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Contract Requiring Transcriptionists to Work for Only One Company - Dee

Posted: Apr 27, 2010

Does anyone know if it is legal (it could vary from state to state, I know) for a company to require you in their contract to work for no other company? I have seen this in two different contacts for two different companies in the last few months. Thanks for any knowledgeable input on this.

Before Id ever sign something like that, theyd have to - sign one guaranteeing me at least $20/hour. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

should be $30 an hour! - wrkn4pnuts

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IMO if they won't guarantee you an hourly rate based on your average production, don't sign it, b/c if you do you are cutting your own throat. Don't give them any more power over you than they should have.

Working for more than one company -- Thanks everyone! - Dee

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for all of the helpful input everybody! I completely agree that if a company wants me to work for them exclusively, then they should guarantee me my average pay 40 hours a week even if no work is available with them. I think it is unfair for a company to demand all of my time, excluding all other companies, and then tell me during certain times (doctors on vacation, spring break, some holidays, etc.) they have no work for me to do and I am not allowed to work somewhere else. What do they expect a person to do during those times? When they first mentioned this rule to me, I asked if they were willing to put it in the contract that I would be guaranteed 40 hours of pay every week in exchange for my exclusive employment with them, and they said they would not. I understand that a contract usually works in favor of whomever the author of the contract is, and they are the author of this contract, but any contract must have consideration on both sides and be beneficial to both parties on a number of aspects, and I feel that this is one is completely one-sided in their favor (which most company contracts in this industry are). I just wondered what everyone else thought or if any of you had had experience with this type of demand in a company contract. I really appreciate all of you taking time to respond. Thank you again!

Employee or IC? nm - nosa

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.

Dee - Working for more than one company - Old MTSO

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This question has arisen more than once during my career. I was told by legal counsel that as long as there is no conflict of interest (For example, if I am working for Acme Transcription and they have a contract for part of the University of X Hospital and then Ace Transcription comes along and tries to recruit me to work on that same account--he said to avoid doing that). Other than that, it is simply not any company's business what you do in the hours you are not employed by them. They CAN require you to sign a "no compete" clause saying you will not go after the same client you had when you worked for them if you go solo, but many courts have ruled that even "no compete" contracts cannot be enforced. I certainly am not a lawyer, but I do not think this contract you mention would hold water. I would suspect that they are afraid of MTs telling company secrets, etc. The industry has become so cutthroat. If I really wanted the job, I would take the contract to my own lawyer for his review and see what a pro has to say about it. Or I would ask them why they are asking for such a strange thing. Good luck to you!

I have always had 2 MT jobs. Once, when I was - JK

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working for a hospital FT and PT for a service, that service picked up the hospital. Since the hospital knew I worked for the service PT, they told both me and the service that I could not work on the overflow the hospital gave the service as conceivably I would not have to produce as much at the hospital, and then do the overflow for the service at a higher rate. I totally understood this situation.

Only legal if you're an IC without employee status - Serious

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You're considered a freelancer when you're an IC. They can request that you not do any additional work for another company only if you're an employee.

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