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Is this legal for a company who hires IC's? sm - OTIer

Posted: May 07, 2011

We are REQUIRED to fill out a monthly schedule (on Bayscribe) telling how many lines we plan to do each day. I have talked to others who have missed working on a day they said they were going to on the schedule, and the management has confronted them about that.

We are IC's. That isn't legal, is it?

Completely illegal - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, completely against all rules of the IRS, DOL, and state labor boards. I'd report and maybe you'll get a "whistle-blower" percentage of the penalties. Maybe that's how we make up the differences in our pay these days!

Bogus - momXthree

[ In Reply To ..]
A company is certainly alowed to give IC's a daily/weekly/monthly quota, although they cannot demand specific hours, provide you tools to do the job, or in any other way treat you like an employee. The IRS has specific independent contractor rules and expecting a quota to be met does not break those rules. How would anyone run a business if the staff just worked whenever they wanted and did whatever volume of work they felt like.

Xmom - they are not demanding any hours, the are ASKING her when. - what are your hours not HERE are your hours.

[ In Reply To ..]
just sayin'. they demanded nothing.

Completely LEGAL - mt2

[ In Reply To ..]
Do you seriously think contractors have ZERO accountability? That's not how it works. You are providing a schedule and you are expected to provide the services you have COMMITTED TO. Where in the world would anyone find that illegal?

This seems fair as long as they aren't telling you - IC-MI

[ In Reply To ..]
WHEN you have to do them. It seems reasonable to let them know what you can be expected to do within a day, otherwise IC status turns into an excuse for irresponsibility.

Ideally, an IC should tell a client if they cannot meet that commitment (whether they are sick, personal, or emergency) out of courtesy.

I am an IC, but if I was the client who hired me, I would want to know why I/you didn't work when I/you said I/you would. I don't care when in the day you do it, but if you commit to provide me a service and you don't, I think I would have the right to ask you about it.

Not being snarky, just sayin' ...

OTIer - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
It is legal as long as they are not telling you what specific hours to work. They need to get some sense of availability/work flow, etc. for TAT. The place I work does the same thing. I have no problem with it.

It is certainly legal - nutzarella

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been one of those who filled out a schedule on Bayscribe as a statuatory and regular IC AND survived an IRS audit. They are not telling you when to work. Rather, you are telling them. That is the why it is legal. They are not telling you when on the day you commit to working. You decide that. They are not telling you how to produce your work other than perhaps giving you client specifics, which is also legal.

Even IBM or BP hires ICs for jobs and tells them when the job has to be done. Just because we are MTs the rules aren't changed.

Not sure why you have such an issue with this since you determine sm - Colorado MT

[ In Reply To ..]
your own schedule, which is what an IC is supposed to do, I thought. It was explained to me that they just want a general idea of when you are planning to work and how much you plan to do. I have missed a day and/or not done as much as I planned and no one said a word to me. Other than the pay being a bit low, I have nothing bad to say about the company. They have been good to me.

If you had your own clients, don't you think they would expect to know when they would receive their work back?

yes, you are telling them, they are not scheduling you. you have THEM working - around you -

[ In Reply To ..]
want more? the only thing left is getting your own accounts and making more money.

Of course it is. How else can they provide coverage? - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
They are not telling you when to work. You are telling them when you are available to work.

Management *should* confront an IC who agreed to work a schedule and then failed to do so.

When you hire a plumber, aka an IC - ME

[ In Reply To ..]
is it LEGAL to ask them when they will complete the work you are CONTRACTING them to do?

Of course it is! Perhaps you are confused about what an Independent Contractor is?

I am not saying I'd like having to complete such a form for a month in advance, but then if that's their terms, you can choose to pass on the job, or only commit to lines you KNOW you can meet.

NOT LEGAL - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
When you hire a plumber you are not a business hiring them, you are a private individual. Furthermore, you are not hiring them as an IC, you are hiring them as a business to do a one-time job. This is not the case here.

What this is equivalent to, is a construction company hiring a plumbing company to do subcontract work. My family is in the construction business and I can tell you, when you hire a plumber IC, they tell you when they MIGHT be there to do the work, but they give you no absolute time or day or even week. They show up when they can schedule it. And believe me, if they do give you an exact time, then you don't want them doing your work because it means their work is so bad they don't have any other customers.

More importantly, as has been discussed multiple times on this board, most MTs are not legally an IC. Except in a few rare instances, the only time a MT legally should be working as an IC is if they are contracting with a hospital or a doctor, in other words, a business whose main service is NOT medical transcription. Look at IRS form SS-8.

I also quote from this website the following sentence (and there are many other sources of information to confirm this). This is about someone hiring someone to cut their lawn for the summer. If you read the entire article another thing you notice is the contract specifies an end date and is not open ended. That is another reason why MTSOs cannot legally hire MTs as ICs:

"The lawn person schedules my lawn cutting to work with h/her schedule and route. I do not control the 'when' of the work."

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/are-you-really-independent-independent-contractor-vs-employee-status-435241

Of course, my words are just feathers in the wind, because as stated above, this has been discussed so much on this board and it goes in one ear and out the other of most of the readers here.

you know, though, every job you listed is not a 24-hr business nor service. - hospitals are, takes some semblance of staffing co

[ In Reply To ..]
. just sayin'

It really doesn't matter what we all think--but what's the IRS definition of IC! - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

Or Google IRS rules for independent contractor.

Our opinions and definitions mean nothing--we don't audit MTSOs. The IRS, DOL, and state boards define ICs and use of them.

And those rules are about as black and white as a giraffe - mt2

[ In Reply To ..]
I've sat in seminars with attorneys regarding the IC rules and any attorney worth their salt will tell you it's very individualized and they are not as strict-sounding as every MT wants to believe they are.

They are allowed to ask what hours you will be working and to expect you will be there those hours. Anyone who would try to take that to court would be wasting lots of time.

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