 Hello, hello everybody Andrea Mayesca here with dental tutoring a topic that I don't think I have ever talked about on my YouTube channel and Somebody was asking me actually a couple people were asking the questions about it the other day So I don't know if they're all from the same office or what but we are going to talk about contracts today now full Disclosure before we begin. I have never signed one. So I'm not talking from personal experience I'm just talking about I guess why I would never sign one for one thing I'm not saying that contracts are a good thing or a bad thing This is just simply my opinion and I think every contract is different And it depends on you and it depends on your situation Because I do feel that contracts do protect, you know, you as the employee, but it more so protects the Employer which makes sense too, right because they do own a business But there are good employers out there and there's bad employers out there too. So that's where you have to be careful I do understand contracts from a good employees. Um, sorry employers perspective because they want to protect themselves I'm a dental professional, but I have seen Dental professionals out there that are not very good dental professionals meaning they'll just simply not show up one day Or they'll decide to leave for the heck of it They'll decide to ask for more pay, but then leave if they don't get it Putting the office in a bad situation So in that case if that happens to an office multiple times and they probably will have their staff signed contracts So that to me is not a bad thing, but it depends on what's in the in the contract. Okay So that's what I more want to talk about is what to look out for in a contract And if you don't like it how to kind of negotiate the terms, okay, but again, I've never signed one So I'm not talking for personal experience just from what I've heard. Okay So if you're right now in the negotiations of signing a contract So this typically happens when a new owner comes into a practice or new owners Or they've hired somebody new or they bring in a consulting firm that all of a sudden says, oh, you don't have contracts Your your staff should really sign one. Okay So the first kind of red flag is if that happens, okay, fine But if the entire staff doesn't have to sign a contract That's a red flag to me if they only get certain members to sign the contract It could be because certain staff have been there for 20 years So they don't have to sign it But you've only been there two years or four years or 10 years and you have to sign it That's a red flag to me. Okay. I I would ask, you know, why is not everybody signing a contract? Am I Less valuable than somebody who has been here 30 years, you know, it depends, right? And every contact for for Every staff member will likely be different depending on your role in in the practice And how long you've been there makes sense. Okay But some red flags that I have heard of are contracts that tell you that if you do leave the office You're not allowed to work at any other office in town Or you're not allowed to work in any other office within a certain area That to me is a red flag because why not? Why not? Okay, life happens if the office becomes so Bearable that you don't want to work there. I don't see the problem in leaving, you know Maybe they hire some new staff that you just simply don't get along with They change owners that you just um simply don't get along with or just life happens You may move. Okay, and then say well, I'd prefer to not Drive to work half an hour. I'd prefer to drive to work five hours Or the office may change their their hours. They could be open Nine to nine in a in a year and you're thinking I can't you know work with these hours So you have to leave so if you sign something saying that you cannot work out um in town If you leave the practice imagine how how awful That could be but you sign a contract So that's the point of having a contract is to go with the contract So I don't agree with that You know even not being able to work in a certain area say I don't know within the same area, you know within 10 minutes within 15 minutes I don't know about you, but I live in Kitchener um Ontario and there's a lot of offices within a small area So if I was told that I couldn't do that I wouldn't sign the contract because life happens You never know what could happen. Um in some contracts, which I'm not saying it's a bad thing But I wouldn't sign it either They may say that for you to leave the office you have to give three months notice or two months notice You know that to me I would not sign because I'll say it again life happens What if they hire in a bunch of new staff which I have said earlier and they just make your life a living hell You know so uh part of my language there But two months is a long time to stick around because anything can happen in that two months Let's say they totally decide to change their hours Or all of a sudden the office is really really slow and you're working 10 hours a week You may not be able to afford that But if you sign something saying that you have to give two or three months notice That's crazy. You might not be able to afford that two weeks is totally acceptable Okay, even three weeks. Let's say that to me is acceptable. But more than that Life happens, you know, I have been in um situations Where the office was amazing. Okay, I've tempt a lot now And then just something happens where it just becomes Unbearable where they will just hire in a consulting firm and then all of a sudden we have to work nine to nine We don't have a choice. We don't get a lunch blah blah blah I left right away and because I was attempt. I didn't even have to give two weeks notice But if you are hired on um permanently part-time or permanently full-time It is a nice idea to give two weeks notice. Okay, but this office I just couldn't take it Um, I didn't tell them why I was leaving. Um, I just simply said that something has come up And I will not be able to type at your office anymore Plain and simple, right? So it's nice to not have to give two or three months notice Um, some other things that I've heard of are um, you have to sell a certain amount to stay employed there So you might have to sell a certain amount of um X-ray taking um fluoride Uncompassed fillings crowns bridges. Who knows I would stay away from those offices too because you may not think so now You may think oh, well, that's not going to affect me You know, I'll just sell how I normally do if I If I do not feel that the patient needs it then I'm not going to worry about it But you would be surprised if you know that you can make more money selling certain things All of a sudden you see dentistry Completely different. Okay A filling where six months ago you may have said, well, yeah, they could use a crown But you know what it's still okay for by the looks of it at least another five years You should be fine Where your opinion will all of a sudden change and you'll be and you'll be saying oh geez that ML filling needs A crown, you know, and you're talking to the patient For half an hour saying how it needs a crown yet. It really doesn't need a crown But you might be sure on your rent that month or you might want to buy yourself an extra expensive purse And then say well if I sell two crowns this month I'll be able to do that because I get extra money For selling so that is up to you everybody's different But that's just not something that I would do either because I want to focus on my patients It's not my practice. So I just would like to focus on doing a good job for the patients and not necessarily selling Let me think here. I've heard of contracts where A new owner comes in and you're being paid a certain amount per hour But all of a sudden they want to change it to this amount per hour And then in three months you will get this amount and then this amount and then this amount Okay, I would not sign that either because if they don't want to pay you at the rate that you're making now They're not very nice people and they should appreciate the fact That this is why you get paid the amount you do if they want to pay you more awesome But if they want to pay you less Don't accept it because this is your rate because of your experience And the amount that you have worked there. So don't accept less um So I have heard of that before I've heard of I've heard of um New owners coming into practice and the dental hygienist has been there for say 30 years So they they have a certain amount of um holiday pay. They have a certain amount of sick days Um, they make a certain amount, you know things like that But they want to now treat them as a new employee because they are new owners So they might make the same amount per per hour, but now they might get a lot less um sick days They may be starting off as a new employee meaning their um holiday pay their um Vacation days, they might not get the same amount until they have worked for this new Employer for a certain amount of time. I would not sign that either I would simply go somewhere else But having that said if you go somewhere else, you're starting new anyway So it depends on how you want to look at things But just things like that I see as a red flag Meaning, you know, if that's how they want to treat me I'm not going to accept it and I prefer to go somewhere else as a new employee And just have them, you know, see me as a fresh person Um starting off fresh, you know kind of along those lines So I'd say those are the more common ones, but please comment below and let me know The situations that you may have come across and then I will help you guys deal with that situation because I'm sure there's so many I've probably left so many out and there are good contracts out there too. Okay You might be asking why I don't sign sign any it's just simply because I Like to be able to make my own schedule I don't know what will happen in a month in three months in six months I don't know even if I love the um, um office and I feel that I want to stay there Anything can happen. So if I sign a contract then I'm You know legally bound to that office where if I want to leave I have to think oh geez Well, let me look at the contract again and see what I signed If I want to ask for more money at some point. Oh, well, let me look at the contract again to see if I'm up for making More money, you know, or let me look at the contract again to see If I need to work a certain amount of you know hours if I'm entitled to this or that So that's just kind of why I don't sign contracts because I don't want to Have to you know, um, again, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm not saying it's a good thing I think that every office is different And every contract is different. So look at it before you sign it Usually you you have a certain amount of time before you do sign it or you know, have to sign it You may have up Two years before you have to sign it. So think about that too But if you guys have questions, please let me know I am very happy to help because this is An interesting topic for me I like to talk about it and I like to give people advice because I have seen so many people Sign a contract and then and then ask me or their lawyers how to get out of it and that can be very expensive So don't sign it learn before you sign it if at all And then you don't have to worry about well, what happens now if you want to get out of it So good luck. Um, have fun. And if we need anything you just let me know