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I would go back. The factors that made it difficult to work there before are no longer there

Posted By: and it is a really good company on 2006-01-11
In Reply to: Along the same lines, has anyone ever left TH and gone back with good results? - They liked me & practically begged me to stay.....

Clear expectations, documented style guide, friendly and helpful staff from the top down, consistent QA. They put in writing what they expect and if you do your thing within those expectations, you will thrive!
(I'm only a lowly MT, not anyone in a position to profit from these statements!)


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Go for it. I made the move a little over a year ago and have not looked back.
Plenty of work, nice people, decent pay. All in all, one of the best decisions I have made.
Why should I go back to making 9 cpl when I make 11 cpl now?? I made 8 cpl over 12 years ago.
nm
Isn't Wal-Mart the company that lied/replaced labels several years back with Made in USA? nm
,,
It's longer than the "standard" 65-char. line so will take you longer to make those lines!
m
If you can work through the difficult ESLs, that is...
x
It may be they have universities to work in, not sure. I have found them much more difficult. nm
:
While I think it would be difficult to work a very strict schedule at home - sm
I do believe that every MT should have a window in which they are expected to do their work. That benefits everyone involved, the MT, the company, as well as the hospital. I pretty much adhere to the same hours every day, unless something unexpected (emergency situation) comes up. I just think it is easier that way. However, in the summer time, I like to adjust my hours a bit to be able to work in the early a.m. while the kids are still sleeping. I work the same hours over the summer though. Working at home around your family is not easy, so there has to be a little flexibility on both sides. Going to an office to work without your everyday family and life interruptions, I believe, is quite different.
Since you no longer work there
But if you need to keep repeatedly posting about your bad experience there, go ahead, its a free country.  I was speaking of my current work volumes there, to another current employee.  My post was not addressed former employees, and I made no mention of the validity of your past experience, so I don't understand why you felt the need to respond to my post.  As you said, not everyone has the same experience, and I understand that...do you?
I no longer work there, but there was a lengthy
discussion about them just a few weeks ago.  If you'll click on your original post and near the bottom click on the related posts you should see the posts.  You can also check the archives.
I'm no longer there, but lack of work was
an issue for me, though I don't think it is an across the board problem.  I think my account was just overflow and the hospital could say don't pull any work for xx days.  It was often 3 days, sometimes more than a week with no work at all for that account.   I finally did get a backup account but hated the platform it was on and couldn't make any lines.  There are no guarantees with any job as they lose accounts, sometimes there are technical issues on either end, and currently I think the economy has slowed things down to some degree too. 
This was longer ago than that and they were able to hire New Yorkers. I don't work there, either.
s
Explain to me how the work goes to the people who have been there longer?? sm
I've been at TT less than 3 months, have not run out of work for more than an hour, and have never had a problem meeting and surpassing the required line count.
I've been with them far, far longer than you, and believe me, work is not bountiful. You are very
One year, big deal. You have no idea. You won't be happy for very long.
My figures exactly, and I have to work longer to achieve
nm
I've decided that I'm not going to work for them any longer. sm
I never signed anything that obligated me to the fee. That's the point. I only found out with the direct deposit printout, and I had to then question the expense. I've been an IC for years, and never have I been asked to pay for the use of the software a company installed on my computer. I provide my computer to use, yes, but a company has to supply the software, and no one has ever required a charge for that. I should have been afforded the opportunity at interview to either accept or reject the job based on that requirement. Since the subject of a license fee was never broached during the interview process and the contract did not specify that I would pay for a license fee, I accepted the position based upon the contract terms. As far as they have a right to charge since I am an IC, I feel they have no right that is not specified within the contract boundaries. Am I wrong with this thinking?
I hope it gets better! Can't afford to sit here much longer with no work. nm
nm
If you no longer work there, you don't know what you are talking about. My stub came sm
the day after my deposit last pay period. The period before, it was the same day.

They do care about us, and as I just went through a family tragedy, I was shown just how much they care.


Has anyone received their W2 from DeVenture? No longer work there and don't want to call them..nm
nm
I no longer work there … kinda glad now. Sorry to see the changes that have happened. nm

x


You work longer AND harder and the work is
??
Has anyone ever left Keystrokes and gone back? I left a few months ago and realize that I made a

nm


I was reading about the back up help. I would like also to have some back up work.
I am not getting anywhere near 12,000 lines this go around.  My goal is 12,000 lines each pay period.
other factors . . .
I think besides the server being busy, my slower processor contributes to the slow word appearance on my screen from time to time. My computer is on my long list of things to replace around here!
too many factors here
are people giving net, take home?  How much are they contributing towards taxes, 401K, health ins., equipment rental, on and on....how many hours are you working, what are you paid per line, employee or IC (big one), etc.  You can't just ask someone how much they make.    And it's just causing a big feather-raising ruckus. 
There are a lot of factors...
But I think also if you can get up to $15/hr, that would be okay because it will be dependable. You also need to consider how much driving is involved each day, will you have to pay for extra daycare, how much the benefits cost, etc. If you can get $15 and all of the other factors are good, I would probably take it. You can always get an IC MT job on the side to make extra money.
Pay plan factors
Those factors include monthly QA score, production (lines/hour), and how much you send to proofing for help. Also if you have the CMT there is a differential. It really does put us in control of what we can make and the potential for increases is there as you get more familiar with what you are doing. It's been a great plan for me to work on! Insurance is with Blue Cross, rates would depend on whether it's just you or a family plan.
It depends on a lot of factors for both.

How big is the page? In other words, how many lines define a page, and how many characters in the line? Or, if paid by line, how many characters in the line? Are spaces included? For both, are headers and things included. I assume you're referring to Silent Type. I have always heard they paid archaic wages per page. There are posts on Company Board about them - I would search back a few pages. I know they make you travel to their offices for 2 or 3 days, and even though I live in NJ, I would never stoop to that in this day and age - not very high tech.


Lots of factors..
Overtime laws are federal/state. Federal law is 40 hr/week. States can supercede that to an 8 hr/day, etc. Company policy doesn't matter. Classification of employees is key. Some employee classifications do not quality for OT pay and can be required to work 60 hours a week with no additional pay. Company policies/collective bargaining agreements can grant benefits not required by the law (sometimes including, but not always the ability to grant comp time in lieu of OT), but cannot offer less than the minimum required by law. Example: If you are in a state that requires OT after 8 hr/day, then you cannot be offered comp time in lieu of OT. If you are in a state that required OT after 40 hr/week, you can be offered comp time SO LONG AS it is taken in the same week. Some employee classifications have different requirements, which may allow the comp time in the same pay period (2-week, month, etc), but for the classification that MT (not supervisory, just plain MT/QA classified as employee - not IC, SE is gray area) fall into, pay period doesn't matter. For those, comp time must be taken in the legal period, whether it be day or week in order to be in compiance with the law, which we all know not all companies are.
Here are the factors in my opinion...$1.10 is okay if...sm
... they pay for links meaning if the CT chest, abdomen and pelvis are dictated together which most radiologists do it gets counted as three reports.

Some companied including Medquist counts this as one report now.

Also if the account is not a teaching institution - no residents only attendings dictating then that means better usage of macros/word expanders.

If the account is a teaching institution with lots of residents and ESL attendings and does not pay for links then it is definitely way too low.

Hope this helps.

JMO
Could be any number of factors
It could be any number of factors.  For someone to be on actual QA hold for 15 months sounds a little odd.  How do you know the account requirements do not specifically call for 100% review from the service.  I think you answered your own question.  If someone needs actual QA hold for that long they'd be released.  I think there is more to this behind the scenes that you are unaware of.  If you're making your lines and an income, who cares how anyway?  I can assure you the QA person is not making any extra money and enjoying the power by having to review each and every document.  I suspect it's more of a client requirement for it to be going on this long.
All of these factors depend on the
x
Some other factors to ponder Maggie...sm

I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.


I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I.  I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.


Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals.  The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.


It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.


MTSOs have no control over the factors that would make this
:+
You're omitting some very important factors.

1.  The cost of living has increased drastically since 1992.  That $15 an hour was worth far more than it is today. 


2.  TIME, which to many is the most important factor.  You really can't put a value on what you're losing with your family when you have to work *that couple more hours* to make what you made 15 years ago.  In fact, if we had worked that *couple more hours* 15 years ago, we would have been paid time and a half as overtime.  Also, 15 years ago when I worked in house I was paid hourly.  If it took me a little extra time to find the address for a copy the doctor wanted sent, I was still paid the same.  Have you figured the percentage of lost work now working production and trying to find the addresses, first names, correct spelling of referring physicians, etc., for the hundreds of different doctors from multiple accounts for multiple national MTSOs over the 15 years? Our job requires the same, if not more, amount of unpaid time...yet we're not paid hourly anymore.


3.  I really liked your phrase *the benefit of working from home.*  LOL  Sure, we don't have to buy business clothes or pay for gas, but what is the employer saving by having us work at home?  We buy the computer, buy the printers to print out the hundreds of pages of account specs, the ink, the electric, the internet access, our research materials, and in some cases even the software.  In fact, this brings me to the next point you never considered.


4.  IC status.  More and more MTSOs are asking for IC status.  When I started working at home about 14 years ago, I was an employee making 12 cpl WITH the best health insurance I ever had, weekends off, all holidays except 2 off with pay, AND 2 weeks paid vacation.  Here it is 15 years later and the MTSOs not only want us to work for less than we did then, but they don't even want to pay benefits, taxes, disability insurance, or unemployment insurance.  They want us to pay all that for less than what they paid us 15 years ago...AND THEN, they want to tell us what hours to work, what days to work, and how much work we have to do in a day.  In other words, they want to treat us as employees, but put the price of all the employee *extras* on our backs. 


And you're content with all this??  Maybe I shouldn't use the word content.  You're used to all this and accept it?  Now I see why posters have made the correlation between battered spouse syndrome and our profession.  The more you become used to the abuse, the more you accept it.


That's illegal - an IC cannot be made to work sm
either a schedule, a set number of hours, or mandatory overtime.
I thought it made a difference to work
but unless you are working for the hospital it doesn't matter, you still get what they want you to have. I asked my last supervisor if they get psych work and was told they did but she saved them for another MT who liked them. The work I would get would be one-minute mush mouths. It sometimes took 20 minutes to complete one. That's the way it stayed until I finally left. I think that's an MT service thing because when I worked for the hospital, I typed whatever was next in line, no cherry-picking and no favoritism.

Sorry to hear that is happening to you. Hopefully, things get better either through communicating the problem or by getting a better job situation.


I think I work for the comp. with an M that you mention but they are the ones I made more with than
I had previously at another job..huh?? I do notice a discrepancy in accounts. On one account, I get a great line but when I tried another one of their accounts I was not making the same..not even close. I questioned it and was told that the way it is counted is per the hospital/client's contract and they set the rules. So, I just assumed that that facility got a contract that paid for less things than my main account. You can email me privately if you'd like to compare accounts. Trust me, I wont share with anyone. I have had more than my share of issues with this company and am seeking to move on. Good line count or not, sometimes it is just not worth it.
Actually, I'd be happy to work for 80s wages -- I made a lot more then. nm

I, too, so frustrated with TT NO WORK that I made typo

THEM THEM. 


No reason to talk to them.  They talk to us via email about NO WORK.  Flex, flex, flex . . . overnight, into EVERY weekend, and then absolutely impossible to get line counts required.


Hate it when these companies OVERHIRE for a supposed account coming onboard and another company picks up the account from them! ! ! ! !   And we MT's continue with overhired MT's and NO WORK.


I, too, so frustrated with TT NO WORK that I made typo

THEM THEM. 


No reason to talk to them.  They talk to us via email about NO WORK.  Flex, flex, flex . . . overnight, into EVERY weekend, and then absolutely impossible to get line counts required.  Something like the saying, TT is counting their chickens before they hatch NOT even thinking one thing about the MT's who have been sticking by them and continuing to pay their SALARIES while we cannot even get paid our OWN salaries, because we are PER LINE/PIECE WORK employees. 


Those TT employees who work in the office and those mgmt-type people who work from home HAVE NEVER MISSED A PENNY from THEIR paychecks, when we are constantly getting LOWER AND LOWER paychecks due to their OVERHIRE.


Hate it when these companies OVERHIRE for a supposed account coming onboard and another company picks up the account from them! ! ! ! !   And we MT's continue with overhired MT's and NO WORK.


WMX is a great company to work for. Made
nm
I agree. Big factors- ease of dictators, length of reports, platform. NM
.
Funny how no mention is made of this when there is no work, which has been the case for much of the

There has been no mention of this for months because of no work/low work for months now.


Today might be a good to apply since there is work today.


We have had plenty of work for the past 3 days, and now getting emails to work schedule to completion and get required lines or more! 


that was union and they STILL made us work overtime, etc. Depends on where you
are.  Personally, count me OUT!  My experience is HORRIBLE and getting worse.  I am now union free and tell everyone I know about my BAD experiences with the union!  Companys do what they want anyway!  When you start starving and no one will hire you because you are on strike you will get the picture
I "only" make $1.15 per report and have made over $62,000 this year so far. I only work 8 hou
5 days a week and pick up one 4-hour weekend shift a month. It depends on the account, your company, the report length, your expanders, normals, etc. I made $1.43 with Edix before I switched and even though I took a per report loss, I make more money in the past 2 years than ever with Edix. I rarely run out of work, which is a HUGE factor. I know that the company I work for is both praised and condemned on this board, but I am happy at KS.
I agree they have WAY over hired, but I am required to work my schedule..you got it made then!

Why is pay rate confidential? It is YOUR money that YOU made with YOUR hard work. You should be
:+
not anonymous - I do work for Keystrokes, I thought I made that clear
I do work for them, it is hard not to trust anymore but yes, I do work for Keystrokes, I thought I made that clear. The other poster seemed cynical. I understand that. I love working for Keystrokes. it is an honest company. After all the other companies I have been with it is refreshing!
Saw the ad for Molave - made no bones about it being Asian work you are editing. nm
x
Plus my company is out work and I haven't made my rent yet, so am grouchy!
nm
made type -- SO UPSET OVER TT and their NO WORK situation way TOO LONG now

sorry about type, but very, very upset with the TT has lost any concern/care for their MT's who make their paychecks for them.  Dictatphone doesn't pay you your salary, nor pay for your raises.  Your MT's allow your paychecks the remain the same and allow you to give yourselves RAISES.


Leads/sups, etc are transcribing OUR WORK now and we have none to little no paychecks to pay our bills.


You who are thinking of hiring on with TT better give some very consideration to your decision.  GOOD ADVICE.