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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

LABOR BOARD / MINIMUM WAGE LAWS

Posted By: Overworked/underpaid on 2009-10-04
In Reply to: hospital job - jbird

Regardless of all the bull dished out by the MTSO companies, especially as it pertains to VR, i.e., We're cutting your pay 50%, so you'll have to work twice as hard - but you're going to LOVE the platform.  Also get tired of hearing about Learning Curve and wonder if my grocer, landlord & hungry kids understand this learning curve concept. 


However (and the MTSOs can like this or lump it) WE MUST BE PAID FEDERALLY-MANDATED MINIMUM WAGE for workers with employee status - whether straight typing, VR or being required to babysit computer during no/low work.  Of course, it's exploitation to cut wages in half from an already insultingly low rate & most MTs are surely feeling the pinch.  But whether 2, 3, 4 or 10 cpl ... minimum wage must be paid.  (Sorry Suits/MTSOs - the law is there for a reason!)




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Minimum wage laws are for employees only, not independent contractors
Would you pay your plumber or pool cleaner (examples of other IC jobs) more because the minimum wage increased?
Our work is considered piecemeal and not subject to minimum wage laws. Just what I've been told
MT
Is it Wage & Hour or Labor Board...sm
To help get payment. MW is trying to screw me - gave my lines to somebody else and are dragging their feet BIG time. Gonna report them, tired of it and need my money.
The IRS does not care. You turn them into the Wage and Labor Board through the Fed. Gov.
nm
You have to be IC because of labor laws sm

I don't know of any companies like this because they have to verify the # of hours you work.  Most places require a set # of hours per week, if you are full time often 32-40 hours, PT 20-32.  All I have dealt with require the hours be met more importantly than the lines, they have to have staff to cover set hours for client needs.  If your lucky enough to type 250 lph, apply for part-time, then you'll only have that 6 hour day you are looking for and not be obligated to type longer, then if you don't meet the line requirement in that time, you'll still have room to type longer without costing the company OT if you need to type another half hour or hour longer than expected to get there.  These companies have to be very careful to keep track of the hours because they are required to pay OT for anything over 40 hours, and they have a minimum line count so they know the have people that can get the work done instead of people that aren't disciplined to type from home.  All of this is just what I have seen in my 12 years as an MT, may be different for other MTs. 


US labor laws
Maybe this company is claiming ignorance of US labor laws b/c they are based far, far away. I have no idea, really. It's a lame excuse if that's their thinking. Something's very wrong at this company!
IC labor laws

HAPPY THANSGIVING...  Could somebody point me in the direction I am needing to get the independent contractor labor laws.  And can an employer tell you that you can submit your work in an e-mail if you cannot get into your system.  Doesn't that break confidentialty laws?  Anyway I am needing to know how IC work, works.  Can I set my own hours?  If I am too sick to work for a day and I tell my employer can they charge me a penalty fee?


I would appreciate any help I can get.


Labor laws
That is because a lot of MTSOs abuse the IC status. They treat the MTs like employees instead of ICs. Many years ago I worked for a service that fired someone. That person went to the Labor Board and the service had to pay back employee taxes on everyone. We all had to get a second account to satisfy the State that we were ICs and not just working for one company, which they considered a employee situation.
Labor laws
Why was your last thread locked?
to break labor laws?
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link to DOL - Labor Laws

It is against the law to be fired for turning your company in. If you have a complaint file it. Also, it is the responsibility of the company to keep a log of all hours worked for each employee. The way we are treated needs to come to an end! I cannot take it anymore and am getting out of the MT world after 10 years of working from home. I signed up for some classes at my local college and am actively job hunting. For everything that we have to know to be good at this job we are way underpaid. Ten years ago, I was making more as a newbie than I am now. I may have to start out at the bottom with a new profession, but at least I know I will work my way up...instead of working my way down as an MT. I hope a lot of people read the posts I have put on here and take action. It is scary to go out there after 10 years of being at home, and after all the abuse we have endured our confidence is down, but we are all smart, hard working women and we deserve better.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/index.htm
Child labor laws haven little or nothing to do with it. sm
If children aren't developing a decent work ethic, or expect things handed to them, that's something they're learning at home (or, rather, /not/ learning at home). I'd look first to the parents before I'd start blaming outside influences.
I sent HR the fair labor laws info and asked if it was
for real and had a few interesting phone calls after that.  Later heard somebody didn't make lines, got fired, appealed and proved we had no work, and UE told Precyse they have to pay.  So pick a story..... It's like anything else, believe what you want. 
Every state has different labor laws. Each hospital has different needs. Good luck!
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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!
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.
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


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.


If you cannot make minimum wage with this, then
get another profession. I make over $20 per hour. You are a poor excuse for a Transcriptionist if not able to do. End of message and end of talking about something apparently not everyone is able to do.
minimum wage is $ 7.--/hour.....nm
nm
California's minimum wage is higher than SM
the federal minimum wage, this may be why.
Heck, NO!! I'd never survive on minimum wage. nm
xxx
So you don't mind working for less than minimum wage?
That's what a good Editor would make because most good editors that have 100% listen I know get between 2000-3000 lines a day. I think not. People like you who take these jobs bring all of us who have worked hard down. If you have only been an MT for 2 years, I would not think you would even qualify to be QA
when minimum wage goes up do IC rates increase also?
x
MT, minimum wage, single moms, etc...sm
Medical transcription requires a great deal of skill and knowledge. It is not a minimum wage job, or should not be a minimum wage position. Years of learning and experience are involved to master this profession. No qualified MT, single mom or otherwise, should be working at minimum wage levels, in turn necessitating the help of assistance programs. This is too skilled a profession, and it is a shame that it is not so slowly sinking to the level of a minimum wage-type job.
Oh nice..getting late..how about MINIMUM WAGE.. LOL

No, soon the government will increase the minimum wage
and MTs will be the working poor. Sad business this is.
Must be paid MINIMUM WAGE for each hour -sm

worked under 40/wk if employee in the U.S., regardless of work type, job description.  In addition, must be PAID FOR ALL WORK PERFORMED - I won't even go there.


Att: Flamers: You can look this up yourself in DOL regulations.


Minimum wage only applies to employees.
nm
No, she said 1000 monthly - not weekly. Less than minimum wage! nm
x
$1,000 divided by 40 hours is $25.00 an hour. Where do you live that that is minimum wage? nm
:{
Couldn't Amphion be held liable for minimum wage
I'm just sayin'
labor board
Oh boy, I worked for a place like this. They didnt actually threaten the IC's...but...the first time an IC was not available they would send them an email and say that their services were no longer needed. They held IC's to a schedule and let them go if they didnt work the scheduled hours, so yep, agree with you, they say IC, but expect EMPLOYEE like hours and schedule.
PA Labor Board & D&L
They already have my information as well as the PA Sates Attorney's office.. There were a lot of us that quit in and around August, because when the big account people left, they ran out of money to pay us too!  My question is what did they do with all the money that we made on the other accounts that were not a part of the big hospital account.  Heard they (Marino's) live pretty high on the hog partying it up and jet setting or at least trying to keep up with the high society.  Sounds to me as though they have a Champagne appetite with a Beer pocket book. 
Ive used the Labor Board, and they definitely get
}:) heh heh heh
Labor board.
x
If I were you, I'd be at the Labor Board the next day
Even dinging employees' pay for mistakes is pretty low, but since you never typed these reports, I don't see how they think they can legally deduct your pay for not typing them. It would be sort of like if the government siphoned money out of your SS fund, to cover all the years you didn't work because you weren't born yet.

Ripoffs like the one you describe are exactly why your State Labor Board exists. Go sic 'em on that low-life employer of yours!
I'd pay a little visit to the LABOR BOARD, myself. sm
Many years ago, my last paycheck from an MT company I worked for BOUNCED. Not, once, but TWICE. (I put it thru a 2nd time at the owner's branch). So, I went to the Labor Board for help. They not only got me the money from the last paycheck, but also some insurance reimbursement I was owed to me. Apparently this had happened to others at that place, as well. A former co-worker told me the L.B. paid the COMPANY a visit one day, and they went through her office with a fine toothed comb. Found lots of illegal little problems going on, and put her out of business for good. What goes around, COMES around! ;p
Labor Relations Board
might be another place to check in your state or the attorney general in the state, what we used in passed experiences
They need to be reported to the Labor Board..sm
and their names posted.  Another example of MTSOs pushing as far as they can before we MTs cry, Ouch!   They know they are breaking the law. 
Two words. LABOR BOARD.

labor board only helps if you are
x
Labor Board Question - sm

Will the Labor Board listen to you if you are an unpaid IC or is this organization only for employees? 


Is it possible to retain anonymity so that the company you contract with does not retaliate?


Contacting labor board.

Could some one tell me how to go about contacting the labor board about an issue with my employer?  Since I am a remote MT do I contact the labor board in my state or the state my employer is based?  This has to do with pay that I believe was deliberately shorted out of my paycheck as a retribution because I did not type reports on my secondary account that were approaching TAT when I was contacted about it by instant messenger an hour after my shift was over.  I wasn't even at my desk an hour after my shift was over.  I also found out a couple days after the fact that an email from my account manager's supervisor was sent to an email account I no longer use stating that I was requested by my AM to type some reports so they don't go out of TAT and would I please log on and complete these reports. 


Now, lo and behold, my paycheck will be short by almost 800 lines because these 800 lines supposedly sat in QA and weren't completed by the time the pay period ended, even though my shift ended at 4 p.m. on the last day of the pay period.  I have worked for this company for a whole year and this is the first time I have ever heard that the MT is not credited the lines produced until cleared by QA...and I'm not even on 100% QA.  Furthermore, I can't see how I would have even SENT 800 lines to QA in a day.  After multiple emails to both my AM and her supervisor requesting some sort of documentation where these lines went to, I still have heard nothing in regards to this and I'm fed up.  Is this something the labor board will even handle?


File a Complaint with Labor Board
File a complaint with labor board in their state and familiarize yourself with the complaint form for retaliation in case they try to penalize you.
How do you report an MTSO to the Labor Board - sm

I work for an MTSO that lies about when paychecks are sent out.  We are paid twice a month, on the 15 and the 30 or 31.  When the owner of the company was on vacation, I got my paycheck on time.  Ever since this individual came back, it's the same old s##T all over again. I have heard that this person holds checks until the last minute and it takes around 10 days to get paycheck in hand.  This person blames it on the post office being the worst in the world.  Well, how come during the most busiest time of the year, I got paid on time, when the post offices notoriously are supposed to be slower?  I called the post office over there and was told that I should report this company to the labor board, only how do I do it and retain anonymity?  Any ideas?  I don't want to lose this job YET!  I have something else in the works, but not just yet.  I realize this will probably be hard to prove, too.


Perhaps you know of someone yourself or had this experience yourself that you might be able to share and give some advice.


contact the labor board in your state
A Google search should help you find them.
Read their ad on job board, 3 years minimum. nm
 
Contact your state labor board immediately!
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