Perspective - Mary Posted: Nov 3rd, 2019 - 5:46 am In Reply to: Life insurance - anon
I don't read this board very often. I have what I think is a unique perspective.
I ran a small service for years. I paid MTs well. They were employees not ICs. I paid all my taxes on time and offered insurance and PTO. When so many companies started using the IC model, I couldn't compete. I thought long and hard and closed my business rather than instigate pay cuts.
I became a mortgage broker, though I still dabble in transcription.
It's just not sustainable to pay people as employees or offer benefits anymore in the transcription industry. I think the prevailing rates of 4 cents for editing and 8 for straight typing are slave wages. I hated closing my office, but it is impossible to run a business and pay people decently. Also my hospital clients were horrible payers. I would sometimes have to wait 90 days to be paid from them. On more than one occasion, I had to tap my own money to make payroll. It wasn't a lot of fun for me.
My employees never knew how stressed I was. I gave them something like a nine-month notice (when my contracts expired) that I was going to be closing up shop. It actually all worked out fine. I even told them they could contact the clients with my blessing to try to get a job from them after the contract expired.
It sounds like LT may have held on too long to an unsustainable model.
I don't know her, but she may know she's going down and is having one last hurrah. If you don't pay those withholding taxes, you can get in real trouble. It's funny. My accountant always warned me not to even think about doing that. He said it's better to miss a payroll than not make your tax deposit because when you miss a payroll, you're a deadbeat; when you don't make you tax deposit, you're a fraud. Like I said, I did a good job spinning all the plates in the air to makes sure everything was paid on time and in full, but it wasn't easy. The profit margin in MT is very small.
LT may not be a crazy or bad person; she may just be a very proud person.
All that said, I feel bad for everybody, LT and all the folks who aren't getting paid on time.
This industry puts people in very bad situations. Most owners would love to be able to pay their staffs a living wage, but for whatever reasons transcription and editing work is not valued.
I wouldn't presume to tell people to go or stay, etc., but there really are industries out there that pay folks decently. When I left MT, I was pretty sad. I like the work, but it wasn't worth the hassle.
I don't know how long LT has been in business, but she may have an unimaginable stress level at this point. Sometimes I wonder if I should have stuck it out; I'm really glad I didn't.
By the way, I know everybody wants to sue her, do a class action suit, etc., but she may not have any real assets. Even if she owns houses, cars, etc., she may be up to her eyeballs in hock.
You may want to discreetly inquire with the purchasing department of the facility you work when the contract is coming up for bid. That would at least give you an idea of the potential cash flow. And I don't wish LT any harm, but if KS tanks, then proactive MTs may be in a position to change their situation for the better.
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