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


Beware IC ads - Stillstupid


Posted: Aug 14, 2014

I'm not sure why I'm still here, ever posting on this board or answering these "employment" ads, but here I still am as are these readers. I have now answered 3 ads over the past several months and received 3 positive responses and took the jobs. (Consider air quotes around the word "jobs" every time you see it, please). I have 32 years of experience and type approximately 350 lph. (I know, I don't really type 350, and I didn't really type 475 lph when we did "gross" lines, some are automatically saying to themselves). Remember "gross" lines, folks? That's from back when we actually got paid, you know, with a real paycheck, you know, one that could pay the rent, etc. We all know what "IC" means by now; it means ways for companies not to pay employment taxes by misclassifying you as an IC versus employee, blah, blah, blah. Hey, how about this "IC" = 'IRS CHEATING' -- get it? Just made that up! (proud of self) Anyway, this is what I did 3 times, so shame on me, at least twice. I answered an ad for a company that was "desperate" and needed one to start "immediately." Immediately, as in that moment, literally the moment they respond to your answer. "Sure, I have no life/money, bring it," I answered. And bring it, they did. In the first instance, there were approximately 6 reports per day, though 2 days out of the 5 in the first week, there were none at all. For these 6 reports, I was to sit and wait from 1PM until approximately 9PM. In addition, the system never worked and so I had to do most reports 'manually,' with no footpedal. I asked a few times for the mgr to help me configure the footpedal, to which he replied, on my 5th day of work, so typed about 18 reports total, that I was too much trouble, in that I should have known my equipment didn't work from the start, and I shouldn't have taken the job. "My equipment didn't work,"-- gotta love it. Had a new Windows 7, Word, Infinity pedal, etc., cable Internet. Said he wasn't going to pay for any of the reports, because I failed to do one last one that came in late on the last day, and I hadn't seen or something...whatever. You can multiply that experience x 3, as I've had roughly the same experience, that many times now. Strangely, I recently got an email from experience #2, saying he had a check for me, and needed my "new address." There was no new address. My guess, someone ratted him to the authorities and he scrambled to pay all those he'd screwed over the months or years. Obviously. Now, I know you understand that these companies get about 800 or more responses to their ads for us to work for them on any given posting. They could and DO conceivably go down the line of resumes, using and abusing each one, until that poor, individual transcriptionist can't take it any more, for whatever reason. Are these in effect, scams? Should the moderators be asking these companies how many reports per day they're intending to give to potential transcriptionist, hours, pay, etc., before allowing to post? And should that information appear on each ad, as a prerequisite to using the site? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm sure it has. Please feel free to post your experience/s. I have no answers, personally. Well, maybe one, the obvious one, that getting out of this mess is long overdue, simply put.

IC status - ICMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Ummm, you need to decide which side of the fence you want to sit on. On one hand, you are bashing companies for calling you an IC but you think you are an employee (why do you take those jobs??) and then on the other hand you complain that your CLIENT is not giving you more than a little bit of work.

As an IC you are not guaranteed any type of work volume. If one CLIENT is not giving you enough work, you pick up other CLIENTS. A company is not obligated to make sure you are busy. And if you are sitting for 8 hours and doing nothing but waiting on work then perhaps you need to ask yourself some serious questions. That's just silly.

You can only be as abused as you allow yourself to be. I am not saying there are not companies who try to skirt the laws, there are. But you're obviously an intelligent and talented person, so why would you not put yourself in situations where you can make money? I'm sure it didn't take you long to figure out a job wasn't going to pay the bills, that's when you cut bait or add clients.

I've done this a very long time, yes back in the hey day when we were well-paid and appreciated but even today with a tired butt and hurting hands, I'm busy 8-10 hours a day. I work for three MTSOs to stay that busy. They all pay a fair rate for the current time, none of them guarantee me anything except on time payment, which they all deliver on.

So my answer is no, these are not scams, you were given work, right? You need to make sure YOU are being diligent. No company hiring an IC is obligated to say how many hours, how many lines, etc they are going to provide. IN fact, in every one of my contracts, they MTSO has added verbiage to indicate there are no guarantees.

but, if I'm reading this right, she did not get paid - Val

[ In Reply To ..]
for two -- in fact got scammed on the one who would not pay for some reason or other. I'd start complaining to interstate commerce, Better Business Bureau, FBI, anything I could think of. Sue in small claims. And don't sit for 8 hours. It wasted your time.

True but that was not the only gripe she's asking about - anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
OP - this has never happened to me in the way you describe it. I have been tied down hours and get dribs and drabs of work, but have other work I flip to during that time of 'monitoring.' And other poster is spot on about cutting ties if it's not enough and blocking you from anything else.

The job ad board here statement about moderators regulating these things is a bit overboard in my opinion. They can check licenses on companies, as anyone can, but even they have to following guidelines on what's their business and what is none of their business when "allowing" job ads to be posted.

Try more job boards, I use 4-5 all the time, this one included (but not depended upon).
What are the other ones besides mtjobs? - Curious. nm
[ In Reply To ..]
nm
cannot state on this board - what the other boards
[ In Reply To ..]
are... they consider it "competition" and will delete the posts. Do some research on your own. I found 4 or 5 of them on my own.


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