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

KS pay question about President's Day - Karina

Posted: Feb 12, 2013

We normally get paid on the 17th - but it falls on a Sunday this time, which means we SHOULD get paid 2/18/13. Got an email that we have to wait until 2/19/13 to get paid now. I have an email from WAYYYYYYYYYYYY long time ago from the owner that if this happened, we would get paid the previous Friday - anybody else have that email? Is this legal?

STATE BY STATE - MutanT

[ In Reply To ..]
I would suggest, Karina, that you check your state's department of labor site, because this is a state to state ruling not federal, and it is governed by the state the MT LIVES in not the state the company calls home. Go get 'em, Karina, because as I recall, the 18th will become the 19th, and then the 19th will be the 20th, because someone forgot to release the payroll the Thursday beforehand. This actually happened on another innocuous holiday a few years ago there...Poll one of the elders and ask them, perhaps your coordinator.

Here they go again - Wow

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I remember that email also specifically stated that if pay day falls on a Saturday that we would receive our pay the Friday before. That has never happened. We have been made to wait until the following Monday to receive our pay every single time. I'm calling my state labor board to see if this is legal or not. Never trust anything Keystrokes says! Their definition of honesty is beyond delusional.

KS has always experience pay troubles - sm

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dont know what the deal it, always seemed to have some kind of excuse, changing banks, etc...But they do eventually pay within a reasonable time...

Yup. It's always something - Ex KS

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During my time there, I heard just about every excuse in the book. They were always passing the buck. "It's the bank's fault." "We're changing banks." "It's because of the holiday (they would have used the Chinese new year as an excuse if they could)." "It was a system error." They never take responsibility and they never once reimbursed me for bank overdrafts they caused me when pay was late. This is a very, very shady and grossly mismanaged company. I really think they just hold our money back an extra day or two whenever they can just to earn some extra interest off it.

I have a question... - ZZMT

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I have noticed recently that a lot of people in upper management at Keystrokes have changed their email signatures from just "Keystrokes Transcription, Inc." to "Keystrokes Transcription, Inc. and Affiliates." Does anyone have any idea what this "affiliates" business is about??? This really makes me wonder if there's something going on there behind the scenes that we haven't been informed of. I'm a little worried...

Be afraid, be very afraid - MutanT

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You should be worried, ZZMT, because affiliates means they are adding on to the mess they already can't take control of. I know that recently the MTs of Accentus got a recorded message the day before Thanksgiving telling them that they were bought out by Nuance and they would know on Friday if they still had jobs. I cannot think of anyone who is safe in this industry, and being "affiliates" with KS sounds dicey at best. Hopefully the recorded message for you all doesn't come on Presidents Day, seeing as how Canada doesn't celebrate that either, and the extra day for the paychecks is not just a diversion to calculate final wages... If you actually have an email saying you'd be paid before the holiday, you need to pull that out and confront the original author of it. Someone needs to start holding people accountable for the way we are all being treated in this industry. Just because we work at home doesn't mean that labor laws do not apply to us. We are employees and have just as many rights as the office personnel.

Thanks all - Karina

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Thanks for the responses- yeah, you are right - it is time to take them to task - everybody is always afraid to because we need our jobs, but at the same time, we also NEED JOBS -and why protect them if they will just one day shut the doors without notice, or keep playing with our paychecks like they are.

Affiliates means Chartnet and MTS, and I have been seeing that for a few years. nm - KS MT

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xx

Yes I have that e-mail too! - nm

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Apparently they don't keep track of what is said in e-mails sent out.

Subject of email - MutanT

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Perhaps the "affiliates" don't care what KS has promised you. They didn't sign that email you have...I'm just saying.

As one of the people who gets to listen to a few of you complain constantly, I invite you to QUIT. s - FedUp

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You are not doing anyone at KS at favors by staying. I don't even believe that most of the bashers are even KS employees, just people who like to stir the pot.

If payday falls on Sunday, you get paid on Monday. If it falls on a holiday, you get paid the next day. Some banks consider Monday and holiday and some do not. Mine told me that everything will post on Monday that should.

There is no conspiracy going on. They are not selling or buying. I talked to the owner herself and she said that she still loves what she does, so there is no reason to sell, but that she gets offers all the time. I hope that no one gives her a reason to change her mind. There have not been many changes. The pay cuts were for some but not all and are still more than most other companies pay and not different than other jobs. Many of my friends and family are unemployed or have had their pay cut worse than KS did.

People are not "leaving in droves" and there are still hundreds of employees who have been with KS more than 3 years, many much longer. Personally, I have been there for 12 years and still love my job. How do I know? After 12 years, I know a lot of people and many have been around a long time.

I have been a lead, QA and even contemplated being a coordinator for a while, so go ahead and acuse me of being a suit.

So many lies and rumors fly on here about so many companies. I can laugh at most of the KS ones because I know they aren't true, which leads me to believe that many of the other company posts are lies too.

Yes, there are new accounts and yes, accounts have been lost. Why? Because the owners will not continue to cut rates to meet offshore pricing and because technology such as VR and Epic have taken away some accounts, especially in radiology.

Do I have a direct line to the owner? Absolutely, as does every KS employee. She answers emails and calls when any employee contacts here and always has.

The family members that work there? If you call 6 out of 600 a lot, you have a different sense of "a lot" than I do. I also know that the ones I have dealt with work very hard.

Try talking to LT or KB or BB or CS. You will know when talking to any of the upper management that they care about us MT's, about the company and about the transcription field. But I also know from talking to a few of them that they get discouraged by the few MT's who do nothing but b**ch and moan but do not work hard.

As a lead, I am do treat some people differently. I treat the people who do their jobs well, who do not put a lot in QA, who help when needed, who are reliable and make good lines better than those who don't show up, don't work a full shift, complain about everything from the weather to the state of the country. I don't cherry pick, route the best work to certain people, lie or deceive anyone, or any of the other things that management is accused of. My advice to those who think KS is so bad is LEAVE or do something about it. Talk to your lead, your coordinator, KB or LT. Take some iniative or look elsewhere to see if it's better.

I have only posted on here once before but I read the posts about ALL the companies, and they make me sick. I needed to post how I feel instead of continuing to keep it bottled up, and I know that many other people, at many different companies, feel the same.

Why does this profession attract so many miserable people? Try being happy. It's a nice change.

We can discuss if we want - JoJo

[ In Reply To ..]
We can discuss things like payday on here, that is what this forum is for - in the meantime, buy a dictionary:

"....so go ahead and acuse me of being a suit."
IT IS ACCUSE

"...She answers emails and calls when any employee contacts here and always has."
should be "CONTACTS HER"

"As a lead, I am do treat some people differently."
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

I think thou does protest too much - MutanT

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I just feel like someone that fights that hard to defend an open and honest exchange of ideas, all the while assuming any of the participants still do work for you - I mean KS, of course not You personally - is probably trying to divert the attention away from the actual topic. Look, a chicken!!

Maybe if MTSOs quit cutting our pay and gave us a raise, we would be happier. - Jean

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It's hard to have to work for what one worked for more than 20 years ago. It's a well known fact that most CANNOT produce with editing twice what they were doing with typing, unless they were a low producer. High producers are penalized the most and take bigger damage to the paycheck when pay is cut in half. You maybe do a third more, overall. That, plus the fact that one has no access to pay raises plus the fact that benefits are pretty shabby and keep getting cut would make anybody unhappy. If it wasn't for the poor economy, most of us would be gone.

Maybe it's the profession that MAKES us miserable - Tired MT

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"Why does this profession attract so many miserable people?"

Hmmm...let's see. Pay cuts, loss of benefits, overstaffing and not enough work to make a decent paycheck, being treated essentially like slaves by our employers. Think about it. I know that I personally was not miserable back when I first started in this profession. It is the above mentioned things that have made me miserable and bitter. I'm sure the same goes for many, many other MTs as well.

TiredMT - kudos to you! You summed it up perfectly! - JoJo

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x

Amen, sister! - Rachel

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I am also tired of hearing from miserable people regarding every company, not just this company. Look at your employment packet that was sent to you when you were hired. I am sure your company shows when you should get paid. Any company of this size will show it. Sounds to me as though someone was just trying to COMMUNICATE so that certain individuals didn't start claiming that they did not know about the pay. PLEASE go to your contact at the company instead of coming on here to create drama. This board's intention is to discuss companies, not BASH them for telling you when you will get paid based off a bank holiday. Sheesh.

They bash companies on this site and will bash - you too if you dont go along with it.

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furthermore, the bashers can say what they want to you, but when you say something, post gets deleted and you are threatened that you will be banned. I dont care, if I get banned again so be it. I need to quit visiting this site anyway.

I have looked up the e-mail from the CEO and it does state - if pay date falls on Sunday...

[ In Reply To ..]
we get paid on Monday. If it happens to be a holiday, we get paid that Tuesday. Granted it is a long stretch when you are counting on the money.

No I am a suit, just an MT with hundreds of e-mails kept for reference.

Keystrokes - MidwestMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, I was employed by KS for 8 years. For the first two years, everything was great. I would have to say that it was one of the best jobs I have ever had. After that, things went downhill pretty quickly. I was not "one of the pets" and I have been privy to that (especially CS!) so I know what I am talking about here. I worked very hard and pretty much made KS my life (to the exclusion of my family, which just sickens me now). My husband kept telling me how miserable I was, which was making him miserable too. I made a job change, and I have to say it truly was the best move I made. I am, once again, respected and even more important, treated like a human being again. I am happy!! While employed at KS for the last six years, I was becoming more and more the dog who had gotten beat one too many times. The saddest part is that after working my butt off for them for eight solid years, on my last day, I was told good luck and taken out of the system and even excluded from their Facebook page (that we were to join to connect with our fellow employees). I'm sorry, but I feel like I was treated like crap when all I ever did was the very best that I could do. I'm not a shabby worker. I was able to get the first job I applied to once I made the decision to leave. There is truth to a lot of the posts I read about KS on here. In my better days there, I would not have believed; however, after being on the "other side", I can tell you that it is not all rosy being an employee of Keystrokes.

You nailed it - Katy

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I could have written your post myself. My experience was exactly the same. My first few years with KS were absolutely fantastic. I was treated very well and was so happy there. I always worked extra, had high QA scores, and I even did some QA work. When I left about 6 months ago after I decided that I just couldn't take it anymore, I was also removed from the KS Facebook group within 24 hours of sending my resignation and my Keystrokes email account was deactivated. That's how they treated me after several years of dedication and loyalty to the company. It sickens me the way they treat good, hard working people. What a slap in the face.

KS takes all non-KS employees off FB account and deactivates email - ExKS

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Not saying it's good or bad, but I think that's the case for every ex-employee (the email and FB.) As for the company email, it's exclusively for KS use and not for non-employees. You can still keep in touch with your former coworkers via FB, just not via the FB group.

I understand that, however..... - MidwestMT

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I do understand that, ExKS, however, they paid more attention to making sure those "lifelines" were cut as soon as possible than they did to anything else while I was employed there. They have definitely had practice with people leaving their employ. I do keep in touch with my QA people still because I did feel like I knew them as "friends". I am not working for a national company right now, and it makes a world of difference to how you are treated. I actually feel valuable to the company now because just today even, they told me that "they were lucky to have me". WOW...haven't heard anything like that in a very long time. How quick KS was to cut ties but when you asked for something (vacation, etc.), it was much more difficult for them to get back to you in a timely manner. Now, I also get three weeks' vacation after just one year of employment. I had worked up to that at KS but was hardly able to take the time because "someone had beat me to it". I don't have to give notice at least a month in advance and no more than six months ahead of time anymore. I have already accumulated vacation time and have over 20+ hours "sick time" -- unheard of at KS!! Oops -- sorry, I am on a roll here. Didn't mean to go on and on (or did I?)

I think you missed the point - Katy

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Yes, we fully understand that our KS email accounts will be deleted and that we can no longer be a part of the employee only Facebook group when we leave the company; however, that's not the point. The point is how quickly it was done. It's like they couldn't get rid of us fast enough. After several years of service, that's kind of like a giant "screw you" in my opinion. It just left a very bad taste in my mouth. I hadn't even started to work my 2 weeks notice when I was booted from the Facebook page.

They probably boot you so they only have - good stuff written there. (sm)

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That is unprofessional to use FB as a place for employees to gather but I guess this way they can keep tabs on your FB activity, make sure you're not FB'ing on their time. I wouldn't even join it if I was employed there but then again I don't do FB so maybe they wouldn't hire me anyway if that is part of their platform and requirements....

Why shouldn't you be able to stay on the FB page even after leaving? You might plan to come back as an employee unless you leave on bad terms. Sounds weird, cliquish, and infantile to kick someone off a FB page. How rude?!

It's total high school behavior - Ex-KS

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Same story here...removed from the Facebook group right after I resigned. It's like they think it's some sort of "secret club" or "clique" and they don't want ANY negative comments posted about the company on there whatsoever. There were a few times I saw some comments posted that were not positive, but were entirely true, and the owner deleted them right away. How juvenile! I graduated from high school a long time ago. I don't need to go through it again.

OMG. I stand corrected. - ExKS

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I'm shocked you were done that way. I wasn't so I take my words back.

Your post - nm

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Thanks for your post. There are many of us that feel that way, just to afraid to say anything. Being miserable pretty much sums it up and I have had that said to me too, the last time just a few days ago.

Nailed it for sure! - Glad I left KS too.

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I know friends who the owner bashed on the company FB page when they quit. The posts were deleted quickly, but they were viewed and she posted them. How juvenile. Anger issues or what? An owner doing that? REALLY? Glad I don't work there anymore. Their reputation went down the tube IMO.

I heard of that happening, too - OldMT

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I had a couple of friends quit before I did and the owner bashed them on the Facebook group after she deleted them. Talk about slander. It's so juvenile, unprofessional, and absolutely uncalled for. There was absolutely no reason for her to say the things she said about them as they did nothing wrong. They put in their 2 weeks notice and left. That was it. The owner just takes people quitting so personally. I think she has severe anger issues. I'm very glad I got off that sinking ship.

I'm pretty active on the KS FB site and saw that once, not several times. sm - KS MT2

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She did not say anything all that bad IMO. I love the KS FB site and am glad it's there. I have talked to the owner before, and I think she does take it personally when people quit. What I think is worse is what people do when they quit, and I feel bad for her. I know that she has given people things personally to help them out of a bind, just to have them turn ugly on her. I would rather work for someone who cares and is human than a robot or someone who has no clue. Caring does not mean anger. How can you talk about someone you don't know? Yes, I do know her but no, I'm not a suit, just a very long-time employee who hates to see someone constantly bashed.

This is what THEY do... - get used to it. Glad I jumped ship.

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