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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Unpaid work

Posted By: MT on 2008-10-02
In Reply to: Oh, they understand all right...sm - NC MTtoo

How can you say that looking up demographics is unpaid work? We get paid so much per line and that is part of our job. We need to make sure that patient information is correct and to do that, we need to look things up. As far as I am concerned, that is what we are paid for.


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UNPAID WORK -- sm

I think by now it's pretty much understood by both sides re. engaged to work & requiring MT to be at desk even if no work, etc. 


But what about all the GRATIS, UNPAID and UNAPPRECIATED work we're required to do in exchange for the privilege of typing for what is already substandard pay.  Note, I said REQUIRED - MTSOs not asking you to attend to occasional CC's, check docs, research, e-mail, I mean full-fledged exploitation requiring us to do their record keeping, told to Do an EXHAUSTIVE search if something cannot be found in database, all ON OUR TIME, filling in endless demographic info - could go on and on - and is very profitable for the MTSOs, who probably use it as a selling point to their clients (but who knows, they might also actually be billing the client for work they REQUIRE us to do for nothing. 


Any law on this? 


Seems you're spending more UNPAID time/work e-mailing..sm

and xeroxing as if you were sitting there with no work.


unpaid OT
   My daughter reported a company for this practice year before last (she's not MT, is A&D counselor).  It was investigated by Labor and she was paid all OT due her, over $3,000.  The co. was fined for illegal practices and is being monitored regularly.
Unpaid
I worked for a company almost 3 years ago who never paid me.  They still owe me over $1,000.00!  I did what the other MT suggested.  First I went to Labor and Industry (by the way they won't help/cannot help you if you are IC) and I also filed papers with the Attorney General.  It does no good --- unfortunately.  The AG told me to hire a lawyer.  I did ask a lawyer -- he said maybe I could get back 1/2 of what I was owed -- and that was a big if.  The courts can place a judegment but they don't have to pay or they could file bankrupcy. 
Unpaid was for another post....
I tried to remove it, but it changed back when I posted. I am wondering if I should go any further with this company in the process of being hired.
I do not want to spend my UNPAID time...

on the phone dealing with computer problems almost every day and then make less per hour while doing it. 


I was thinking that maybe they would up the pay after a period of time and then it could be a decent place to work as far as editing compensation goes.  Like I said before, I think MQ has the right idea.  They are paying 80%, which would equal 6 cpl if Transcend went with 80% instead of the current 55%, which equals around 4 cpl.  I wouldn't be on here fussing if that were the case.  Hopefully, management will come to understand that the cut was just too much for a lot of us, especially the higher producers.  And you are right, there are a lot of people making the same amount or more editing than they did typing, but these are the people who were slower to begin with.  THAT IS A PROVEN FACT!!  I believe they will love the new editing and compensation.  I do, however, feel that it is not a fit for the higher producers, plain and simple.  So what more do I want, I want to paid a fair wage for my experience and the work that I produce.  That is what I want, and I don't think that is too much to ask.  I am not trying to break the company, just make a decent living.  I want the company to profit along with the employees.  That is what I would want if it were a perfect world. 


UPTO (unpaid time off) ?

Since the 8 hour part-timers can't earn PTO, can they take UNPAID time off? 


Amphion....ask about unpaid demos
nm
I agree - don't want to be an unpaid IT liason

I've been put in that position quite a few times.  I get stuck in the middle between both help desks, ours and the client's.  One platform I have has ongoing issues, and neither side wants to own the issues and deal with them.  What bugs me is our IT desk expects MTs to call the client's IT desk and try to pursuade them to fix it, IMHO that's an issue for the suits to deal with!  It doesn't help that our IT desk is secretive and elitist, and won't explain to the MTs the inner workings of our programs - yet the client wants technical explanations in order to understand the problem, and when I have been kept in the dark its pretty hard to tell them!  So I get asked technical questions I can't answer, and am forced to call back our IT desk, and have to pry the answer out of them, and call the client back - and of course, you get to go through all this again each time there is a problem, you'll never get the same tech twice.  Then after all that malarky, the client tells me to call back my own IT desk as its our responsibilty to make the fix, so I do, and they say to me Yeah, I figured they would say that and wouldn't do anything about it, but it was worth a try!  Worth it to WHO?  Certainly not me - I just wasted hours at your demand and ended up where I started!  Its ridiculous and unfair they expect us to do IT's job with no information and no pay!


I'm in the same boat - I don't even call our IT anymore because I know they're not going to do anything, and I've flat out told them that and my supe as well.  I'd rather wait for the problem to resolve itself - if I'm forced to sit around and lose money I'd rather be doing something I enjoy instead of IT's job!


Above poster is right --- a lot of unpaid downtime.
I've never worked for a company that ran out of work as much as this company did. I do not recommend this company!
Unpaid time off - a benefit?

New one to me.  Never heard of it unless ofcourse you have used up your PTO and need to take off unexpectedly.  As far as using your PTO when there is no work, I think that is totally unfair.  That should be your OPTION, not a requirement.  Suppose you had plans for that PTO?  I also do not believe you should have to clock out when there is no work, unless you want to work outside of your shift.  I mean your shift is your shift.  It should be up to the company to supply you with work during your shift and if they can not do that, then THEY should be the one with the problem. 


I worked in-house for many years by the hour.  When there was no work, I left the office.  To tell you the truth, when I started working at home I worked longer and harder than I ever did in the office.  Ofcourse since I was more productive, I made more money.  I think our jobs should be considered just as valuable as any inhouse employee, maybe even more so, and should include the same benefits if we are more productive and cost inefficient.  I mean, can they really have it both ways?


More information... training is unpaid.

Practice and training time:


                As you begin with DIT, we will send you detailed instructions along with some practice files.


Please note that you are not paid for the practice files. 


 


Your practice files must score 98% accuracy before we move you to real work.           


 


usually 55 does not count spaces and that's a lot of unpaid characters. NM
.
This is hilarious, a company I just applied for had UNPAID
How is that a benefit? Where do these people come up with this stuff......Gee thanks guys for letting me have a day off without pay, you are such a wonderful company to work for, I feel so fortunate!!!
I don't. I trust the software and feel it is a waste of unpaid time.
nm
As a whole.. nice people to work for, decent benefits but the get off/on the system, work/no work,
is maddening. I couldnt pay my bills or even work the schedule I was assigned. They would ask us not to work until work built up in the evenings and I specifically wanted to work days as I have kids etc. It just didnt work out for me but to each his own. It just seems there has to be a better balance in this business that what is happening.
I did speak with my manager. Work was promised. No work there when I needed to work.
I see the reports everyday too, but when I get work it is of bad quality, then there is no work unless I work diffrent shifts. Thank you.
My liaison always says to work on secondary when primary is low on work/no work. n/m
n/m
That's going to be nuts...I do ASR work too, plus work split shifts. We'll NEED a spread shee
NT
Work is easy, very nice owner, pays weekly, work in Word.

A majority of at-home MT is overflow work with in-house getting the bulk of the work. If they clean
s
Pay is always on time, direct deposit, very nice management to work with, and DQS platform, work
load normally busy, but low now because of the summer slow down on my accounts.  Sound an issue on some accounts, but not others.  Overall, wonderful company.
That is a BIG problem at TransTech is leads assigning work, rather than letting the work flow
This TT MT just admitted to that fact.  It has been very obvious, as so easy to tell how work comes into our que and then gets pulled out as fast as it came in and replaced with YUKKY dictators.   VERY frustrating to us other TT MT's who take the JUNK that is NOT assigned to other MT's, such as this poster. 
Ever thought of a home health care aide? Usually paid training and start work right away. Can work
m
Absolutely not! I work for the best MTSO. I am have been so blessed to work for the small company I

I will share this about the MTSO I work for.  I called her late last Wednesday night after Church and told her I was compelled to help out with Hurricaine Katrina in some way and an opportunity arose for a small group from my Church to go to Louisianna this coming week.  Would she be able to cover my work.  She told me no problem without any hesitation and even donated money for the trip. 


And I am sure there are plenty of good companies out there to work for.  To compare us to migrant workers is just not right.


It does work, you do not need to "make" it work.. it works in all word based programs.
x
I did some overflow work for Landmark.. they are wonderful to work for.. very nice people.. pay was
.
They have to be flexibility because of the erratic work flow. No sense in a schedule if no work..
nm
I was told Escription would not work with Vista. Turned out it wouldn't work with my sm
Office Basic Edition 2003 either, but no one could figure out why, it was supposed to.

There is actually a section on the Dell website that offers Windows XP. I haven't checked it out as I'm not in the market, so I don't know if it costs extra. I have a Dell and it's been fine for me. I hate the ESL tech department, but it seems like most of them have that now.
Yes they do send work overseas and do not hide this fact. There is plenty of work and they do pay
well. Overall, I like having work as I have been at places where you had to fight to keep busy so this works for me.
There is NO work at Transtech. Maybe they just choose special people to send work to
df
Are you required to work major holdays at KS. I know nature of biz to work them. Thanks for info. nm
nm
Great people to work for, but I had to leave due to lack of work. Hopefully that has changed. SM
Most of us who do not live in California had to go IC. When I was there, they did not have statutory status, although they told me they did when they hired me. Their pay for VR is VERY low, not a living wage. Many of the folks in the office are ex-YOG and great to work for/with. Good luck.
1200 lines daily is great if you have the work, personally, I never had enough work so
I left and have NEVER been sorry!
Don't know about radiology work load, but we have been scratching in the dirt for work for a numb

of months now.  They hire, lose account, hire again before new accounts comes onboard, then have overhired, having to put new MT's on the current low workload. 


Medical field is 24/7 work unless you work for a clinic or stand alone operation.
I just look at the other cool people working holidays and weekends in the ICU, ER, paramedics,and am glad to be there. When you work in a hospital for a length of time, it becomes a necessary evil to show up at the worst possible times.

Having a family or a life you'd miss from Friday at 5 PM to Monday at 8 PM must be hard and

I think that there is a place for you where they can meet your requirements (M-F). There are plenty of those jobs.
They require that you work in house until your have clean QA for 3 paydays then you can work
e
All nationals I work for you only work 40 hours unless they approve overtime.
x
I'm part-time and don't have to work all weekend. I work Tues-Sat.
I've never heard that from Chronicle, of course I didn't see the ad.
The bid has nothing to do with consistancy of work. MTSO cannot control how cosistant work is.
:+
I'll love to know who you work for. I also work every weekend with no extra pay.
It'd be nice to get paid for all the nights and weekends I work.
Like I said - it depends who you work for. I work for a hospital at home - not a company. nm
x
I know two people who work 3rd shift for Keystrokes on radiology and have a lot of work. Maybe you
on an account that has enough work. I hate to hear that someone doesn't have enough work or that they have a problem because I know that Keystrokes works to find the right account for every person. They do a lot for us but you have to talk to them until you find the right account or volume or hours for you.

I think that a lot of companies are that way but there is a lot of job-hopping in transcription. Everyone is looking for the perfect job but the grass is not always greener on the other side. There are a few MTSO's really are not good but for the most part, the others don't intentionally drive people away. That would not make sense. They need us to work as much as we need them to have the work there for us.


I work on it. Usual amount of work. Not running out but not backlogged either. They seem to have
about the right staffing on it. Hope that helps.
Maybe is it for a particular account. I work M-F. You are required to work one weekend an month.
a
I used to work for a company who separated the MTs by work type daily. sm
regret ever leaving that company. we had a max of 4 MTs typing a large training hospital with clinics. i was assigned consults and discharges with consults being my priority. another MT had ops and admits, etc. it worked so much better. we were RARELY out of TAT and each of us were trained on other report types for backup in case someone need to take off. not to mention that we were easily able to learn the ESLs because we got them repeatively enough to learn them, set up templates, etc. much, much more productive for us as MTs, for the company as work flow, and i am sure for the dictator because they got someone who knew them and their dictations well enough to be accurate. i don't understand why large MTSOs cannot comprehend how much more beneficial that would be.
I actually left about a year ago and work for another company that's running out of work. Have to
x
I so wholeheartedly agree with you. Don't work for KS but work for SS - another company bashed
Works GREAT for me and I love SS. I never really care what the negatives are as I have found they are usually people that can't make their lines, don't work the hours they commit to or just overall do not care!
don't like ASR/VSR -- all work going that direction -- causing very low work situation for awhile
Just a little message since you asked.  Hardly any regular paid transcription work left for TT MT's (transcribing as in the old days, I am speaking of).
I have 4 accounts, doing all work types, and I usually have enough work but this is the slow time of
year so we are scrambling a little for lines.  Easy platform, paychecks DD, always on time. 
I work for an all-US company and refuse to work for one that offshores. Best of luck to you. nm
nm