Me, irritated?! Hmmm...didn't think I was. But I must be if you say I am!

• My take on single moms - sm
  • Many single older people need help, too. - not just single moms
    • you are one of those angels who live among us. May a little of you rub off on us all.NM - fg
  • God BLESS your mom and your love and - andromeda
    • so much in common, Andromeda - Aunt Lou
  • I am a single mom - Michigan MT
    • It's none of my business, but am curious as to why - you allow ex not to pay CS (nm)
      • I didn't WANT any child support - Agred to 50/50 custody
        • Wow! I really respect your post. You really sound like you have the kids' interests as #1, and th - Laurie
      • response to allow ex not to pay - sandy
        • Response to why do not make ex pay CS... - Michigan MT
      • I have a friend whose ex-hus owes $10K+ in back child support, she will never try to get it either - - Laura E.
        • Another perspective on child support - My husband's experience...
  • Another perspective - See Msg
    • Applause*Applause*Applause - You're right!
    • Great post! nm - nm
  • But did your mom go on to bring more kids into that situation? That's a big part of the problem. - IMO
    • No, she didnt but so what if she did? - Michelle
      • My point is that it would be extremely irresponsible for her to have more kids in that situation. nm - IMO
  • Well, if its about the post below where the single mom got shafted on a job, - Laurie
    • Yes it was about that - sm

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backing up the same posts with the same style down to the caps on words you want to emphasize.  It's mere coincidence that you and whoever backs your posts seem to use the same style.  Right!   LOL.  Good try. 

Gotcha! 

I am SO irritated.  Would you be irritated, too?  Just looking for some input, here. 

I am an independent contractor.  When I was hired, I made it very clear to the potential employer that I work on a 24-hour turnaround, less if told in advance that I am needed, but that I do not sit at my computer all day from 8-5.  I get my work done whether I work 8-3 or 10 PM until 4 AM.  (I work from home with children, and I do MT rather than use my degrees so that I can be with them.  This is why that was made VERY clear before I accepted the position.  I am not just sitting there waiting for work to come in.) If it comes in by 7 PM on Monday, it is back by 8 AM on Tuesday. That's my contract.

These are some things that have happened:

1.  The MTSO got mad at me one day because she emailed me in the morning telling me about some STAT jobs she needed done RIGHT AWAY.  Well, I had turned in my work from the previous day the night before, and I had signed up to be a chaperone on my child's field trip that morning. I was not on my computer until the afternoon.  That is what she understood when she hired me.

However, when I got on to work that afternoon, I had these angry emails from her wondering where her STAT work was.  When I told her why it was not done, she told me that I was EXPECTED to check my email every morning before I "go anywhere". I told her that would not have mattered, because even if I had checked my email, I would not have done the STAT work until I got back because of my obligation to my previously made plans.  That made her mad.  Frankly, my opinion is "tough noogies". My contract is my contract, and if I have no other obligations I will be happy to do STAT work.  But no, I am not going to put my child second to do a favor for her.  It's like the poster says, "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."  She's mad.

2.  I have a 99% accuracy rate. I consistently work weekends when the MTSO is behind.  I am an outstanding MT.  I work when I am sick, when my kids are sick, no matter what... I work.  Well, one day the workers in the street cut a cable, which took out my internet connection and my DSL phone. I did the transcription using my home phone line, which cost me an arm and a leg in LD charges, but I then had no way to securely email the files.  I let the MTSO know the problem and scrambled around calling until I found a friend not in my neighborhood who had Winzip and who had time to let me come to her house, use her Winzip and computer,and send my files.  My work was 3 hours late.  MTSO told me, "It's in your contract. It's not my problem what technical issues you have.  I need your work ON TIME.  Read your contract!"

How about my paycheck, which is CONSISTENTLY late because the MTSO doesn't get paid by the doctors on time?  I hear things like, "I can't pay you if I don't get paid." How about next time I say, "It's not my problem what financial inflow problems you have.  I need my paycheck ON TIME. Go take out a business loan using your phone system as collateral so that you have some operating capital, I don't care, but I need my check. The pay dates are in my contract. READ your OWN contract!" 

3.  Last thing I need to rant about today....  She called me one Friday saying that one of her MTs quit (shocking) and she needed help on another account.  I went into the account. No templates, no samples, totally flying blind.  I struggled through dictation for an hour with this doctor in a specialty I have no experience in at all, he has an accent I've not had to work on in years, it's totally new to me. In the meantime, my own accounts are stacking up.  I emailed her and basically said, very professionally, that I'd be happy to keep working on this other account, but my own are stacking up. Would she like me to put in my regular amount of hours on this account and then catch up on my regular accounts next week, would she like me to do my regular accounts first and then put whatever time I have left to the new account, etc.  She said that I needed to do the new account and then catch my accounts up over the weekend!

I told her that I was not available to work that weekend, so what would she like me to do as far as the options I had given her previously.  She was mad.  She said that for the good of the company, we all have to sacrifice, she will be working all weekend as well, etc.  Excuse me. The "good of the company"?  I have no benefits.  I have no 401K. I have no vested interest in the business besides the fact that I make a per line rate.  Sure, if she loses her business, I would lose my job... I would also have another one very quickly given my resume.  If SHE has to work all weekend so that the docs don't get mad, she should.  It's HER business.  What part of that is hard for her to understand?  Sure, if she had asked me ahead of time and said, "I really need your help. Do you have any time this weekend to work on this account?", she would have had a different response from me. But to tell me, "You have all weekend to catch up..."  I DON'T think so.  I am not a robot, I am a person with a husband and four children.  I told her I could give her three hours on the weekend put toward any account she chooses, but that no, I would not be working until it was all caught up. She was mad.

Needless to say, I am looking for another job.  But what is wrong with this woman?

I needed to vent.  If you've made it this far, thank you for listening!

I am running into the exact same thing actually.  I won't get paid for MARCH'S work until mid May!  I am an IC and even at that I don't even submit an invoice.  The company pays me for what their client pays them for.  If you ask me, I very much prefer working for companies that pay right on time based on the exact invoice you submit. 

Talk about sarcastic ...... ! Take it easy.

You "told us" what, exactly?  All who posted previously were well aware that this could happen again.  The point was that it was the first time Lisa had worked with this physician.  Giving them the benefit of the doubt was the appropriate thing to do.

Regarding the meeting, no, I do not believe you should be paid for the meeting.  Why?  Because the meeting should have taken place at the very beginning when you decided to accept them as a client.  A contract should have been prepared and signed at that time.  Since, as far as I am aware, that was not done originally, then it should be done at this meeting.  If it were done at the beginning, you would not charge for the meeting because you would be in the process of trying to negotiate a contract with them (i.e., consultation).

I do agree that you should not listen through and record all patient names before transcribing.  From this point on, you need to make it clear that you will need to be paid for everything you transcribe (per your new contract you sign during your meeting), which should have been explained very clearly after the first time this happened. 

1. Not applicable.

2. Not applicable.  I've had more companies want to hire me, but THEY failed to return phone calls because their own business problems or personal lives got in the way.  I'm still waiting for my contracts and welcome packets from at least three companies who wanted to hire me.  THEY dropped the ball, not me.

3. Not applicable.  I don't cheat, and I know what I'm doing.

4. Again, not applicable.  The only time I had difficulty was when I was a new hire with a company that needed coverage, so they bounced me around on three difficult accounts in three weeks because my test scores were so high.  However, why should I take a shot in the paycheck because they need someone?  I need money.  That's the bottom line.  I'm not in this business to do any favors for anyone.  The less money I make while doing the crap work, the less food I can buy to feed my children.  You can't expect someone to be off QA in two days and learn three different account specs in three weeks.

5. Not applicable.

6. That's fine if you want to blacklist MTs.  Just remember that what doesn't work between an MT and a company in one experience is entirely different somewhere else.

7. It's a two-way street.  I get no notice from my employer when the server needs to be upgraded, the power is out, the phone lines are down, there's a virus on the server, they need to deal with their own personal problems, or the dictators are out on vacation.

8. Emails bounce or get lost in cyberspace.  Again, it's a two-way street.  Recruiters and HR people neglect to return phone calls and emails as well.  Besides, sometimes we have to take the first position that actually comes through for us while we're waiting for other offers to get their organizational backsides into gear.

9. Not applicable.

10. Not applicable.  However, style issues are easy to relearn.  One employer or account wants one thing, another wants something else.  It's the basic knowledge that needs to be tested.  Cranial nerves two through twelve, II-XII, or 2 to 12.  I've typed all three according to the account specs.  Does that make me wrong?  No, it makes me flexible.  I thought that was a good thing in an MT.

11.  Again, not applicable.  I've never cheated, but I've been cheated out of pay.  I've been threatened with docked pay for not doing something I was never told to do in the first place and for sending anything at all to QA.  The MTSO would have rather I sent the reports through with a guess than to pay a QA person to double check it.  I've had MTSOs ask me to work for a day for free just to see how it works out.  It's all bull.  I get really tired of these ranting emails from the account manager about one thing or another.  One day, she tells us to do one thing.  The next week, she's screaming at us for doing that very thing she told us to do.  It's like working with Sybil.

12. I've never kept anyone's software or equipment.  That's stealing.  I respond to all emails and phone calls, especially if it's just to say, "No, thank you, I've taken a position with someone else."  I also purchase and set up all of my own equipment only to find out that oopsy, they overhired on the account so there's no work for me.  Start the job hunting process all over again.