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You're right - it is unfair

Posted By: forced use of PTO stinks! on 2009-04-17
In Reply to: Unpaid time off - a benefit? - fingers

My company actually put it in the employee manual - that employees are required to use PTO for periods of low work volume and computer downtime - and the company reserves the right to INSIST upon the use of PTO.  Obviously if a company needs to put that language in their manual, they are deliberately planning to overhire, run out of work, and have computer downtime.  It is completely unfair - especially since there are rules about requesting it in advance when we want to use it for OUR reasons, but of course those rules are waived when forced to use it for the company's advantage!


Companies SHOULD live up to their end of employment and pay when you show up to work as agreed - and most do in other industries!  What is the point in EARNING something they can snatch away whenever they please?  PTO is not really a benefit when you are forced to use at the company's whim and for their benefit instead of your own.  This ensures you never get to plan an actual vacation, and the company doesn't have to have much concern when work volumes are low - they can just force us all to go on vacation - although instead of CALLING it that and letting us WALK AWAY from the job and go do something else - they force us to sit there and TRY to work, then take the vacation after the fact when it turns out there was none!  That is a double whammy because you never got to actually LEAVE the workstation - and it snatches away a future time when you actually planned to!  So of course we get burnt out and miserable without hope of a REAL vacation spent away from the keyboard!


It stinks that every chance they get, some suit (who gets salary and NEVER gets forced to take PTO himself) finds a way to steal an employee's benefit and turn it into a benefit for the company instead.  PTO under these circumstances is NOT a benefit - it is just another term for slave labor.  How DARE they act like unpaid time off is a priveledge that THEY may choose for us, but WE may not.  Its unbelievable the lack of respect we receive, and the crap we are supposed to put up with, for the luxury of working at home.




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Another example of how unfair they are.

It is definitely unfair if someone has been
there for 8 or 9 months, has to wait until 12 months before even accruing 1 minute of PTO and a new employee hired today gets PTO immediately.  How is that not unfair?
How is it unfair?
Constantly assuring someone their check has been mailed and still has not been recieved is not good business ethics period. Then to have the threats on top of it...that is just plain bs. She STILL has not gotten her check and if he has any decency he will stop payment on this supposedly mailed check and just overnight her a cashier's check for her full pay. I dont know about anyone else, but Im not rich and need my checks in a timely manner, and as far as I know there arent MTs out there just doing this for the fun of it alone. Not being paid is what is UNfair.
It is unfair because those of us

who have put in 10, 20, 30 years or more should not make what a newbie does period!  It doesn't matter if it's production or not.  Someone with 10 years or more experience should NEVER make what someone just coming out of school or with 1, 2, 3 years in MT.  We have put in our time, learned a lot in those years, and absolutely should be rewarded with higher line rates for that!   When the newbies get in their years and years of experience, they too should be rewarded. 


It used to be we all had to start small and work our way up.  Now it seems that everyone makes the same, and it's not right at all! 


SPi unfair!

The new comp plan looks wonderful but when you start typing you notice it takes almost double to get your line counts.  Sure, they lowered their line counts, but they don't pay for headers, footers, spaces, returns, tabs, and the patient info area!  We get audits and have never been provided with the policy on them. 


So much is changing in that company!  Something is wrong!  Everytime you turn around there are new MQ managers and less United States MTs and Editors.  What is going on?  I've went though 5 managers in the past 6 months!  The director of ops is running though the company trying to model it after MQ.  Well look where MQ is now!  Why don't people see that the higher-ups are NOT getting the job done correctly and everything is falling apart!  A change has to happen or this company is going down faster than Leroy Brown.  They need to start changing their upper OP managment team ~starting with the director and all of her MQ followers!


unfair practices
I would like people to be aware of a company called Advantec MT, to let people know that at least at the beginning they pay 1/2 cent per line but don't let you know until your first paycheck is due and then you find out and you have to pay for their equipemnt which I believe is very deceptive.  Thought everyone should know.
not really unfair, a lot of other companies do that too
At my last office position I had to wait a year for vacation.
That seems unfair. I have no reason to think sm

they do anything unfair.  I did a little over 3000 lines last Sunday.  If they were manipulating things in any way, that wouldn't seem likely. 


Granted, I would like to be able to use the Ctrl/I function, but because I cannot, I do not automatically assume something underhanded is going on.  The company has treated me well, and I have no reason to suspect they would cheat me in any way, and it is unfair for you to imply they do unless you have proof to back it up.


100% QASeems VERY unfair for..sm
Unfair to QA the whole group for work THAT'S UNPAID to begin with, such as demographics garbage, etc. bookkeeping that their OWN clerical staff is supposed to be doing...not the  MT for GRATIS...If the client really is so demandinging and picky about the demographic work, you know full well that he is paying the MTSO for it, while we get to do it for nothing for the sheer privilege of working for them.  What the heck does this have to do with transcription?? That's what we were hired for and paid for....let them do their own bookkeeping.
Don't you feel this is the least bit unfair? sm
Unfair to each one of these companies who has to spend quite a large sum of money to recruit and train and ship your equipment? And unfair to yourself, as how can you expect to truly learn all the different operating systems and dictators and accounts if you can't concentrate on just learning a single thing at one time?

I think you give us all a bad name.
That's pretty unfair.
Just because the patient returns for multiple hem/onc visits is not a good enough reason to pay lower scale to type a few lines.  
Unfair and no work
I have worked for them for about a year now and they are always running out of work.  They are sweet as pie to you if they need you to help with overflow, but when work runs out they get ugly.  JMO
It's unfair to say it's only people with children.
I think the above poster is correct that it's the perception that you can work when you want to that has caused this, not just people who have kids. I have a transcription service and some of the worst offenders don't have any children at all. Even in the real world I always saved my vacation days, etc. to use for my children's school events or whatever and took time off for my kids because they are my no. 1 priority. That has never interfered with my fulfillment of my job duties, even when I worked outside of the home.

I've hired anywhere from someone straight out of school to older people nearing retirement age and some of my best ICs were mothers. Some of my worst included one gal who wanted to party every night of the week and couldn't work the next day with a hangover, an older lady who got tired earlier in the day than she thought she would so she had to stop work early, and yet another lady who had marital problems and used an argument with her hubby as her excuse not to work on any given day. I can give more examples, none of which involve kids. Most of the women with kids did well because they knew how to organize their time, worked when kids were asleep or at school since they knew it was their only chance to get it done, and they were adept at multitasking.

What you are really seeing is a lack of work ethic in general, in all different professions. So many want to get rich right now but they don't want to have to work to do so. We live in a drive-thru, high-speed society and everyone wants everything RIGHT NOW with the least amount of effort possible.
as unfair as it sounds, I have never heard sm
of a company that lets you see a contract until you are ready to sign. If when you read it you don't like it, you don't have to sign it. A hassle yes, but companies are not going to just arbitrarily send out their contracts for folks to see.
Payback is what comes after notification that your sup is being unfair.
I have lost 1/3 of my income, lost ability to work OT and am having less than desirable work siphoned to me since I finally found the courage to go above my sup's head. So, know the risk if you stay in the job.
I think you are being a bit unfair. We all say we want MTSOs to be upfront sm

about what they will pay, what they expect, and not to waste OUR time testing if the wages or whatever do not meet our expectations, then when someone does that, she gets blasted.  I just started doing some part-time work for her, and the work is clinic work, which is super easy, and the pay is on time and it is weekly, which is a nice little extra. 


Just my thoughts


That is crazy!! I do QA too - how unfair to be docked points!
//
As I have stated repeatedly, although very unfair, leads have line counts too.
nm
Curious. Scrolling down yesterday and noted comment about unfair labor practice
suit possibly brought by an MT against a certain company.  I know this company only hires ICs - not employees.  Is this possible?  TIA.
Hope you're enjoying those slave wages you're earning.
.
So you guys feel you're getting paid what you're worth with VR?
I'm not trying to be snarky. I've never done VR, so I'm trying to understand.

You're happy with your paycheck with VR? Do you find the files to be as bad as the original post implied?
So you're telling me, basically, they're bad news?
They offered me 0.095/line and you know - it sounded too good to be true, but I SWEAR the recruiter told me they do not outsource. Oh brother... I just wish they'd be honest. I really don't know what to do.
Not the OP, but they're supposed to take out all the other taxes as you're an employee with th
s
No, they're not losing money....they're gaining!
If a company charges their clients by the line, I'm sure that line rate does not go down even though the MTs pay does.

ASR pays about 2/3 normal line rate to its MTs. Their ultimate goal is to have the MTs do twice as much work. Therefore, the client is getting their work faster, but paying their normal rate, while corporate gets that money and the MTs get the lower line rate.

Whether the newbies want to realize it or not, MTSOs have not increased MTs' salaries in the past 10 years. They still start out at the same pay as the last century!

This used to be a very lucrative profession. Nowadays, most MTs are considered to be paid at the poverty level. You don't believe me, look it up!
Hey, you're in luck then. They're hiring! (nm)
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If they're in Nebraska, they're www.medigrafix.com nm
m
If you're an IC, you pay all your taxes. Otherwise you're an SE or employee. nm
s
If you're PT you're required to work

8 of your hours in one weekend day.  There's no extra pay for it though. 


The face we're wising up is exactly why they're
xxx
We're not 'so scared' of it. We're trying to help
you to not make a huge mistake, but I guess you're determined to learn the hard way, so good luck with that.
If you're in the 37% tax bracket, you're making over
100K per year. Quit complaining.
You're right on it! They're just trying to cause panic.
...
How can you KNOW what you're doing without THINKING you know what you're doing?
/
If you're not doing your job, then you're not earning anything, therefore
p
they're desperate because they're sm
driving away all their employees with the horrible new changes they're implementing.  It's a mass exodus, and they couldn't keep up with their work load before all the departures. 
We're glad you're gone too.
The more people that quit, the more work left for me. I love it when people say they can't take doing MT anymore.
Well, i hate to tell ya, but if you're an IC, you're
nm
I think they're new. nm
m
now we're getting somewhere....
Great qualities... absolutely. Can you be more specific. What type of communication do you think works? What doesn't? Concern is also important. But how far should it go. Certainly a company needs to be understanding if an MT has some problems, but remembering it is not the company's job to take care of someone, what about when the MT is not producing or working when scheduled? How long do you let it go on? What if the MT has chronic problems. What is the company's role here?

I can say my boss was ALWAYS flexible with my schedule, but I also made sure that I made up the time and the lines. I didn't abuse it.
You're better off
Someone else will appreciate your abilities.
You're welcome; here's what I can tell you ...
Spheris' family insurance is with United Healthcare and the premium for family coverage is about $180 per payperiod (2-weeks).

As far as PTO with Spheris, as a FT employee, you would earn 10 days a year for your first 5 years of service, then it goes up from there.

I hope that gives you a guideline to go by.
If you're looking for
and to be treated well, then you will like TT. They really are the best company I've ever worked, for and I've worked for more than a few. In this business of never meeting who you work for and not knowing what you're getting in to until it's too late, they are a breath of fresh air. They always pay on time, pay what they say they will pay, are very kind and honest. Good luck.
you're right...sm
when I was in school, for MA, not MT, my instructor said the ones taking the MT class were just waisting their time. I worked as an MA until I got pregnant, then worked as an MT after my son was born. I'm gonna ride it out as long as it's available. Then, hopefully I won't be too old to do something else!
Is it possible that you're having another
I may be an old biddy but when I was 17 it wasn't a computer that was sitting in front of me on Friday night, loser.
Oh, if you're asking me -- I don't know. I wish I could
tell you, but I have no idea.

They're far from going under.

They're securing new accounts all the time because they're a good company with a fair, honest owner and a wonderful support staff and QA, etc.


I hear there are one or two bitter ex-employees out there who do nothing but trash the company, and it's totally unwarranted. 


so what you're saying is . . .
No brains required! LOL! Sounds good to me!
If you're sure...
I would contact my coordinator and ask. I think the system is set up only with and without ops, that's it. On the VA account I do, if any report is skipped, the MT is questioned. Melody sent out an email not too long ago about cherrypicking and I know management is now noting who is skipping what.
Not sure if this is what you're trying to ask or not...
OSi now has what used to MQs so I guess they just resent each other. I had a little of what OSi now has. I got paid very well for working on that difficult account. I won't work for them just because I can't see taking such a huge pay cut just to do the same crap I've been doing for years. I moved on. No reason for me to bash anybody. However, the complaints on this board definitely helped me make that decision and I'm so glad that people do speak out when they're not treated right by a company.
You're welcome! nm
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You're very welcome. :)
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