A first for Australian dentistry.
Cover isn't a labour hire agency. Here's what it is.
Sarah Morrison
5 min read
Your clinic employs the professional directly, as a casual, for each shift they accept. Cover is the software around that: the job board where you post the shift, verification of who can accept it, timesheets, and the weekly pay run your payroll goes through. You pay wages from your own bank account, and super goes to each fund through Paysense, Cover's payroll engine. Cover charges a 15% fee on pay and super, invoiced weekly, and never holds or moves wages or super.1
What does a labour hire agency do?
An agency employs the professional itself and sends them to work at your clinic. It pays their wages and super, then charges you for the shift on one invoice: the pay, the super, its margin of 25% to 110% on top, and often a callout fee.3
Because the agency is the employer, the award, workers' compensation and payroll tax for that shift are its obligations. The margin pays for carrying them, and for the agency's profit. The professional works for the agency, not for you.
The agency is the employer. Its margin pays for that, and for its profit.3
What does Cover do?
Cover is the first dental shift platform in Australia where the clinic employs the casual directly. Your clinic employs the professional as a casual for each shift they accept, whether they're a dental assistant (or dental nurse), a receptionist, a hygienist or an oral health therapist. Cover is the software around that: you post the shift, Cover checks who can accept it, and the timesheet, the award calculation, payslips, super and Single Touch Payroll are prepared in one weekly pay run for you to review.
The money goes three separate ways. Wages go from your bank account to the professional, super goes to their fund through Paysense, Cover's payroll engine, and Cover's 15% fee goes to your card. Cover never holds or moves wages or super.1
- The professionalWages, from your bank
- Their super fundSuper, through Paysense
- Cover15% fee, plus GST on the fee, to your card
Your clinic is the employer, and pays its own people. Cover's fee pays for the software.2
What you do each week
- 1 · As shifts finish Approve timesheets Check the hours and breaks, or adjust them.
- 2 · Once a week Review and declare the pay run Check every pay line and the fee, then declare it. The law needs a person at the employer to declare each pay run before it's reported to the ATO.5
- 3 · Pay day Pay the wages Download the pay run's ABA file and upload it to your bank. Your bank pays each professional from your account in one batch.
The rest happens without you: super goes to each fund through Paysense, payslips go out, and the fee is charged with a tax invoice. Getting super to each fund on time is still your responsibility as the employer.
Why can't Cover just send one invoice for everything?
Because then Cover would be the one paying the worker. A business that pays workers and charges you for their labour is a labour hire provider and their employer. It needs a margin to cover that, and in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT it needs a labour hire licence.4
Keeping wages with your clinic is what keeps the fee at 15% and keeps the professional yours. You still get one invoice from Cover each week: the fee, with every shift it covers listed.
Who does what?
| Task | Your clinic | Cover |
|---|---|---|
| Employ the professional | The employer, for each shift | Never the employer |
| Set the rate | You choose it | Shows the Platform minimum and won't go below it |
| Identity and credentials | Your own induction on the day | Verified before they can accept a shift |
| Information Statements, tax file number declaration | Nothing to do | Given and collected on your behalf |
| Penalty rates and overtime | Approve them | Calculated against the award |
| PAYG, super, payslips, STP | Review and declare | Prepared in the weekly pay run |
| Pay wages | From your own bank account | Never holds or moves wages |
| Workers' compensation and work health and safety | Yours, as for your permanent team | Not involved |
Why do clinics choose Cover Dental over an agency?
- You pay less, they earn more
- 15% on pay and super, against an agency margin of 25% to 110% and a callout fee. With no margin in between, you can offer a better rate and still spend less, and nothing comes out of the professional's pay. See the costs
- Checked before they accept
- Every professional's identity is verified, and their registration and credentials are checked against the role, before they can accept your shift.
- They can become yours
- Offer someone a permanent job with no buyout fee and no placement fee.
- Nothing is hidden
- Every pay line, the award calculation and the fee are in front of you before you approve.
When an agency suits better. If you'd rather not be the employer at all, with workers' compensation and payroll tax to think about, an agency takes that on, and its margin is the price.
Try it with one shift
Post a shift, approve the timesheet, and see every line of the pay run before you declare it.
Questions clinics ask
Is Cover a labour hire agency?
No. Cover never employs or pays the professional. Your clinic employs them directly, and Cover provides the software for posting the shift and running the pay.1
Do I need to add them to my own payroll software?
No. Shifts booked through Cover are paid through Paysense, Cover's payroll provider, in a weekly pay run. It runs alongside your existing payroll provider, so your permanent staff stay where you pay them today.
Who is responsible if the pay is wrong?
Your clinic, as the employer. That's why Cover calculates pay against the award, shows you every line before you approve it, and asks you to declare each pay run.
Do these wages count for payroll tax and workers' compensation?
Yes. They're wages your clinic pays, the same as your permanent team's.
Do professionals pay anything?
No. Nothing is deducted from their pay, and the platform fee is paid by the clinic.
A dental professional? The clinic employs you for each shift you accept, and nothing comes out of your pay.
Cover for professionalsSources
- Cover, Terms of Service sections 5.3 and 14, and the Casual Employment Contract
- Cover pricing
- Cover's estimate from a current dental agency rate card, weekday rates excluding GST, rounded down to the nearest 5%
- Labour Hire Authority (Vic); Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit (Qld); Consumer and Business Services (SA); WorkSafe ACT
- Australian Taxation Office, Single Touch Payroll: making a declaration
Next review 1 July 2027.
Written by
Sarah Morrison
Sarah worked as a dental assistant for nearly 20 years, much of it covering shifts at other clinics, before she co-founded Cover. She leads Cover's strategy and outreach.