It has always been the case that over the years there has been controversy over the different types of status of persons working in a dental practice.
I have noticed that increasingly practice owners seem to be comfortable with the concept that their hygienists can be self employed persons because the practice down the road has self employed hygienists.
One must point out at this stage that if there is no contract in place, then beyond doubt I would say that those hygienists are actually employees, and if the Inland Revenue challenged this or if the hygienist had a claim in the Employment Tribunal then they would probably win.
If a contract is in place then it needs to be carefully drafted to ensure that it has indicators within it to ensure that the hygienist is classed as/defined as self employed. Even then the Courts will look at the actual relationship between you, not the contract, when deciding if one is an employee or not. Having a hygienist on an hourly rate is reflective of an employee/employer relationship even if you have a contract which states ‘Self Employed Agreement’ and therefore you need to be very careful and take legal advice about the best way forward.
If you have any concerns about the status of your hygienist then please do not hesitate to contact us as we have the expertise in these sorts of employment matters to help and advise you.
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