pay rate considerations
Posted By: Janine on 2008-02-09
In Reply to: Pay rate? - Concerned2BMT
I respect what each of you have written. Many benefits that this job gives us ARE truly priceless. But that is beside the fact.
If the companies keep seeing people posting here saying that they essentially are willing to trade decent pay for these benefits, then that pulls EVERYONE down to a lower level of pay -- which includes people such as myself who have this as their only income. There is no incentive to companies to even CONSIDER paying us more if we basically tell them give us our candy and we'll be good little kids and then let them walk all over us. We can't demand higher pay and say we're satisfied with what we have at the same time.
For some of you the pay may be just fine. You have husbands or savings or family, etc. There are others who MUST make a living at this for one reason or another and MUST make as much as they can. Some of us are caregivers, some have disabilities, some are trying to attend school, etc. It hurts us when people make compromises and send that message to the MTSOs.
I've said it before and I will keep saying it -- anyone who works from home can have the benefits you mentioned but they also deserve a decent salary for their work. They are two completely different things. No home accountant, dentist, car repairman, electician, physician with office in their home, lawyer with office in their home -- you think they lower their rates because they have the above-mentioned benefits? Think again. I use quite a few of them and they charge no less than anyone else.
Working from home = good for the employee/IC.
Working from home with decent pay = good for the employee/IC and just as well. (as in "justice.")
Working from home for less pay just to get to work from home = a compromise that affects more than just a few and overall not a sound decision because you are not fighting for what you are worth (whether you feel you need it or not). You are letting emotions override reason. Yes, there are savings in gas, etc. but we still deserve more money.
People who take public transportation to a job outside their home save money in gas too but they are not paid a lower wage because they take the bus or ride the metro! People who wear uniforms are not paid a lower wage because they don't have to get dressed up! People who are allowed to bring their kids to work (I worked for such a firm) are not paid a lower wage because they can bring their kids to work. So what makes that acceptable for us?
Same goes for the question of benefits. You may not need them. Others do. It matters very much what a company's benefits are. Good for those who don't have to worry about it. They can decline. But all of us should be offered the best so that those of us who do need them can afford them.
And if you reply, well, if you don't like a company you can change jobs, it's not about that either. It's about the salary range overall for the transcription profession period. Benefits come second and are an entirely different category. The standard of pay affects each and every one of us from the most experienced to the newest newbie. Benefits affect some of us but they ARE important and are also worth fighting for. If you don't need them, there are enough who do.
Companies watch one another. They watch this board to see what we want. They watch this board to see how little they can give us and still retain us. Right now we have people saying "unionize!" and others saying "It's okay. I get to stay home which is something I'm willing to take less pay for." You honestly think the MTSOs are taking us seriously???
Look, I'm not trying to come down on you -- good for you for what you are able to have. I'm glad for you. Just please look at the overall picture, look at us as a group of professionals who deserve what any professional deserves working from home or not. Why should we be treated any differently? Why should we make compromises? You are deserving of a decent, living wage and all the benefits a company can give period. Anything else is icing on the cake. At least, it is in other professions. Let's NOT be "specialists" in compromising.
Are we a team or not? We're giving the MTSOs mixed messages here folks! Let's look out for one another. 
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Different considerations - happy MT
On the side of nursing the money is great, the demand is high. You have to consider whether or not you are a "people person", how much money you need to make, etc. I am enrolling in nursing school in the spring, but I still love being an MT. Frankly, medicine is facinating to me and either one is great.
On the side of MT, I did this so I could be home with my daughter. She is in school now and getting older. Being at home has a lot of plusses like obviously being there for your kids, but it also requires a HUGE amount of self discipline. I have seem other people fail simply because they were not equipped when it came to separating home/work and scheduling themselves and sticking to it. Money wise, NO, you will not make the money a nurse does, not even close at first, BUT after you get your feet wet and get some experience, you can do very well.
I flew through MT school and my experience doing this has given me credits for going back to nursing school. I have to take 2 prereq classes to get into the actually "nursing" part of the program.
Every job has some form of stress no matter what. I like the fact that I can get up and work around my daughter right now. It will not be able to be so flexible as a nurse.
Don't let what has been said about the AAMT discourage you. It isn't a requirement to be a member or have a CMT. Also it is an adjustment being paid on production and can get a little frustrating when you are first starting out and really have to take your time; however, before you know it, it will just click right into place.
Good luck not matter what you choose.
cpl rate for new mts?
I am thinking about going to one of the top 2 schools. If I graduate and am hired as a FT employee by one of the nationals, what do you think would be a reasonable/average rate of pay per line?
I am trying to get an image of what my finances might look like in the year following graduation. I need to sell this idea to my husband as it is a considerable financial outlay and I need to assure him it will be worth it. I assume I will have a minimum line count per pay period (say 10-12,000 every 2 weeks). Is it reasonable to think that after a month or two on the job FT a newbie from a good school could possibly make 120-150lph production?
Thanks for any feedback.
Pay rate???
Okay, I just got an offer for $40 per dicated hour by the doctor with a 48 hour Turn Around Time per hour's dictation. It is in allergy/immunology. Is this a bad pay rate? I've always seen line count before.
That is still a low rate,
I get 0.01 cpw and a word is counted as every 5 characters. So hepatosplenomegaly would be counted as 3.5 words. But if you have had problems finding a job, I would take it, get some experience, and then start searching for something better. Good luck to you in your new position!
Pay rate?
I'm a student MT who will graduate in May. Right now at my current job I make $15/hour. I decided to become a MT for a career change. I'm worried after reading the post below that new MTs can start out between $5 to $9 an hour? I just don't understand why anyone would take that as acceptable pay as an MT when it is a obviously an important job. Don't we deserve more than that, even as a new MT? Minimum wage in my state is $8.07/hour, why would anyone accept less? 
Going rate
for an IC is around .09 to .11 cents per line. I would first determine how difficult the specialty and dictators are then quote them a price. I'm sure there are others on here who can be of better help than myself, but that's what I've seen on the forums.
average rate
what is the average rate per line or cpl? I am just finishing school and getting ready to start out.
I rate the VLC very high
I just could not let this pass unanswered.
What you forgot to mention Dianne is that you also paid for the online course and some great Instructors. I should know, I graduated earier this year and I had two job offers within two weeks. They really know how to teach MT!
One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.
Brenda
Rate of project Bid
I am wanting to bid on a project, since I'm really quite new at this I'm not sure what to bid. The project is a 4.5 hour audio. They don't have it set up to bid on the price per line, just a amount. I was trying to calculate it per word but I can see from this board that most places pay per line. Any ideas?
Line rate
I believe that means 7 cents per line for a 65-character line. If it does, that is not a good rate, especially if you have experience. Also, you need to find out whether that is 65 characters with spaces or without spaces. If without spaces, that is really a bad rate! Good luck to you!
line rate
I have never heard of someone asking a rate based this way. Find out what the margins and font (etc) are before you sell yourself to short. Then I would calculate any document based on those responses and see what the would equal up to so you get a decent rate.
...with a VERY low starting rate, way low, but they do take
s
Determining pay rate
I received an e-mail from a company that states their rate is 83 cents per 1,000 bytes (characters and spaces). I'm new to production pay & am confused by this rate. How do I determine what the cents per line rate is?
Thank you.
What is the average rate for VR?
nm
Need advice on line rate
I have someone asking me what line rate I would be willing to work at on a 13 words per line basis, and I have no idea what to answer. Can someone please give me some advice on this?
Thank you!
Going rate per line as employee
Can anyone tell me the going rate per line for employee status? I am currently IC, but looking for employment. Any help appreciated. - Newbie!
how can you rate a "car" you haven't taken out on the "highway" yet?
x
&that rate is experienced MT. Figure you making
x
100% placement rate is like guaranteeing you a job when you finish.
NO reputable school would do that.
They are also frowned upon because they use/used their students to spam all over the internet about their school. WAHM message board actually deleted the MT area because of them.
Average is 1/2 the line rate for straight transcription.
Companies say that you should be able to edit twice as fast as you can transcribe, but most VR editors I have talked to say that is rarely the case. So the 1/2 line rate hardly seems fair.
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