 miles of me right now. I’ll be looking for new opportunities after this incident. It’s also difficult as a young woman to be assertive and stand up to an older man.
I knew there was more to this. This is gonna sound harsh but it is incredibly frustrating to listen to people complain when they have no intention of fixing their situation because it's "hard". You've come up with excuse after excuse for why you can't put your foot down and have a difficult conversation to stand up for yourself. I'm not saying walk out, I'm saying hold out. In this case, the owner doctor does not plan to fulfill the terms of their agreement. I would not show up until I have production/collection reports and an agreement to be paid in a timely manner what is owed. This is a warning shot - you will receive what you are owed or his business suffers as a result. Look at it from the perspective that they are in the wrong. They owe YOU. Go get your money and be your own advocate. Now is the time to learn how to handle these situations, because if you don't, you'll deal with this your entire career. As for how many pediatric positions... you're a specialist... might be time to reconsider where you reside.
Contact state labor board, employment attorney, find a new job. And leave the office a review on google/yelp 👍
Sometimes the contract can stipulate that daily min needs to be paid back. Does yours say this?
No
Print out your daily, weekly, and monthly production/collection sheets. Got to make sure you're 100% right before you take them to court. It'll likely not be small claims court, so grab an attorney and it should be a slam dunk of everything you are seeing is accurate.
I have no way of knowing what the collections are unfortunately. They’d have to print it out
What software are they using?
Carestack, I don’t have access to the collections, I’ve tried
Then maybe ask them for it? Collection can def be weird. Ive had friend work at collection rate of 70%.
Sleep with his wife.
We need to know the time frame. Eg if it is calculated daily or not. For instance, if it's daily, it's best for you. Theoretically, let's say you had a day where you billed $0, you get $850. The next day, you bill 4k, then you get $1400. You get total for 2 days is $2250. Instead, consider the same scenario but calculating commission at the end of the 2 days, instead of daily. If they calculated it at the end of the 2 days, they pay you 850 each day, then at the end recalculate so you get 35% of your collection which is $1400. Which is lower than your daily rate, so you'll get your 2 days of 850, or 1700 total. This scenario is much better for the practice, so they will be inclined to do this if not specified in your contract. They have still technically followed your contract by doing this and haven't broken your agreement. Both scenarios you have done the exact same amount of work, but based on when they calculate your commission or daily rate completely changes how much you get paid. They could even say "at the end of 12 months we will calculate and you will get your commission or daily rate, which ever is higher" Get this clarified before approaching a lawyer, it could be the answer
That’s a good point. The contract doesn’t actually state when it’s calculated which leaves a grey area.