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Actually, I was not not guaranteed a wage, went on production after one week training, sm

Posted By: spheris emp on 2006-02-24
In Reply to: I love it! - anon

and still only have one primary account (which runs out of work often).


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General question on training vs. switching to production...sm
Does there seem to be an average number of training hours/weeks for most companies before they switch you over to regular production?  Here's my concern:  I started with a new company a few weeks ago.  They put me through one week (40 hrs) of training at an hourly rate and then switched me to production.  I am typing any/all specialties for a total of about 50 different docs who of course each have their own specs along with the two clinics that each have their own specs along with having to learn the logistics of the software along with researching all the new terms I don't know and get used to the docs I cannot understand (yes that sentence was a run-on on purpose:)  My point is, after one lousy week of training, my daily line counts are still so low since I'm learning and reading every little thing still that my hourly rate is literally about $3.50 right now and I'm busting my butt 40 hrs. a week.  I thought companies usually utilized at least a 30-60 day training period.  Am I way off here?  My count goes up a TINY bit each day but not enough to continue to survive on this job. 
Same as my post below re: training vs production. Here's what I've decided...sm
We can do one of two things right now.  Make the money, or sacrifice some pay and use them to put lots of experience on our resume for later down the road.  If you can afford it (I actually cannot right now, I need income more than the learning) try it for awhile so you can have it behind you.  Those are the options on my end at least! My silver lining for the day....I'm trying:)
OSI was reported to wage & hour about this last week
/
I only got a week of training before going in the deep
xx
I start training with Webmedx next week...sm
Like you, I know there is no perfect company, but they do seem pretty darned close.
Will start training next week... any input on what to expect?
thanks.
Most companies have a 2 week training period and if meeting
production and QA one can opt out of it early.
web site says MT-s go through a 28 week training process. That's a long time!
.
taking a low wage does not lower the pay for a field. The fact that they are offering stated wage
means that is the market. You don't see ads for McDonald's for $36/hour and you don't see ads for A.G. Edwards for $20,000/yr. If they didn't think they could fill a job for $14, they wouldn't post it. Notice MT jobs are now posting at 5, 6 and 6.5. So guess what editors are going to make?
Employees are guaranteed work before
Ask your supervisor
First month of guaranteed pay was great and
AND THEN - got ESL after ESL after ESL after being told there were no ESL's on the account I would be working. Good luck, I can't live on 4-600 lines a day.
Guaranteed amount of work!

With all of these people complaining about no work at this company and no work at that company, I'd have to say guaranteed work is a load of you know what!!!!  Also, you can pay your own social security.  The employer is making money off of your withholdings.   Hello?  Does anyone here think that it is probably better to owe the IRS at the end of the year and keep your money and invest it yourself, rather than let the IRS have your money for a year to make money off of your money just so you can have a refund?  Grow up and save your own money! 


Are these companies paying for downtime when the dictating physicians are on vacation, and there is not enough work to go around?  Doubt it!!! 


To the OP:  You'd be better off as an IC and pay your own insurance!


Lots of work right now, but guaranteed you won't get 9cpl as a base. sm
You CAN get 9cpl if you work nights and/or weekends because of shift differentials, AND if you are a high producer (some production incentive but not a lot), and there is an extra 1/2 cpl for CMT. Years of experience factor in, as well.  This is for employee status. I do not know what IC rates are.
Their training schedule kind of got backed up and so far the only training..(sm)
I've had is one short Bayscribe session. But I extended my 2 week notice at Medquist and I have until July 17 now to get some training in at MDI and do some reports to get familiar with the platforms. I'm looking forward to it! 
I can't say enough about their training team. Excellent training!
The people at Medware are all just great. I wish I would have joined the Medware family sooner! They are very flexible and caring!
do you mean company training or med transcription itself training?
nm
what training? no training for me, first day they Tried to give me 2 ESL....
nm
they did not come up first. An hour of training is not really training.
nm
Full time with Transtech is both. 40 hours per week and 5500 lines per week.
x
Nope .. email on 1/18 promised "within the next week." Here we are, 1 week later and no info.
x
The minimum is 5500 per week, NOT 6600 per week. I think you made a typo. :)
NM
i clear over 800 a week, 40/week; 30+ year experience. (nm)
x
Min. wage
That isn't even minimum wage in San Francisco, where it's something like $9.25+ per hr.
Min wage in NY

In NY minimum wage is now $7.15, so that is not min wage here either.


 


Min wage

I thought I had read something recently that stated Nuance/Focus was developing some software that would completely do away with transcriptionists in the next few years.  I worked for Focus 5 years ago and they were a terrible company then to work for, I see they have just kept getting worse.  You are entitled to minimum wage if you are an employee. If your line count does not come to that contact your local DOL and apply for unemployment benefits.  if you don't you are hurting yourselves and other MTs who come after you.


 


I believe that would come to a little over minimum wage...
Not good at all!
Minimum wage at best, probably not that!
I would not take any QA/editing position unless it is a set hourly rate. Again, I have said it before, do not sell your fellow QA/editors down the drain like AAMT has sold us. Hourly is the only way!
don't accept the wage, but I would!!!!
nm
Medware Wage

The most you can expect to make at Medware is 0.08 a line.   Medware has some extremely difficult accounts with a lot of ESL doctors.  It is very hard to make a good line count.  Additionally, Medware watches how many minutes you work during the day.  You must work a full 8-hour shift.  If you have problems and need to call your supervisor, need to email your supervisor, create samples or go over files from the editors, have a problem with pay or vacation time or anything similiar, you will do it on your time.  You have to put in your 8 hours TYPING, nothing else counts. 


 


Is this a fair wage?
I'm a new graduate and I got an offer for 0.75 cpl.  Any input would be appreciated.
QA Wage question
If getting paid hourly for QA, let's say $10.00 an hour, do you get paid for every hour whether there's anything to QA or not?
if you are still working there for that particular wage...sm
you are settling. 12 hour days x 6 days per week? You are definitely selling yourself short if you accept this. I was only trying to be honest based on the information you chose to share. I don't want others to think this is the norm in this industry because it most certainly is not. Again, I am basing my comments solely on the information you provided, which in fact saddened me as an MT who has been in this profession for many years. I apologize if you see this as an insult, but I was just overwhelmed by your breakdown of pay. To me this is completely unacceptable. Good luck to you.
They have to pay minimum wage s/m
They have to pay for minimum wage if you do not reach that on your line counts.
GOOD WAGE
If you find anyone that pays 10 cpl to start, let me know!!!

I took me 4 months to find a job as an IC where I would make 10 cpl after 90 days!! and that is maintaining minimum line count of 1000 lines the whole time...

Minimum Wage

You have hit on a point that the service owners did not plan for.  Pursue this with the DOL office in your state:


USMLSU Initiative
Washington,  DC


ONLINE, REAL-TIME CONFERENCE CALLS/MEETINGS BEING SCHEDULED FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF 2009 !


Respect, reasonable compensation, and humane treatment for all U.S.A. Medical Transcriptionists


a wage one can live on is no more

I don't know about you, but when I see 7 and 8 cents being offered for independent contractor work, I scream a little scream inside me and then implode for a few seconds, and then I move on as that is too insulting for words.  How can a person take out their own taxes with such low pay?  It's really not worth it, when you do the math, figuring out 25 to 33 percent is delegated to tax. 


If a person does 6000 lines for a 40-hour week and takes out 28% taxes, this leaves them with $8.65 an hour for their effort.  My 18-year-old son, whose part-time job while he is in school is sweeping the floors at movie theatres in between shows, makes $7.00 an hour.  I am a grown woman with 18+ years of MT experience and would make only $1.65 an hour more than my son if I had this job. 


How's that for a come-down?   


VR or not, need to pay MINIMUM WAGE--sm
Not just my 2 cents' worth -- that's the LAW in all 50 US states.  At 3-4 cents a line, this is hardly possible, especially at the start, to make at least a minimum wage that any 16-year-old kid makes delivering groceries.  Add to that all the UNPAID work we are required to do for the privilege of being fleeced by the MTSOs, CCs, researching doctors, endless demographic work having nothing to do with transcription...
Minimum wage

You cannot by law make less than minimum wage.  If you are making less than minimum wage I would tell the company, they have to make up the difference.  If they don't then you should call the labor board.


Living Wage
I don't know exactly what I would call a living wage for a weekly amount. I can tell you that for my family of 5, the GOVERNMENT says that if I make less than approximately $40,000, that I qualify for various forms of government aid due to low-income status.

$40K divided by 52 weeks per year works out to about 1700 lines per day at 9 cpl.

If you're only making 5 cpl (case in point: That recent ad on the Jobs Bank!), then you would need to type 3076 lines per day in order to keep a family of five above the cut-off for food stamps and free lunches!
I think a living wage is
1 thousand dollars a week.
somebody will do it; hence the wage stays low nm


What is their hourly wage?

I also did not know that they had editing.  QA position?


I get my paycheck every week - that is enough for me! Happy MT week everybody! nm
x
I got laid off for MT Week. Happy MT Week to me!
x
Good last week - Slow this week.
I hope this is not an indication of things to come.  I am getting 1,200 lines a day but it is taking me all day to do it.  We seem to be out of work from 9-12 every day this week.  Hope things pick up after Labor Day.
They are offering this same wage to QA people
with megayears of experience. That is my point!
And industry would pay the lowest wage possible
if people are willing to take it! People have to be pretty desperate or just not too bright to even agree to do this kind of work for low pay.
$8.75/hr nice hourly wage?
Yes, that is good for someone who is new to the biz, but if it takes 8 hours to review 2000 lines, that is only $8.75/hr. I don't think that is a nice hourly wage for experienced MTs. Many times the Editor may have no control over the TAT and oops! there goes that bonus. Quarterly bonuses cannot be counted upon as they are just that...bonuses.

Thanks for clarifying.
Wage earners usually get COL raises.
Every wage-paid position I have had was set on an annual increase with the rest of the company. Even at 3%, it was still a raise.

Production, however, does not increase. It is not the same pay structure and, in my opinion, should not.

You cannot have your cake and eat it, too.

You wanted production, so you can (in effect) control your income by how savvy you are, so you got it. If you want to make more money, increase those skills you feel are so valuable that you don't want to work for a set wage.

Otherwise, go to a wage and relax a bit, know that you're going to draw a certain amount of money (might even still get incentive for production, too), and get annual raises and actual holiday pay, etc.

Mark my words down: You will never get annual raises on production pay. Never. And you shouldn't. You are wanting what will never happen and, instead of looking for ways to actually help yourself, are frittering away your time and energy and frustrating everyone else in the process for nothing.

Yes, jobs may be there but is the wage decent?
That's the all important question we need to ask and know, along with what's going on at any of those companies.  So many jobs available and we have to wonder why..., with so many of us looking every day. 
JUST GIVE US A DECENT WAGE AND KEEP...sm
the token Christmas cards, e-cards, or whatever.