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New Physician Assistant 1 yr post grad.
Full time 1099 ENT position in OC, southern CA. I would be the first PA for solo practice.
  1. 50/hr 1st yr. 55/hr 2nd yr. 60-65/hr 3-5th yr. He says that he will not get much benefit from me until I am fully independent and I should consider this a well paid residency since he was paid $5/hr as a resident. I asked for 65-70/hr but he responded with saying that I would have to make a sacrifice to gain clinical and business knowledge and that we can develop other business plans down to share in the longterm reward.
  2. He will pay $150/mo to cover half my health insurance. 2 weeks PTO after 1 yr. Maximum 3 weeks per yr but the additional week is without pay. he will cover malpractice with tail.
  3. Wants me to sign a 5 yr contract because he does not want to train me after 1 yr and I will leave. I asked about termination and it can be without cause but reasons for getting terminated could be due to underperforming and financial.
He is also willing to offer the same as W2 but says that being 1099 would allow me to save more money with tax deductions.
Any thoughts or advice? Is it legal to make someone sign a long term contract as 1099? Thank you!
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Danger, Will Robinson, Danger

NO PTO OR SICK UNTIL ONE YEAR - hell, no. You will get sick or your kids.

FIVE YEAR contract - wow, no

Surgical Assist? Do you get your surg assist fees? We called that eating what we killed.

On call for local ERs? If not, why?

Pay for your license? DEA required - that alone is $881 every 3 yrs. 

I have found that some docs still working solo instead of part of a group - well, perhaps they have behavior or practice issues that make them not play well with others. Perhaps they think they can run the business "better" and with less overhead. Usually not what happens.

Never had a PA before? How long in practice? Why? Ever been part of a larger group?

Does the doctor's spouse or s.o. work ANYWHERE in the practice? If yes, just run, don't walk - RUN.

Did you look up his/her license at state level for citations?

Any hx of malpractice?

How stable is the office staff? Turnover? Who does what? Are they licensed?

Equipment in the office? Safe, new, monitored and maintenanced?

Work weekends? Holidays paid? What happens if he/she up and takes 2 weeks off in your first year? Do you get paid?

Lots of lack of infrastructure and guidance in small practices or solo practices. Beware pitfalls and bad business habits. 

 

Sorry to come across as pessimistic. I prefer to call it cautious and once bitten.

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Yup agree with @Reality Check 2, run. For all the reasons they mention and because no one tells you as an independent contractor that you're on the hook for self employment taxes. All in all if you don't track your own expenses and deductions or pay estimated quarterly taxes you're looking at a massively high tax bill. It sucks. 

Try to find a bigger practice, having worked with several solo practitioners I know from experience that you will be guilted into doing a lot of extra hours. If you're in California, keep looking. There are tons of jobs out there for PAs. 

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  • Administrator

If you're a 1099, he shouldn't be giving you anything: no health care, sick leave, PTO, etc. It's up to you to get all of those, BUT, you should be making $80+/hour.

If you're a 1099 YOU tell them when you're going to work, have your own equipment, and the like.

And didn't 1099 employment just get completely clobbered by the CA state legislature?

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The doc is thinking of you as a resident but not offering you a residency.  OJT does NOT equal a residency.  No off-shift rotations, no protected time for learning, no journal club, no grand rounds, probably not even a high volume high acuity academic center.  The compensation is slightly low to start and the growth in compensation significantly undershoots your growth in contribution to the practice.

Unless this is the only offer you can get, go elsewhere.

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This has red flags all over it. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I would rather sleep in a tent because I promise this is going to cause you a lot of mental anguish later. Can almost guarantee he is going to fail on several promises, you're going to quit or get fired, you're going to come back to this board asking what to do, we are going to shrug and tell you to move on best you can. 

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I had to read that 4 or 5 times because it was so.......stupid. As Lt says there is an entire drill team of red flags all over the place. Who gives a rats hairy butt what he got paid as a resident? 1099 for that lousy pay? That is functionally about $37/hr because you are liable for 100% of your withholding. The "benefits" offered...aren't.

In short this is someone who will work you like a slave and give you nothing in return. If it isn't in writing it doesn't exist so the promise you'll get a share of the reward later is worth the paper its printed on....nothing.

I had an old friend start a cards practice with a guy he liked and trusted. I told him to get everything in a signed contract before he started. Long story short he didn't and about 2 years later he was termed from the practice he helped build from scratch and was replaced by the cards buddy...also a cardiologist.

A wise man learn from his mistakes. A genius learns from someone else's.

Run...... run fast....run far....don't look back.

 

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