Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

That's so illegal - turn them in to Dept of Labor. How can they sm

Posted By: NutterButter on 2008-06-19
In Reply to: What I'm sick of is being hired as an employee... - Oh yes it's a full moon for sure!

doctor your time sheet? You mean you don't have any way to verify your HOURS worked? that's scary.


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

thanks for the support, Labor Dept. did say ... sm
that they will investigate and they will get compensation for me on lost investment earnings. MW sent me a check for what they withheld from my pay but denied my request for 4% interest that I would have gotten in my money market account. I truly hope this is just my problem and not the other 133 participants in MW's 401(k) plan. I have not been in the plan long enough to be vested so their contributions don't matter to me personally.
Every state's Dept. of Labor has...sm

rules and regulations re. unfair labor practices.  I don't just mean the BS with the IC and set schedule baloney.  What about:


1.  Requiring an employee to work a set schedule of hours, but not being paid for your time, just the actual lines produced during those hours.


2.  Being told during your set, scheduled shift/hours (which you're not being paid for, remember?) that, sorry, no work or work is slow, but you can't take the day off, because, what if everybody decided to take the day off.  Ergo, must sit glued to seat until work comes in.  Needless to say, line quota not able to be met in the specific schedule you're bound to but not paid for.


3.  Told at end of week you must make up line quota or, (take your choice):


a) Lose bennies for that month.


b) Expect a phone call (who is paying whose phone bill?  I know who's paying mine, and that's why the Almight invented voicemail).


c) You lose job w/o cause... it's in agreement, after all. Hire Indians or other US MTs who are desperate and who'll work for $0.01 less than you are.


d)  We take your first-born (That's next.. with what they are allowed to get by with).


d) 


Dept of Labor and All Other Agencies
PAYROLL ISSUES: Visit the web site of your state DOL. The federal DOL has hired 3,000 to handle the overflow of complaints. Complete paperwork for a complaint, send registered mail, then give them a followup call. They DO follow up.

EEOC: Discrimination by disability, age, gender, race, religion, etc. They have hired thousands of new mediators to handle case overload and are approving more cases for trial than ever before.

RETIREMENT FUND FRAUD: Visit the ERISA web site; they act fast and audit anonymously and take this issue absolutely seriously. They also represent you legally.

SOFTWARE LICENSING VIOLATIONS: Illegal software installed on your PC by employer can get YOU in trouble. Contact the BSA (Business Software Alliance) with any questions. They take online complaints either anonymously or, if you want to be placed on the reward list, they will audit your computer and if there is a licensing violation, reporters receive from $5,000 to $100,000 in rewards for reporting illegal or unlicensed software use. BSA investigates for Microsoft as well as any other proprietary NON-public software.

INSURANCE EXCLUSION/FRAUD: ERISA and state DOL. Also, look up the consumer protection agencies in your state; there may be an additional Insurance Commission.

Keep a diary, keep good, accurate records (dates, times, calls, emails); this information will prove to be priceless :)
Check with Dept. of Labor. We are in sm
no way considered pieceworkers. Unemployment may not see it that way, but we are officially classified by the US Dept of Labor as a class of employees who need to make at least minimum wage no matter what.
Dept. of Labor phone number
For Labor Dept, your point of contact depends on where you live I believe. The number to start with is 866-444-3272. Good luck, and please post if you learn anything new. This has been going on for me for nearly a year and not resolved.
I guess my point about the Labor Dept....sm
in my attempt at humor was not clear.  I reported this to the Labor Dept. over a year ago and we are close to a resolution, but it is taking this long.  I don't allow a company to steal from me without making a lot of noise, believe me!
IC Paychecks-check with Fed Labor Dept
Having been an IC for over 15 years and working for places where pay was sent when they felt like it (including 2 large hospitals in my area) I checked with the Federal Labor Department to see what my recource was.  Employers have 30 days from date of invoice to pay subcontractors/ICs, after that you have to send them a letter demanding payment.  You have no recourse as a self employed person.  I am happy where I am right now (as happy as I can be in this business) pay is always in my acct when it is supposed to be (except for Ike last week and we were kept apprised the whole time.)
Dept of Labor & AAMT's new Apprenticeship Program
How does AAMT play into the offshoring bit? AAMT has launched a new MT Apprenticeship program derived from the U.S. Dept. of Labor??? AAMT is a true advocate of keeping our jobs US based. I recently heard this from Peter Preziosi himself.
Yes, turn them in to the Department of Labor and Industry for nonpayment.
Try the BBB or FTC for unfair labor practices. Send them a certified letter demanding payment or you'll sue in small claims court.
The IRS does not care. You turn them into the Wage and Labor Board through the Fed. Gov.
nm
Whole other can of worms...Illegal on company's side illegal, but (sm)
Retaliatory firing for contact with government oversight agency is illegal in all cases (Whistleblower's laws). It is hard, however, to prove retaliation because company can fire for breech of policy (working overtime when not approved, etc), can railroad you until you quit or they pick up enough nitpicky things to justify termination, or in most states for no reason at all (shaky if you've been to labor board). Whether reported or not, it opens a whole can of worms, and not everybody is going to be happy with the consequences (just look at the MQ saga). IMO solely, if OT is not specifically approved, don't work it. If you want to work it and not put it on your time, feel free (but that is fraudulent records if you're caught - again grounds for termination if anybody cares, which they usually won't unless under scrutiny by oversight agency). If you ask for and get approval beforehand, everybody's happy.
no way you are not in QA dept yourself
..
Any big changes at OSI QA Dept?

I took prolonged maternity leave and would go back to OSi but only if they have a different QA Dept. since summer of 2005.  I never recommend OSI to anyone and I would never return unless that has changed. 



 


Where is the HR dept?
nm
Sounds like you are from the QA Dept--
in order for you to make ASSumptions of what my working experience at OSi was like. This is EXACTLY the kind of attitude most of the people I have dealt with at OSI have. You have just demonstrated my point, thank you.
Okay then BS, get it together. Your dept has been hit the hardest with
You might want to get busy.
FLO'S QA DEPT STILL IN TROUBLE
So many QA people are getting fired, and she is still hiring replacements for them long before they have a clue that they are about to get the ax. She is not keeping anyone who knows more than she does.

Speaking of which, did you see the email about the account manager position? Only 2 years experience as an MT is required. Two years experience. Unbelievable! Cheap-cheap-cheap.

That is what is wrong with OSi. Nobody is qualified to do their uppity jobs, including the QA Director, except the MTs, who continue to lose work to India via outsourcing!!!!
If DOL is all your HR dept will take, then anyone stating here they could
Perhaps you should just give it up if you are not willing to call and/or see an attorney for yourself. lol

What companies use ADP for their HR dept? nm.
.
Why not call and ask the HR Dept???
x
Have you tried their payroll dept???
x
I went into a radiology dept. for a few years.
It was good for my self-esteem for one thing, got me up out of bed with the rest of the world, dressed nicely and out of the house with the morning traffic. Mingling with the masses was great also. Was surprised on how much info we can pick up just by chatting with whoever is beside us whereever we are. The office politics is what took the joy out of it for me. Favoritism, unfair distribution of work, etc plus the gossip behind each others back. I tried to keep to myself but some women simply insist on infiltrating your boundaries and if you refuse, are considered not a team member (being a team member is big in the work place these days; in my dept., it was more important that quality/quantity of work, reliability, ethics. I watched one woman get creamed during evaluations because she was a Debbie Downer, a personality trait that she could do nothing about.
Yes, the main transcription dept at DBO. sm
Run, MT, Run! Anyone considering working there should SERIOUSLY reconsider, especially as long as LC is still the dept supervisor. That's the whole problem right there and always has been - HER.
Don't know for sure but it is HUGE - so they must have an oncology dept.
nm
Tell her to file a complaint with Dept SM
of Labor and let them tell the Dept. of Labor that.
Excuse me, my co's IT dept is in Nashville and sm
Seattle.  Don't say that the majority has IT support out of India, because it's not true.  Even Spheris (with a large presence in India) does IT out of Franklin, TN.
rad dept at the hospital I worked at
everything was automatic and errors throughout; no one cares anymore.... .  it's sad in a lot of ways... . needless to say, I no longer go to that hospital ; they can forget it; I wouldn't send my worst enemy there; yes it's that bad....
This is illegal if... sm
If you are an employee and do not meet the exemption requirements by the Dept. of Labor, they have to pay you OT if you have to report your hours. If you are salary this does not apply because you are exempt. But if you work more than 40 hours a week as an employee of any company, they are required to pay you OT at at least 1.5 your regular rate.

SHOULD BE ILLEGAL
That's right. If they pay you on production, then you should be able to actually see it for yourself, not go by what they say. They refuse, because they know what they're up to, and I agree that if it is illegal, it should be ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL.
There was nothing illegal about it
They were telling me that they were letting me go - had given all my doctors to other MTs over a time period. So, when they emailed me - I just called the unemployment office, since they didn't need me any longer and filed. The particulars had to be hashed out between the state and KS - not me. I then went to work as an IC - searched for employment every week as required - and filed as was required. There is nothing illegal about it - but in the transcription field, there are many more IC jobs than employee jobs, thus the difficult job search. I am happy where I am now and - and I think KS might have learned a lesson - but somehow I doubt it.
That is illegal
You need to report them to the wage and hour commission and get out of there fast.
While same co. is doing something illegal and
x
They also don't pay for OT, despite it being illegal not to. nm
 
Nothing illegal about it, just not a very
smart way for the facility to set up the demos. Why would you think it is illegal???
yes it is illegal! They have set the sm
requirements for the job. The requirements they have set makes that an employee job and not an IC. Check out the IRS regulations. It says, you MUST, you MUST, please do not apply if you can't work these hours, etc. I take exception to the part especially where she says do not apply if you want a higher wage, etc. This kind of stuff is why the MT profession is in the mess its in.

I am sure she will get somebody who really needs a job but they are getting a raw deal and this kind of stuff perpetrates more of the same!!!!!!!!!
Actually, it is illegal

It is clearly not an IC position.  According to the IRS http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=173423,00.html


If you have the right to control or direct not only what is to be done but also how it is to be done then your workers are most likely employees.  If you can direct or control only the result of the work done, and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result, then your workers are probably independent contractors.  


This falls under one of the three broad guidelines that are used to determine Employee, IC or SE. 


According to Publication 1779,


If you receive extensive instructions on how work is to be done, this suggests you are an employee.  Instructions can cover a wide range of topics, for example:


- How, when, or where to do the work.


According to Publication 15-A,


Generally, a worker who performs services for you is your employee if you have the right to control what will be done and how it will be done.


It goes on to state that if that employer/employee relationship exists, it really doesn't matter if you call it an Independent Contractor position or not.  The withholding must still be withheld.


If that prospective employer is advertising the position as an IC with no intention to withhold any kind of taxes, the way she has phrased the ad, saying that you must work certain days and certain times, she is breaking the law.


 


it should be illegal if not already! sm
They can give you a transcription test that will accomplish the same thing. This is nothing more than underhanded age discrimination. No hearing has nothing to do with age, so they should just give you a transcription test and leave it at that. If you can't hear well, you are not going to do well on the test anyway.

These companies hire MTs who don't know what they are doing all the time. New folks coming out of school with really no training and they produce a really bad document and that has nothing to do with their hearing..

Im telling you this hearing test thing is just a subtle age discrimination thing.
Had many friends in the QA dept who all left about the same time.
AND...yes, I do believe them!
Call the medical records dept there. Sm
I did a bit of this account, too, but my primary was a sister hospital. Loved it.
Apply for OSI QA dept if you cain't spell
NM
It depends on the dept. Ortho tests, rad and HIM used to sm
but now they do not. I did hear that there was no difference in those that tested than those that had the experience, so they decided not to test anymore in those 2 departments at least.

I do know that recruiting and hiring is always changing, trying to find new and better ways to process applicants. Not all changes work though, and they start over again.

If you have applied and not heard back, try calling Beth at the KS office. She has been processing the applications and question forms as quickly as possible but really does match everyone up well, which can take time!
Asking illegal questions
No, they cannot ask what they want to. You imagine incorrectly. One should never put down one's DOB until s/he has an offer, or give a SSN until the offer is made. Similarly, they cannot ask questions regarding health and disability until they have made an actual offer. (Cf: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990), so no, they CANNOT ask whatever they want--or if they do, you have a cause of action with the EOC.
Illegal questions
Somebody should tell this to Sten-Tel because both SSN and DOB are on their application.
But its illegal to tell IC they cant work wherever they
x
Wonderfully illegal

Working OT and not getting paid for it is illegal, just ask the suits at MQ. 


i don't think volunteering is illegal and
there are a lot of unpaid internships available for other things to learn how to do the job, why not mt'ing.
Probably not illegal if you are told
x
It is illegal. If she needs someone for a certain shift,
then she needs to hire an employee, not an IC. I don't understand why people don't report these companies.
If what they're doing isn't already illegal,
*
Thank you. I would like to call HUP but I have no idea who to contact in the MR Dept. to talk to. Do
you know the direct phone number to the person in HUP MR because to go through the main number is like trying to call the president.
The payroll dept isn't exactly qualified. There's no accountant on staff. sm
I wish they would just let ADP or something similar handle it. So many things are incorrect so often, taxes, PTO pay missing, etc.