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

TransTech lines - required hours but are short lines? - lktt

Posted: Jun 10, 2011

What do you do when you have the required hours but are short lines? I got an email that I need to "make plans to have my shortage made up." The only problem is that I'm up to date with my hours for the pay period so far. The other problem is that I have plans Saturday night and Sunday (both being my scheduled time off) that don't include TransTech. It's getting harder and harder to defend this company when they can't hold up their end of the agreement and continually over hire.

Email wkd supe, I'd be curious what she says. - Nosy Parker

[ In Reply To ..]
You must be new?

yes - lktt

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not brand new, but I've been there almost a year. I've never had a problem making lines until this past pay period. The super said I had until midnight Sunday but refused to tell me the consequences if I don't make it. I've asked 3 times. I mean, really, what more can I do?

With your comment of "you must be new" does that mean I'm missing something? Can you please let me know what I missing and help fill me in? I'm getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing pay period.

I meant it didn't used to be like this. There was never a problem making lines. - me

[ In Reply To ..]
Have you emailed the weekend supervisor to see what you are supposed to do about making up lines? I ask because I don't have mine either, but haven't asked anyone. I have no idea what will happen.

TT Lines - minime

[ In Reply To ..]
Are you short lines because there was no work during your shift?

minimee - lktt

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to flex and sign on later in the evening. I had previous commitments and appointments that I couldn't change at the last minute.

TT lines - minime

[ In Reply To ..]
What do you think they will do? They cannot keep you tied to the computer 24/7. They may try, but they cannot. If you cannot make a living in the 8-hour shift (which by the way, they want you to stay on it in case work should come in) then maybe it is time to move on.

minime---time to move on? - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Move on to where? Unfortunately the saying of..."I know what I have, I don't know what I am going to get." Makes a LOT of sense in the transcription service field. Hard to start ALL over and who do you trust anyway? Look on this board. Back in the 70s Mequist cut you off from work then sent you a letter that since you did not make your linecount, you were terminated. Medquist lost the class- action suit for improper line counts..surprise, surprise. They all have tricks of the trade. Sometimes easy to run away rather than try to change things.

time to move on - minime

[ In Reply To ..]
Hey........knock yourself out and stay where things are looking so rosy. I left because my paycheck was so awful I figured nothing could be worse. Yet, if I took your attitude I would still be there probably losing my home.
I took the chance, jumped ship and so far in a short time doubled my income.
I watch the boards because I see things are even worse since I left. What's is the big deal about starting over? Is your pay getting better staying at TT? Did you talk to anyone about new accounts or the fact that you aren't making ends meet? I did.

Guess what, no one cared.

I don't know if you're paranoid. I was with TT about a year... - ndmt

[ In Reply To ..]
when I felt comfortable enough to give up my PT job and could make it on my TT pay alone, and then summer hit and I was broke. I decided to limp through the summer and picked up some extra work doing odd jobs with my husband's construction company. When fall came around, I tried out a couple part-time MT jobs, but they were worse than TT.

I was then able to land a part-time data entry job, but I never went back to a point where I could survive on my TT job alone. It was just too hard to consistently pay bills with the work fluctuations. It seemed like every time my TT job was busy, I had other commitments that could not be broken or changed in the matter of a few hours or a few days. Yet, when I planned to be working, there was little work or ugly work with few lines per report.

However, about 4 years ago, it was a SWEET job.

I didn't say with them because of the low work on my scheduled - hours

[ In Reply To ..]
I found it hard to make any lines period with all of the ESLs on VR that had to be extensively edited. I had like 5 different hospitals and repeatedly ran out of work. Unfortunately, I have a life and being tied to a computer waiting for work to come in with flexing was not a part of it!!! I didn't stay as it was not worth the time I had to put in to try to make the lines with flexing and the terrible VR (I had lots of documents that VR made mistakes on every sentence, making it difficult to make any money with the pay scale for VR).

Here's what I do.... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Nothing! I go on and live my life! I am short about 3000 lines this pay period and don't plan on making them up. This is after sitting for 10 days in front of my computer for 8 hours with hardly any work. I worked on Memorial Day and got 427 lines total after sitting there for 8 hours while my family went off to enjoy the day. I made $28.82 that day, not even enough to fill half my tank of gas. So, the rest of the week I hardly had any work. This week was not too great either. Then, of course, yesterday comes the email that we must hop on and make up our lines by Sunday. Well, no I do not. I worked 80 hours and did what I could. Now it's my time to go out and live my life. So, don't stress yourself over this. This has happened to me many times in my 2 years with TT and nothing has happened to me. They can't do anything to you. You worked your scheduled hours, and if there wasn't any work during that time then that's not your fault. Remember the email that this slow time is the nature of the beast. Remember that phrase when they tell you that you didn't meet your requirement (which they won't!). I hate to see all us MTs stressing out over this - it's just not worth it!

I do exactly the same thing...sm - ms.shortlines

[ In Reply To ..]
I give them my 8 hours, what work comes in, comes in, what doesn't, not my problem. I don't make up my lines and haven't for a long time. That got old really fast. We can do only what we can do, nothing more. Not our fault that there is no work; this is something only TT can fix. Hopefully, this will be sooner than later :)

time - lktt

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks! Your words are just wanted I needed to hear. I had forgotten of a phrase I USED to live by when my kids were babies. It went something like this:

While you are on your deathbed, will you be saying that you regret not having spent more time at work or with those you love?

I know I'm not alone in that I just can't afford to lose this job - even if it is getting to be a bummer.

Those holidays really tick me off. Why in the world can't they schedule 4-hour shifts for the holiday instead of over-scheduling for 8 hours? At least if it was a 4-hour shift, most people could enjoy some of the holiday. I have NEVER had more than 500 lines total on a holiday - or even the day after the holiday, for that matter.

I would love to send a reply to the "short lines and make them up by midnight Sunday" email with this: Sorry, no time for that. Nature of the beast, I guess. :-)

Amen! - anotheranon

[ In Reply To ..]
I could not have said it better, you are right on. I had to leave there because I wasn't getting lines in order to pay my bills. I always started work on time and worked my shift. If they couldn't provide me work, telling me to "jump on and make up lines" was like water off a duck's back.....oops, I mean nature of the beast! :0)

Good luck with that (sm) - TTer

[ In Reply To ..]
I turned in an accurate timecard, i.e., accurate for the full 80 hours I worked and, due to lack of work, WAY short of the minimum. I received an email informing me that I must have forgotten (cough, cough) some hours I took off sick as they would have to make up the difference to bring my salary up to minimum wage which wasn't acceptable. I fought my impulse to refuse to change anything and make them pay me the difference but at the last minute swallowed my pride and last shred of dignity and knocked about 10 hours off of my timecard and used PTO.

IMO, based on the email I received, we're expected to be chained to the PC 24/7 with no compensation until we make our minimum lines.

As soon as I hit rock bottom with not enough work to cover my insurance premium, I'm out of there. I can no longer deal with the roller coaster workload, even with 3 accounts.

lack of lines - ttmttoo

[ In Reply To ..]
It's not right that you were made to change your timecard. Keep a copy of the original and have them "fix" the other. I don't know about the legality of it, but the labor board might be interested in this kind of creative accounting. It's like having 2 accounting books - the book kept for the IRS and the *other* (wink, wink) book.

They must held accountable for not providing work to their employees during the agreed times during their shift. This is totally unacceptable. I think it will coming to a head soon.

To be honest, I'd probably do the same thing as you did. If it doesn't give you away to TT management on this board, can you share how many lines you were short?

I am short lines also. But all depends if you are FT or PT - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
If you are FT then you will be in question with your benefits. Supposedly they pay the 40 dollars for your internet and then the medical coverage. I am always short, so I get nothing. Funny how you can't make a linecount on all foreign doctors and catheterization reports with ESL docs. But one service would turn you over to Cobra and their huge premiums if you did not make your linecount. Listen, they don't want to give you benefits anyway. It just looks good when recruiting.

Similar Messages:

Aug 04, 2010

MT/ME positions at Medquist? ...

Jan 19, 2011

Just wondering if the TT MTs would like share ... how many lines do you average during the day/week? I'm doing about 9,000 to 10,000 a week and wonder if I should be pushing myself more. How much of your count is VR? I do probably 15% traditional and 85% VR but that, of course, varies week to week. ...

Jul 13, 2011

How many lines do you average per day - VR and traditional? I know it's been VERY slow lately, but when things are going well, how many lines do you normally get? I'm trying to figure out where the average numbers are. For me, I do about 350 trad and about 1400 VR in 8 hours. Well, my timesheet says 8 hours, but my clock says that number MAY(!) be a little higher. Again, these are numbers I pull when things are going well and I'm not waiting for work to download. I'v ...

Dec 30, 2013

:-) Was solicited ASR Proficiency training/mentoring if I had not already had it. Loudly and clearly, I let my TSM know that I had had it, and the mentor was not able to help me as she could see that I was not problem. I let her know full well that my LPH depends almost entirely on the ASR. ...

May 17, 2012

I have asked my TL 3 times. What are the required lines per pay period? Combo of ST and VR? Thank you. ...

Jul 22, 2012

I've been MIA for 2 weeks but may have to return to work tomorrow....sigh. I was checking emails and saw the line requirement. ...

Mar 25, 2014

I need some information on what companies require for LPH for VR. The place I work for requires an insane amount. I more than likely am going to get raked over the coals this week for not meeting my quota (it is over 500 lines an hour). Any information would be helpful to present to HR. ...

Feb 21, 2010

Does any one have any requirements for editing for an 8-hr shift? I know for straight typing is usually required to type 1200-1500. Thanks in advance. ...

Mar 18, 2014

nm ...

Nov 06, 2014

I keep running out of work and cannot work a 12-hour shift simply to make lines needed. ...

Feb 11, 2012

? Have had a few days (4) to be exact where I did not meet the 150 lines per hour. The other days I had a minimum of 160 lines per hour but I guess that does not count. Anyway can anyone tell me if I drop to 120 lines an hour what kind of bene's I have? ...

Mar 26, 2015

Hello. I have been doing transcription at home for 15 years. I am looking for new employment opportunities. I have always been paid hourly, but now it seems everyone is paying by line. Could someone please tell me if I type 7000 lines a week, how many hours is that? Thank you. ...

Aug 22, 2014

Is anyone having trouble meeting their quota? Even with enough work available, I cannot reach my required lines per shift. It's a combo of speech (75%) and non-speech (25%). The dictators are fairly decent and the speech engine seems well trained. I'm just wondering if the issue might not be my capability so much as the line-counting feature they use. ...

Apr 08, 2011

Could someone please tell me the formula for converting lines typed to pay per hour? I have forgotten how to do it...thanks for the info. ...

Apr 13, 2014

Does anyone on here know of a company other than formerly known as Intellitype, now Castlepoint Management, who lets their MTs sign up for how many lines they will be transcribing each day other than a set schedule with set hours so you are not sitting there with no work and passing time. ...

Jan 08, 2015

x ...

Nov 30, 2011

There was a post last week on Nuance pay discrepancies. I had a 3 hour discrepancy, didn't think too much of it. I thought maybe I made a mistake. This time it is a 5 hour discrepancy. I know I didn't make a 5 hour mistake on my time punches. My lines are not what they should be either. I am about to find another job. I don't make enough as it is without being shorted. Did anyone else notice this with this last pay period? ...

Nov 08, 2012

Is anyone else having trouble achieving their daily goal since all the work has been pooled together here at Nuance? It takes me hours longer to get what I used to get. ...

Dec 20, 2014

Does anybody know which column companies look at to decide if you are meeting the minimum 250 requirement in Escription? When I look at the metrics there are 2 columns...median lines per hour and average lines per hour. ...

Jan 30, 2012

if you make 4 cents per line at 1000 lines a day, they really calculate it at 500 lines per day x 4 cents, making it really 2 cents per line for the full 1000. I heard this, and I am really interested in knowing if it is true. ...

May 02, 2012

My main account was a good one, and the lines were very good, mostly ER work. I have been on this account for over a year and a half now. We recently received an e-mail stating that Nuance had discovered that the line count was charging incorrectly, as instituted by them, and they had been crediting us with MORE lines than we were actually doing and overcharging the client. Now get this, they informed us that they would not make US pay it back, for their mistake, but that our new lines would re ...

Jun 01, 2012

nm ...

Jan 08, 2013

Which do you use - custom lines - 65 character lines with spaces or standard lines - seems like so much more for standard lines???? Cathy ...

Jan 18, 2011

I am having a discrepancy issue with lines....wondered if MS Word and Medquist use a different number of characters per line. Thanks.... ...

Sep 03, 2013

When you are a little short on hours, why do they tell you to add some and what do you put for a reason? ...

Mar 09, 2010

I work for the NorthEast section of Medquist and my supervisor wanted to verify all of our hours before we started getting locked-out of working hours other than our scheduled hours. When I emailed my hours to my supervisor, I stated that I wanted to drop my 3 hours I had previously been scheduled on Sunday night since I was having a hard time keeping those hours. Mind you, I already work 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. She then wr ...

Jan 16, 2013

week after week. I do not think I have worked my minimum hour requirement since a few weeks before Christmas. Of course this is due to no work or very little work available. ...

Mar 16, 2010

I'm short 3 hours this PP (not even sure why, prob signed out early a few times too many here and there)...... Am I in danger of losing my medical insurance if I don't have my full 40 hours? I thought I may have heard that you had to go 2 pay periods in a row short before they would take away benefits. Anyone know about this? Thanks!! ...

Jan 12, 2012

Anyone out West asked to work 3-4 hours minimum on a Sat. or Sunday with equivalent time off Monday to Friday ? Do they ask this of the Indians, also ? Reason given was to cover TAT. Your thoughts, please ? Thanks ! ...

Dec 10, 2010

Can anybody that types radiology tell me how on average about how many lines they do an hour or a day? I am being switched to by the line and have always been paid by the report. Thanks. ...