A hallmark of the gig economy is the ability to connect workers with organizations that need them. Now onDiem, a Portland, Oregon-based company that focuses on delivering dental professionals, combines the benefits of on-demand and traditional staffing firms’ convenience — providing workers on a W-2 basis so clients don’t need to worry about misclassification risk.
The goal was to create a solution that would enable dental offices to bring in clinical staff and be compliant at an economical, sustainable labor price point, says founder and CEO Joe Fogg. The platform staffs dental assistants and dental hygienists. It also plans to launch a dentist locums offering this year.
To use the platform, dental clinics post available shifts which onDiem’s platform then promotes to people within its ecosystem as well as other professionals through social media channels. Meanwhile, onDiem’s platform enables the workers to onboard online and view jobs in relation to where they live — including the pay rates. The professionals can then select the shifts they prefer.
In addition, onDiem has taken other steps to set itself apart. One is transparency. Client companies see a breakdown of expenses when they hire a worker: the worker’s wages, the employer’s taxes, workers’ comp insurance and onDiem’s service charge.
And once a worker reaches a FUTA or SUTA cap, the client company is no longer charged for those costs.
The company also aims to leverage its technology for pricing optimization and efficiency to make its contingent labor force a long-term sustainable solution.
For the dental professionals themselves, onDiem also offers paid time off. Workers accrue one hour of PTO for every three eight-hour shifts they work. Fogg also notes jobs may come with different pay rates, so the PTO is based on a weighted average of a worker’s earnings.
For the future, onDiem is looking into workforce management.
Client companies “really see the benefits that we’ve done to both sides of the equation, and they don’t want to just use us for temps,” Fogg explains. “They want to use us to augment their existing teams with an onDiem float pool of providers.”
This enables dental practices to see more patients even if they don’t want to commit to hiring more full-time or part-time staff. And it provides flexibility for the contingent dental professionals.
The Buzz
OnDiem aims to provide the speed of on-demand workers but on a W-2 basis to eliminate the compliance risk. Transparency and sustainable price points are the icing on the platform.
