One of the biggest decisions you face today is whether to lay off your staff.  We continue to give you the best advice we can.  And when information is slow to come from us, it is because the water is so murky, we don’t know what monster may arise to change our recommended course of action.  Also, in an effort to keep you fully informed, you should know that many advisors have been recommending over the past week that all practices put their staff on unemployment immediately.  But blanket advice like that can be short-sighted and irresponsible.  We offer these CONSIDERATIONS to help you make that decision based on the knowledge we have today, which will be less than we have tomorrow.

• Any manner of keeping your employees on payroll right now requires that you cover those costs in advance.  So if you do not have the cash flow available via your business account, a line of credit, or a personal loan to the practice, unemployment of some type is your only option.
• Unemployment in most cases is considerably less than regular pay.  FOR TEXAS, an oversimplified calculation shows an employee previously making $35K will receive a weekly benefit of approximately $350.  The new stimulus is reported to add $600/week to that amount.  The $600 boost would put their total in excess of their regular pay.
• If you can afford to front the payroll and do not want to terminate your staff, you have more options:
  • To the extent you have people at home with minor children you can use FMLA leave and receive a credit back (would not apply to hygienists or associate dentists).  We are not employment attorneys and even they do not agree with each other on this position.
  • To the extent you are required to shut for a COVID mandate you can use FMLA leave and receive a credit back (would not apply to hygienists or associate dentists).  We are not employment attorneys and even they do not agree with each other on this position.  The fact that you can be open for emergencies might have some affect here.
  • You can obtain a PPP loan and much or all of it will be forgiven.
  • You can obtain an SBA EIDL loan and receive $10K within 3 days advanced.  This is the only quick piece.