We outrival our competition in the placement and staffing of pediatric and education-based occupations, like speech-language pathologists (speech therapists), physical therapists, and school psychologists.

Our clients are school districts, general hospitals, children’s hospitals, early intervention providers, and pediatric outpatient and rehab facilities. Our clients hire travelers, contract therapists, and direct-hire employees from us. Sometimes our candidates start as contractors and then convert to direct.

Because of our reputation in the industry, we attract the finest and most desirable talent available. The applicants we screen have varied interests and employment experiences. Many are looking to be introduced to the most comprehensive employers in an area, not just one offering a specific position, setting, or age group. Our candidates are interested in professional development and exploration.

A direct-hire placement (AKA permanent placement) occurs when a candidate is hired by your organization to be your employee on your payroll. PediaStaff receives a fee for its services but is no longer involved after the candidate starts work. A contract placement occurs when a PediaStaff therapist works for your company for a limited timeframe, like a school year, for example. Therapists become W-2 employees of PediaStaff’s back-office company and receive benefits, vacation time, insurance, continuing education, etc. Your organization is billed an hourly rate based on a weekly timesheet that you approve.

A “contractor” is generally a candidate who lives local to the client and is compensated hourly through a staffing agency.

A “traveler,” like a contractor, is also paid hourly by an agency. Travelers qualify for additional compensation– usually a tax-free per diem to pay for the expenses associated with living out of town while maintaining a residence back home.

Our ability to attract a traveler to your job may help us fill a position you are having a difficult time filling locally.

There are a variety of factors that affect the fees associated with our services, including a candidate’s experience, skills (bilingual, etc.), employment level (Full-time, Part-time, or PRN), whether the candidate is an assistant or a fully licensed therapist, and whether the organization is for-profit or not. With contract placements, our fee is built into our all-inclusive bill rate. Our staffing specialists are authorized to work with you to determine the fee schedule or bill rate that will work best in your situation!

No. Feel free to continue independent advertising and interviewing. If it looks like you are close to hiring from another source, we just ask that you let us know.

Yes– we recommend it! Your flexibility to consider either type of candidate will increase your chances that PediaStaff can fill your position.

A complete job description is vital. Our representatives will need information about your organization, the salary or bill rate offered, therapy caseload, case population, service model (i.e. pullout vs. inclusion, or individual vs. group) details about the specific school/facility the therapist will be assigned to, the size of your therapy department, and company benefits. We also need to know if you are willing to offer relocation assistance, or help with interview costs for out-of-town candidates. If there are any special certificates or licenses required, PediaStaff must know how the therapist can get those and how long it will take.

If your position is a contract assignment, we will need to know the contract duration and schedule (including unpaid time off for school breaks), whether you have other contractors, and how those contractors fit into your department as a whole.

For contract: Our recruiters will work with you to determine an appropriate bill rate. If required by your administration, we send out a preliminary contract for your review. We work on filling your position once we have a detailed job description.

For direct-hire: Our recruiters will send you a fee agreement with terms appropriate for your position. Once we receive a signed copy back in our office, we begin your search in earnest.

Our staffing consultants are well-versed in the market conditions in their territories and will give their honest projection as to whether we can likely fill your opening and how long it might take. Factors such as job duties, salary, and caseload expectations, combined with geographic markets and patient populations greatly affect the outcome of the search. Our consultants are excellent at suggesting modifications to increase our chances of finding a great candidate for you. Bottom line, we believe in open communication between us and the client.

In the case of a contract placement, our administrative service provider does verify licensure and conduct complete background checks including FBI fingerprinting. Your organization is responsible for background checks and licensure verification for any PediaStaff candidate you hire as a direct employee.

Contract/Temporary therapists working for PediaStaff are fully insured by PediaStaff’s administrative back-office. We require our therapists to carry their malpractice insurance as well. Any therapists provided by PediaStaff, but hired directly by your organization, need to be carried on your insurance policies.

The risk of doing this vastly outweighs the possible benefits. If the IRS determines that an independent contractor (IC) is an employee, they can enforce substantial penalties. Only your accountant or attorney can help you determine whether your organization is eligible to hire therapists as independent contractors. Using a contracting company like PediaStaff eliminates all of this risk and can give you the peace of mind you need.

The bill rate charged by PediaStaff is all-inclusive and bundles the therapist’s hourly salary, all the costs of running the contract for PediaStaff (the contractor’s benefits, the costs of clinical support, insurance, etc.), and our fee for managing the contract. The only variable is if you require a therapist to use their vehicle during the workday. In that case, you’ll be billed for the IRS-approved rate, and we will reimburse the therapist.

PediaStaff will work with you to keep bill rates reasonable. Any fluctuation of our rate may affect
the hourly rate we can offer a therapist.

Of course. If both you and our contractor desire an extension just let us know! We’ll provide you with a new addendum to your existing contract with revised dates of service. Contact your staffing agent to learn more.

Yes. We offer an “Employer of Record” service if you have the candidate in mind already. Talk to your staffing consultant for more details on this option.

Yes. We offer contractors a highly competitive benefits package, which includes travel assistance, licensure, professional dues, malpractice insurance reimbursement, and continuing education. We utilize a back-office that serves as the employer for the duration of the contract assignment and offers national medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, a 401K program, and optional summer pay. Paychecks are weekly and direct deposits are offered. See your PediaStaff recruiter for a detailed benefits sheet.

We pay eligible employees an hour per diem system rather than providing actual housing. This means employees will receive an hourly portion of their pay tax-free, which is to be used for housing. We believe this is a superior system, as you can choose how much to spend and where to live, rather than having us decide.

Although PediaStaff provides outstanding, 24/7 clinical support for our contract therapists, we believe that our client school districts and clinics must take an active role with assistants and new graduates. Local supervision by a direct employee provides consistency to the training of junior therapy professionals and creates a true partnership that will ensure the success of our contract therapist in their new position. We can provide Clinical Fellowship supervision.