Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when I post a job?

As soon as you post your shift, all hygienists or assistants (depending on your need) within 110km of your office are immediately notified through a text message on their phone. They view your posting within their TempStars app. Any available temp will send in an offer to work your shift.

You will then you will receive an e-mail notification when you have an offer from an available temp to work your shift.

What are the chances my job will get filled?

We currently have a 97% placement success rate in most areas. As you can imagine, matches depends on the availability of hygienists/assistants in an area. With over 4500 hygienist & assistant members, we give you direct access to a larger pool of available temps than any other placement agency.

Can we just call, e-mail or text you to find us a hygienist/assistant?

TempStars’ technology is built and optimized to connect you directly with local available hygienists & assistants. The system is designed to give you the best chance of finding a good temp quickly. Because of this, the best way to find a hygienist/assistant is using the website/app to post your job.

It takes less than a minute to post a job and a notification is immediately sent to every possible temp. Our 97% placement success rate depends on our sophisticated system notifying hundreds of hygienists & assistants immediately about your posting.

TempStars administrators don’t have additional “back-channel” access to any temps – all connections are made through the system by posting a job.

Can we post multiple days as one block of shifts for one hygienist/assistant?

Currently as things are set up, for multiple days, you’ll need to post each day separately. When we first launched TempStars, we did have a feature to post blocks of days as one job for one temp. Because, as a practicing dentist of 19 years, I fully understand the benefit of having the same hygienist/assistant for all the days. But the feature was causing too much confusion, and more problems than solutions, so for now we removed it.

We will revisit that feature, but right now we’re focusing on adding a “job board” type feature to help in hiring permanent/contract positions. Once that’s done, we’ll turn our attention to this feature. Stay tuned!

What are the hygienist’s  / assistant’s hourly rates?  How are they determined?

Hygienists and assistants will submit an offer to work your shift. The hourly rate is determined by the individual submitting the offer, but is subject to your approval. The temp is only booked/confirmed for the shift after your approval of the details of the offer, including the hourly rate.

What is “paid time” and “unpaid time”?

“Paid time” starts at the scheduled Arrival Time posted for the job and ends at the completion of the shift.

“Unpaid time” is typically lunch break. Most offices pay for down time and patient cancellations as Paid Time, but if you are one of the few offices that doesn’t pay temps for down time, there is a little checkbox when posting a job to indicate this. But please note, if you check the box indicating you don’t pay for down time and/or patient cancellations, the likelihood of your posting going unfilled rises dramatically.

What is the placement fee?  When does it apply?

Our placement fee is $38+hst per temp shift. This is only ever billed after a successful placement is completed.

The placement fee applies to all shifts booked using the app. It also applies to any placements made through direct contact with a TempStars hygienist/assistant if the temp was introduced to the office by TempStars.

How are TempStars temps paid?

TempStars temps are generally considered independent contractors for your office and payment is made directly to them. They are not employees of TempStars. The preferred method is a cheque the same day as the placement, but the temps are aware some offices have payroll and accounting departments that send out payment via cheque or electronic transfer.

Can I hire a TempStars temp for my office?  What are the costs?

If you are looking for a permanent hire for your office (or mat leave), we do not charge a “Finder’s Fee” for hiring a TempStars temp. This is provided the temp is a hired as a payrolled staff member for regular permanent shifts.

If the temp is considered casual, semi-regular and not hired onto the payroll, then standard placement fees apply for all shifts. If there are any questions about when this applies, contact us for clarification.

Do you assist in hiring for permanent/contract positions?

We just finished our Job Board feature for this exact thing! The Job Board is accessed right in the same app/website as the temping.

What if a temp cancels?

TempStars temps have a reputation of dependability and excellence. Our cancellation rate is only ~1%, so it’s rare for a temp to cancel. As for a “no-show”, this rate is much below 1%.

But if a cancellation does occur:  you receive a notification via e-mail and text. TempStars is also notified right away by text message and e-mail. The job is automatically re-posted to the system, an urgent notice is immediately sent out to all available hygienists/assistants and followed up personally to all available temps.

Any temp who cancels a booked shift is penalized by being blocked from viewing any Available Jobs for a period of time. A second occurrence results in them being removed from TempStars. The extreme seriousness of booking shifts is very clearly emphasized to all hygienists/assistants, not only when they sign up but every time they book a shift.

So yes, cancellations are a reality in all temping situations and does happen rarely, but it’s managed swiftly and everything possible is done to find a replacement.

How Do You Verify Temps?

As Canada’s largest and#1 Rated dental temping and hiring service, we know how important it is to ensure you’re booking properly qualified hygienists for your practice.

At the time of registration, we verify that hygienists are licensed and “Active” with the provincial licensing body. Periodically we check to make sure that their status is still valid. That being said, with 1000’s of hygienist members across Canada, it’s impossible to verify the status of every hygienist every day.

When a job is booked, you are provided with the hygienists year of graduation, where they graduated from dental hygiene training, and the license number of your booked hygienist. To be sure, you can verify their status on the provincial licensing body’s website.

When you receive an offer from a temp to work a shift, you’ll be able to view the resume of the candidate making the offer. You’ll also see the year/school of graduation. With this feature, you will be approving any hygienist before they are booked and confirmed for you job.

In addition, our hygienist & assistant members establish a “star rating” based directly on feedback from other dental offices whenever they complete a shift.

Links to RDH licensing registries:

CDHO (Ontario): https://publicregister.cdho.org/Pages/en_US/Forms/Public/Register/Default.aspx

CDHBC (British Columbia): http://www.cdhbc.com/find-a-dental-hygienist.aspx

CRDHA (Alberta): http://www.crdha.ca/about-crdha/find-a-dental-hygienist-in-alberta.aspx

Please see Section 18 in our Terms of Service for more information.

How do I download the app?

To install the app on your mobile, here are the links to the app stores:

For Apple iPhone:

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tempstars/id1094751710

For Android/Samsung:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.tempstars.app2

Do I need to install the app on my phone?

You don’t need the app installed to use TempStars, you can also use the website. To register or log into the website service, here is the link:

https://app2.tempstars.ca