A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
My rant about the America's Pride firings - Soon-to-be former MTer
Posted: Sep 04, 2012
I'm surprised there is no thread about the America's Pride firings last Friday.
I've been with them for years, and for nearly two have been unable to get any decent work. Over a year ago I was put on a new account that they promptly lost. The other account I had transitioned to mostly VR with only a few jobs coming in. When I asked to be added to other accounts, I received no response. Recently I asked to be on the new DC account, then got a rather vague email saying that DC wouldn't actually be moving their whole account to America's Pride as was first assumed.
Basically, I tried to work regular hours but was thwarted constantly. So you can imagine how happy I was to get a form letter in email -- not even a phone call or a personal email -- from them on Friday saying I was fired because the Dept of Labor allegedly won't let them have employees who only work "here and there." I would have happily worked more regular hours HAD THERE EVER BEEN REGULAR WORK. I also put up with their constant mistakes, the iffy software, and their inability to inform me (and I presume everyone else) of standards changes in how reports should be done.
I was even happier to find out I was fired on the day I was married. No joke, I got married a few hours after getting the "see ya" email.
Maybe I was the only one fired and that's why no one else has posted. That would be fun.
I tried to find other jobs in the past. One was a company where my trainer failed to show for every scheduled session until one day she started yelling at me that they were behind and it was all my fault. Another promised all reports from a doctor would be mine, and the first day I watched someone move every single job from this doctor to their private queue so I couldn't get them. My first MT job was with a supervisor who would call me up and start screaming obscenities at me for things I didn't even do.
I thought America's Pride was different enough that I put up with a lot of shenanigans. My mistake.
Also, my mistake for ever being an MT. Enough of this. I worked hard in school, hard at my job, and I have gotten nothing but grief and low pay and still $2K left on my career training loan. I love this work, but there is a limit to what I will put up with.
I'm not signing this because I don't know how vindictive my former employer might be, but I've been a semi-regular here since I was an MTEC student several years ago and probably won't be back anymore. I wish you all the best of luck, and I mean that very sincerely.
Don't blame you for leaving - never seen MT field this bad before - CTMT
[ In Reply To ..]I feel so bad that your special day had to be marred by this sucky business we are in. I was on a getaway with my kids a few months ago and got the email there would be no work ever. You cannot have a normal life in this MT business anymore, I am looking to get out too.
Unless you got an actual letter stating "you" specifically were fired sm - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I think the letter was a general one sent to everyone regarding the situation and nobody has actually personally been fired . . . yet. I would think there would be personal letters going out to those actually being let go.
not so sure about that - downtime
[ In Reply To ..]Definitely sounds to me that she has been let go.
I got the general email and a second email - Soon-to-be former MTer
[ In Reply To ..]The "personal letters" were just a quickie form email with no details saying "Dear Team Member, you have been terminated immediately."
I know it doesn't seem like America's Pride would do this, but I promise you they did.
Sorry for your situation - NotNewMT
[ In Reply To ..]It sounds like you've worked for some really lousy companies and AP was just horrible. I, for one, will not fault you for trying to stay on with a company, even when it was not ideal.
Years ago, there were plenty of good places to work, both MTSOs and in-house, where common business decency prevailed. That's pretty hard to find in recent years.
I hope you find a better MT job or something else that works out better for you.
And congratulations on your marriage. May this be a happy beginning of a new phase in your life.
Thank you! - Soon-to-be former MTer
[ In Reply To ..]I appreciate the congratulations!
Sorry for you being fired - beentheredonethat
[ In Reply To ..]Don't think I would've waited around 2 years for the ax to fall. Being an MT is still a decent career.
Maybe they should change the name to "India's - Revenge". More fitting. (nm)
[ In Reply To ..]XX
There are still good companies out there - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I've been an MT/editor for 15+ years and there are still good companies out there, but the industry has definitely changed a lot and not for the better. Keep your chin up and check out companies very carefully before accepting a job and you'll find something decent.
Did the e-mail actually state you personally were fired - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I thought they were in the deliberation phase. Everyone in the entire company received a formal e-mail Friday of the results of the situation they were under but I didn't think that immediately after that e-mail anyone would have received a "you're fired" e-mail so quickly. I know the formal e-mail to every team member said people wouldn't be allowed to work here and there and that there would most likely be part-time and full-time shifts implented so I'm wondering if you misunderstood the e-mail or if perhaps you received an actual fired e-mail.
I received the original email on Thursday - anon
[ In Reply To ..]It stated that we would receive followup information either later on Thursday or Friday, but I have not heard anything more since that first email on Thursday.
ditto. (nm) - anon2
[ In Reply To ..]nm
I was DEFINITELY fired, I didn't misunderstand - Soon-to-be former MTer
[ In Reply To ..]The "deliberation" email was the first one I received. I got a second one from C who gave no additional details and did not address me specifically to tell me WHY I was fired. It was sent less than 24 hours after the "deliberation" email and was a form letter, not even addressed to me but "Dear Team Member."
The only thing I can figure out is that I worked "here and there" and therefore was fired because of it. If there were other reasons, they didn't bother to share.
It sounds more like a layoff. Apply for unemployment. - Why not?
[ In Reply To ..]If you were only able to work "here and there" due to work availability apply for UE.
Thank you for - Clarifying
[ In Reply To ..]I do feel sorry for you. I understand your frustration because I've had my moments as an MT. The main point to remember is your job is what you do, not who you are. A 2,000 career loan is an annoyance, but it's not a road block if you want a different education or want to pursue another field. Many people go to 4-year colleges racking up tens of thousands and never use it.
AP Firings - jest me
[ In Reply To ..]First of all, I am so sorry to hear about you getting fired on the day of your wedding.
I worked for AP for a BRIEF period of time (maybe 2 weeks). I was hired on a Thursday and wanted to get working (if possible) that weekend. I received emails from "C" and "P" welcoming me to the company, but no communication. Come to find out that "D" (who is a real sweetheart), was off for the weekend due to family obligations. "C" was taking her son to college and getting him settled. I had also contacted "P" one email from him and never heard anything back. I had the software installed and was trained on Tuesday after a lot of communication by email (I think one phone call). I was put on an account in Northern FL, told I was doing a great job, just "tweaks" here and there with account specs, verbatim, etc. I asked for a second account due to lack of work on the first, and they totally shut me out of the first, with the excuse that my work all of a sudden was not up to par. Bull, to me, it was insane account specs. As an MTSO, I think you should state that there are not "going to be individual doctor preferences." This was a GOVERNMENT contract. We were technically IC's. A person that I dated for many years was on contract as an IT person at a Marine Corp base in Cali and he got benefits, vacation, etc. JMO, but I really think that "P" gave the business to "C" and she just does not care. Excuse the typos but have the keyboard sitting on my lap right now.
Interesting - Soon-to-be former MTer
[ In Reply To ..]D really is a sweetheart. Her emails after I got fired were definitely personal to me, not form emails, and also apologetic.
The AP account I worked on also had individual doctor preferences, and I know we almost lost the account because a pathology doctor wasn't getting his specific preferences and he was livid. I had a large file on every single doctor with examples, templates, and notes about the specifics they needed. Much of the time they would forget to tell us what those specifics were; just last week I received an email from someone in QA with a lengthy list of info I needed but somehow had never been given. That happened all the time.
well - we are but
[ In Reply To ..]We are "dispensible." We MAY disagree with QA, but that gets us TERMINATED. They violated contracts, I caught it and mentioned it. BINGO -- TERMIMATED; 0.7 PER line not even minimum wage, They got "caught."
Proud America's Pride MT - Christy
[ In Reply To ..]I don't even know where to begin. I am sorry that you were let go, but it almost seems that we work(ed) for a different company. I absolutely love America's Pride. The owner is a wonderful man, who is accessible to everyone. I have talked with him numerous times. The VP is a wonderful lady who ALWAYS responds to me promptly.
I personally have access to almost all of the VAs that we have contracts with. I cannot imagine that you were not allowed access to more than one. You say that you have worked for AP for "years," but then state âsince I was an MTEC student several years ago.â Maybe you were not up to doing all types of transcription yet? Or maybe you should have been more persistent, tried to contact different people concerning this. Their phone numbers are included in their e-mail signatures.
Regular hours are not possible with a small MT company. I certainly can relate to your frustration, but to get âregularâ hours, you need to work for one of these massive companies who have scheduled hours, where you actually âpunch a time card.â I love to start work at 7 AM and get done early, but if there is no work, you have to be willing to adjust your schedule. In this line of work (at home) you cannot expect to just work between the hours of 8 to 10 every day. It just doesnât work that way.
The most notable thing I got from the first memo is that they wanted people to commit to at least 20 hours a week. Apparently you didn't work that much. I realize that everyoneâs situation is different, but less than 20 hours a week would result in an extremely low paycheck. Therefore, you must have earned little. From what I read of your rant, it appears that you didnât put much effort into getting more work, or trying to work more.
As far as I am concerned, AP is the best company I have ever worked for (been at it for over 20 years), and I felt I had to let people hear the other side of the story. Phil has bent over backwards to accommodate his transcriptionists. Yes, we took a pay cut a couple of years ago, but it was our decision to stay or go elsewhere. My solution was to work a couple of more hours a week to make up for it.
One thing I have to ask is.... Why would anyone who was so disenchanted with a company continue to work for them? It just saddens me that you all felt the need to come on here and bash a wonderful company.
I will be staying with them now, even with the changes coming, as I could not ask for a better company to work for.
I am PROUD to be a transcriptionist for Americaâs Pride.
Americas Pride-Response to Christy - nn
[ In Reply To ..]I too was recently terminated by AP. I just went back and looked at the emails that I received from "C" and not one of them had her contact information on them. Another thing that I found very odd when I applied to AP was the fact that there was absolutely no sort of "office" phone number. I was only there for approximately 2 weeks before I was terminated and I am an MT with over 30 years of experience. I asked to be put on another account because of the lack of work that I was receiving on my primary account and "C" stated that while they normally do not do that for new hires, she would make an exception in my case. However, in the process, I was not able to work in the account that was considered to be my primary. I finally had to contact "D," because I could not get in contact with "C," who informed me that "for some reason (still unclear), they had to lock me out of my primary (and was getting very positive QA feedback on that account). On the secondary account, it felt as if I was taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back when it came to QA feedback on that particular account. I think the 2 biggest complaints I had about this company were the fact that the accounts were verbatim, with the majority of the docs being horrid ESLs and again the rate of pay. These are federal government contracts where "pay standards" need to be adhered to, even for contractors and it is JMHO that AP was not adhereing to these standards.
I was proud, too, don't you understand that? - Soon-to-be former MTer
[ In Reply To ..]I've always had good experiences with AP, too. They were the best MT company I ever worked for, no question. QA was nice, C was responsive, P helped when some paperwork was delayed, etc. That's why I was blindsided by this.
The problems I mentioned in my original post were brought up only because they were indicative of the amount of effort I put into America's Pride, work and hours and effort far beyond what I was paid for. The paperwork just to work at AP cost hours of my time and significant money on my part, as just one example.
You blame me for not working enough hours when I was already quite clear about this: There often wasn't enough work to get 20 hours of work a week, and I was NEVER given the opportunity for 20 hours once the DoL regulations changed.
Further, AP hires a lot of students right out of MTEC, so why would you act like I'm under-educated and "not up to doing all types of transcription yet"? I had worked as an MT between MTEC and AP, so I was more experienced than a lot of their new hires!
You can be proud of America's Pride without deliberately misunderstanding my point about "regular hours," implying I was bad at my job, not persistent enough, didn't work enough, etc. I didn't deserve AP firing me like this, and I don't deserve you insulting me in your effort to make excuses for AP.
Final point: If it was my fault, they would have given me a reason for being fired. And even if it was my fault, an email saying why -- like others on this thread say they received -- was in order. It was the minimum amount of respect I was due.
End of story.
you say you were not given the opportunity to work more because sm - wondering
[ In Reply To ..]of the DOL regulation changes. This regulation change (and set schedule or set hours) has just gone into effect so I'm wondering why you could not work extra off your normal shift. It would seem to me there would have been opportunity to make up the lines/time at times other than when there was no work. I'm not blaming I'm just wondering what exactly happened.
no set schedule or set hours yet - sm
[ In Reply To ..]however, that may change once supervisors can reassess how well work is being covered, etc
I also wanted to know - Soon-to-be former MT
[ In Reply To ..]Apparently, they didn't want to even offer me the chance to work more, but I have no idea why. The form email saying I was fired had a standard bit about them offering references, but I wouldn't dare ask for one since I assume they had problems with me that they just never told me about.
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