Benefit spotlight

Invedent: A faster, simpler, more affordable way to order dental supplies and manage inventory

Ordering dental supplies and managing inventory have long been a burden for dental practices. These time-consuming, repetitive manual processes can cost practices hundreds of hours per year, which appears to be a considerable waste of resources and dollars.

The benefits of automation are straightforward, including connecting practices with suppliers in one place and reducing workloads for dental staff. It can be a real differentiator for the practice’s bottom line.

A dental ordering and stock management system such as Invedent allows dental professionals to reassess how they approach purchasing and inventory and grants them more control over their spending and budget.

Here is a lineup of exclusive benefits your dental practice can enjoy when getting started with Invedent:

Eliminate waste

Many practices overstock to be safe; however, expired supplies waste money. With Invedent, you always know what you need to order and in what quantity, so you avoid purchasing more than you need.

Streamline the ordering process

Invedent saves you from having to make multiple phone calls or shopping around between multiple websites. The system brings all suppliers in one place, for an easier and more enjoyable shopping experience.

Pay less for dental supplies

Invedent has organised special discounts with selected suppliers helping you get the best possible prices on the items you need.

Reduce key employee dependency

With Invedent, anyone in the practice can manage ordering and stock. This means that if a staff member gets sick, goes on holiday or even leaves, someone else in the clinic can do the job without extensive training or experience.

Save time

With Invedent, you can save up to 8 hours a week by eliminating manual counts and streamlining the processes of tracking and ordering supplies.

Optimise inventory accuracy

The system allows you to instantly check your inventory levels in real time, so you know exactly what items need to be ordered before running out of stock.

Improve patient care

Having all the necessary supplies always available can ultimately lead to a better patient experience and improved outcomes. More information about Invedent can be found at www.invedent.com

Mitigating and managing wage theft

Paying workers incorrect wages may result in reputational damage to a practice, disgruntled workers, workplace distrust, as well as fines and penalties. Understanding what wage theft is, how it may occur, and best practice approaches to rectifying potential underpayments are outlined within this article.

What is wage theft?

Wage theft can take various forms including the deliberate underpayment of wages, deliberately withholding entitlements such as leave or penalty rates, intentionally not making required superannuation contributions to an employee’s nominated fund or making unauthorised deductions from an employee’s wages.

In contrast, wage theft may occur unintentionally. Common mistakes that can lead to wage theft may include:

• Ignorance of specific changes to Awards. This may include transitional rates, minimum wage increases, and changes to penalty rates.

• Failing to properly implement changes to payroll rules when a new Award term or Enterprise Agreement has begun to operate.

• Consideration of shift loadings that may be applicable.

• Confusion as to the interpretation and/ or interactions of Award or Enterprise Agreement terms.

• Confusion as to which Award or Enterprise Agreement applies.

• Employment contracts that are noncompliant with the Award or Enterprise

Agreement. Examples of this may include paying employees a loaded rate that does not appropriately absorb all penalties and entitlements that the employee may be eligible to receive.

• Rostering beyond the Award or Enterprise Agreement span of hours to meet patient needs, without properly satisfying Award or Enterprise Agreement facilitative provisions.

Case example

A recent case example of an employer facing criminal prosecution for wage theft is that of Rehmat & Mehar Pty Ltd (trading as The Macedon Lounge). The Victorian restaurant is facing criminal wage theft charges laid under the Victorian Wage Theft Act 2020.

This is the first instance of criminal wage theft charges to be laid under the Victorian Wage Theft Act 2020, and the first in any Australian jurisdiction.

It is alleged that the restaurant and its owner intentionally withheld over $7,000 in employee entitlements, including wages, penalty rates, and superannuation, from multiple staff members. A number of charges have been brought against the business by the Wage Inspectorate Victoria, an independent watchdog established in 2021 with powers to investigate and prosecute cases of wage theft. Prosecution may result in a sentence of up to 10 years in jail under the Victorian Wage Theft Act (Act) for the business owner, while the business itself may be faced with fines in excess of $1 million.

Wage theft legislation and penalties

Victoria and Queensland currently have in force legislation that specifically criminalises wage theft. The Wage Theft Act 2020 (Vic) and the Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Act 2020 (Qld) provide that employers may serve jail time for wage theft or may be presented with substantial fines and penalties were found to be deliberately underpaying workers or withholding entitlements.

In any instance, wage theft should be avoided in all cases as failure to provide correct payments can result in on-the-spot fines for practices and individuals, legal action, unfavourable media attention and reputational damage.

What can practices do to rectify underpayments and eliminate the risk of wage theft?

Prevention of wage theft is always more favourable than needing to rectify an issue later down the track. Best practice tips to ensure avoidance of wage theft include ensuring payroll systems are up to date and operating in accordance with any modern awards that may be applicable to employees within the practice (namely, the Health Professionals and Support Services

Award 2020). Practice management should remain vigilant to any award amendments, including increases to award rates of pay, penalties or allowances. Changes to the national minimum wage should also be taken into consideration for any non-awardcovered workers. It should be noted that changes to minimum rates of pay are often applicable as of 1 July each year. Practices may consider completing an internal payroll audit to assess whether payments are compliant. Payslips should be provided within one working day of employees being paid and should include correct information to ensure transparency and compliance. Annual wage reviews should be completed. Where potential underpayments may have occurred, practices should seek to inform workers as soon as possible via formal correspondence. The practice should assess how much employees were entitled to be paid in comparison to how much they were actually paid. Back payments should be organised as soon as practicable and communicated with employees. Workers should be informed when they will receive the correct payments.

For more information on this article please call the ADA HR Advisory Service on 1300 232 462.