A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Any work today? Hate sitting here. - tiredmt

Posted: Nov 26, 2009

Hate it when they say," You have to work your shift." Then we sit and wait for 1 report, maybe 2 every hour. Well, "I can give you another account to work on." Account specifics only 35 to 40 pages. OK will do that. By the way, there is only 1 report on that account... What a waste..... And, no, you cannot have off. You were scheduled to work, so you have to work....

holiday - mj

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been sitting here all day and I have had only 4 reports. This is so stupid.

Yes I agree.. Plain stupid.. - tiredmt

[ In Reply To ..]
Sad thing. My other job has tons of work on it...

Working on holiday - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, I have been sitting heer all day too and only have three reports and I am grateful that I have a job. I think that if I had a family member in the hospital I would be grateful that some MT took his or her job seriously and processed their records. It seems to me that so many MTs are whiners. Stop whining. Do you work. Have some integrity. Grow up.

Wait a minute, please clarify - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
Excuse me, it must be that you get paid by the hour, working in-house somewhere or something like that, huh?

Those of us who only get paid on production simply do not appreciate our jobs when there is no work available and we do not get paid for our time.

I'm sure we are all grateful for the jobs we do have. However, our beef is about NOT being paid while being required to sit and wait.

BTW, in most states, the law is that you do get paid minimum wage for your time, when you are required to be engaged in waiting for work, regardless of whether you are supposed to only be paid for production. However, if you are used to making more than minimum wage on other days, it ends up averaging out, over the course of a pay period, that you are not paid for the time when there is no work.

What I am most grateful for is my IC job where I am allowed to log out when there is no work.

However, my employee job can be a real pain, but I do not sit at my computer and watch the pool. I check for available jobs on my multiple accounts no more often than once hourly. I actually explained to my employer that this was the way it would be, or there would be contact made with the Labor Board in their state. Interestingly, I received no complaints and was not fired. Why? I suspect that it may have something to do with the fact that the law is on my side regarding this point.

Again, as at least one TV psychologist celebrity said, "we teach people how to treat us." They will take advantage of us to their full ability if we allow it.

Works for me, too - RubySoho

[ In Reply To ..]
On the rare occasions I've run out of work at my primary job, I simply email to let them know there is no more work and I'll check back at some point later in my shift. This is fine with them and they've never voiced any dissatisfaction with the way I handle this.

ALICE - YOU ROCK!! - tiredMT

[ In Reply To ..]
You hit it right on the nose. My OP was not about my job, my complaint was about having to sit and wait and stay "logged in during my shift." And yes, they can "always find you a new account to work on," with many pages of account specs and 2 reports available. What a wasted effort.

holiday - westmt

[ In Reply To ..]
So,do they have to pay at least minimum wage or not? I recently hired on with a national company. I'm in my first 90 days and have not met production requirements. My first paycheck came and was purely production. The other 2 companies I have worked for paid at least minimum wage while learning their system and new account. I have asked them how they get by the laws of the FLSA, but have not received an answer yet. What's the point of being an employee versus an IC?

FLSA - mj

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What is FLSA? I am still sitting at my computer waiting for my minimum wage;0)

FLSA LINK - ALICE

[ In Reply To ..]
Fair Labor Standards Act

Here's one link for it:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/index.htm

MINUMUM WAGE: Contact DOL - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
As an IC, you're pretty much on your own, the only benefit being is you have more flexibility in your work schedule. As employee, while you do give up that flexibility (keep a schedule/hours while not being paid for those hours)- the MTSOs wanted that control, so they made us employees. Do you think they like paying us benefits, paying SS, etc.,?? Really?? What they DON'T especially like is having to comply with Dept. of Labor regulations as they pertain to treatment of employees, and wage/hour issues being in the forefront.

Yes, they do have to pay minimum wage if you're classified as an employee. And this baloney about "sitting at you PC and in/out to check for work on a holiday while the rest of the world is enjoying their Thanksgiving turkey celebrating Xmas with their family, just doesn't cut it anymore".

What you need to do is check your state's own DOL laws re. minimum wage as it relates to piece/production work. For example, factory workers are often paid on production, but still have to abide by minimum wage laws, which are federally mandated. And never mind the crap about the "learning curve for VR". Put your money where your mouth is!

Minimum wage.... - sak

[ In Reply To ..]
Friday, there was no work until after 12:30 p.m. Technically, I work 8 to 4. My employer's comment is "if it takes until midnight to get at least base word count, then that's what you have to do". I worked Friday until 7:30 p.m. just to get base so I would be paid for Thanksgiving. So if I contact the DOL in my state to be paid MW, my employer will probably find a reason to fire me. We already have a low work load due to the loss of some accounts and too many employees.

Checking all day for work - PT

[ In Reply To ..]
Of course it's not fair. I agree completely. I have been scolded for not working enough when work runs out. It's not fair to be expected to check every hour all day long in order to type that one report that comes trickling through. If there isn't work during an 8-hour shift, an MT shouldn't be expected to cover after the scheduled time.

cpl - mj

[ In Reply To ..]
OH I am so HAPPY about my job that pays minimum wage!

More on this issue - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
Certainly, there are several issues involved here.

First of all, none of us WANT minimum wage. That's a given.

I could be mistaken. However, I have read the law and spoken with a person at the Labor Board in one state. According to what he told me, it is against federal labor law for any company to require you to be engaged waiting for work, with no work available, with no pay. They are required by law, to pay you a minimum of minimum wage for your time, regardless of your production.

This law applies only to employees. It does not apply to ICs. They have no right at all to require you to be engaged and waiting for work, watching an empty queue, if you are an IC, unless you have a contract with them that requires this.

The minimum wage is different in different states. But, for the sake of this example, let's say that the minimum wage in your state is $7/hour. For the example, let's say that you do editing at the rate of 4 cpl and straight transcription at the rate of 8 cpl. Okay, if you are on a set schedule and required to be right there waiting for jobs, let's say that only eight edited jobs and four straight transcription jobs are available to you during 8 hours of work on a given day. For the sake of the example, each job is 50 lines. The total payment on production is $16.00 for those edited jobs and $16.00 for those four straight transcription jobs for a total of $32.00 during that day. However, the company is required to pay you $56.00. If this is the only day that you worked during the entire pay period, they have to pay you $56.00.

However, this is averaged for the entire pay period, so if work is abundant for the rest of the pay period, you may end up working for free during that one day.

The more days this scenario occurs in a pay period, the more likely that the company will end up owing you minimum wage.

If the minimum wage is $7.00 per hour, payroll must equal a minimum of $7.00 per hour for each hour that you worked; in other words, you must receive a minimum of $280.00 for 40 hours of work, $560.00 for 80 hours, etc.

wage - westmt

[ In Reply To ..]
Exactly! Just because there is no work, you are still WORKING. I'm not sure how these companies have gotten people to believe that we should be employees and only be paid on production yet sit and wait for work while not being paid. This is insane! That would be like saying, the children are in the backyard so you don't get paid for watching them during those moments!

For my first 2 weeks of work, as I stated, I was paid on production only, but I was still WORKING. This is unacceptable. My pay came to under $4 per hour. I have contacted people at my company and two did not have an answer. There must be a loop-hole,though, they couldn't be this silly.

Transcend/MDI pay decrease - PT

[ In Reply To ..]
I received my Transcend packet today. Is this a case of "new hire" for long-term MDI employees, taking the chance to cut pay? I've heard of large companies doing this- letting long-term employees go, then giving them the option of being rehired for a lower amount of pay. My pay was decreased 1 cent per line. I'm not happy about it, but, like others, I'm just glad I have a job right now.

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