Reference no: EM133389825

Question: After graduation, you are hired as an office manager at a busy dental practice, Dentistry on Queen, in Kitchener, Ontario. The former office manager left about 6 ago, so a variety of issues had arisen that needed to be dealt with immediately.

Two dentists, Dr. Smiley and Dr. Chong, owned the practice jointly. The dental office also had a recent dental graduate, Dr. Bowen, 3 hygienists, 4 dental assistants and 2 receptionists. Everyone is employed full time.

The practice recently hired a bookkeeper via a contract that described the bookkeeper as an independent contractor. However, the dental practice is so busy that the bookkeeper is working approximately 30 hours per week for Dentistry on Queen.

After you were hired, Dr. Smiley mentioned a number of issues to you that he would like addressed. They are as follows:

One of the dental assistants, Barb, has over 20 years experience at this office (the current dentists purchased the dental practice from a retiring dentist). However, recently, Dr. Smiley noticed that Barb's hearing was getting worse. She didn't always hear the patients when they asked questions, and he had to turn and face her when asking for some instruments. Occasionally, he had to pull his mask off of his face so that Barb could read his lips.

One of the hygienists, Ray, recently informed Dr. Chong that his father had been diagnosed with lung cancer and required palliative care. He wondered whether he could take a leave of absence to help care for him.

Canada Revenue Agency sent a letter to the practice asking for payroll remittances for the bookkeeper.

In Dr. Bowen's first week, she pulled two rotten teeth from a patient's mouth as she was worried about the decay. However, she only obtained consent for 1 tooth, not two. The patient seemed to understand after the procedure, but she wasn't sure.

There were a few other issues you wanted to research in addition to those listed above:

When you were preparing for the interview, you googled the practice and discovered an extremely negative review of the practice on Yelp. The review stated that Dr. Smiley was "a thief" as he charged $209.00 for a basic restorative procedure (a filling) billed as follows: "Composite (white) filling two surfaces".

While you were waiting for the interview in the lobby, you noticed that there was a privacy policy posted on the wall. The privacy policy referred to the 2004's PIPEDA and the collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information related to the dental practice. You wondered whether this was Act was still relevant and applicable.

Before your first business meeting with Dr. Smiley and Dr. Chong, you want to review the potential legal issues that are impacting the practice, and have some information to share with the dentists in terms of suggestions or a plan of action.