They are a corporation - See message

At least the Radiology position is 7 cents per line for a 60-character line.  In March and April of 2010 they had ads on MTStars where they were looking for Acute Care MTs and were paying them 7 cents per line for a 65-character line.  

But I think the line in their website says it all:  

All transcriptionists are scheduled on a daily duty roster.  If a transcriptionist is scheduled, they are expected to be working.  While working from home does allow for distractions, MDSI requires that all schedules be upheld per the scheduled roster without exception.  This is not a “work when you want” corporation. 

Isn’t that the standard for an EMPLOYEE, not an Independent Contractor?  Someone should report this company to the IRS.  Not only are they paying paltry wages to their Independent Contractors, they are probably violating every rule of Independent Contractor status.  

I just cannot understand why ANYONE would work for this company.  But I guess when you have nothing, even paltry wages sound good.  

Good luck to anyone who applies and works for them in the future.  

As the devil's advocate... - me

Devil's Advocate - I think you are comparing apples and oranges - Just my opinion

My opinion, there is a big difference between a deadline and absolute time.

Just curious, when was the last time you told your construction contractor that he had to show up on Monday at 8 a.m. sharp (no excuses) and had to stay until 5 p.m. (no leaving early – no working later), and that he had to do that every day, Monday through Friday?  Did he say “Sure, no problem!” or did he tell you to find another contractor?  If yours said OK, where do you live, I really need to hire him.  All my contractors show up whenever, leave whenever, never tell you they will not be back for 3 days, and then want more money when they finally do show up.  My plumber tells me he will be there “tomorrow – sometime in the morning – or maybe in the afternoon.”  There is no way I could demand that he show up at 10 a.m. sharp – he would walk right out the door.  But then, maybe I am just hiring the wrong people.  

Independent Contractors have deadlines – finish within 24 hours, you decide what hours.  

Employees have set times – you work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., no changes.  

Medical Data Services sets a specific time – no exceptions.  

At least that is what the IRS says.  

Oh, I don't know about that.... - me

i agree w/ "me" - sm

Would you be kind enough to explain - Tammy

I am sort of new to this, so please would you explain what the difference is between being an independent contractor and being an employee?  I have been working as an employee for a couple years and was thinking about taking an IC position, but now I am confused as to if there are any advantages to becoming an IC as opposed to staying an employee. 

I was trying to follow your replies and the way I was reading things, you believe it is okay for independent contractors to have set hours, as in – “You must work 8 AM to 2 PM Monday through Friday” (even though the IRS says independent contractors should only have an agreed upon time frame).  Is that correct?  

My understanding was that as an IC, you negotiate what time frame the client wants their work done in, but then the client goes away and you have to be professional enough to make sure the work is back to the client by the agreed upon time.  Say, it was 24 hours.  My understanding was that within those 24 hours, it is totally up to the IC as to exactly when they transcribe.  So, if you had midnight to midnight, and you had 6 hours of transcription to complete, as an IC you could:  Transcribe from midnight to 6 AM and be done for the day; transcribe from 8 AM to 2 PM and be done for the day; transcribe from 8 AM to 10 AM, got to a doctor’s appointment, transcribe again from 1 PM to 3 PM, go to a soccer game, and then transcribe from 9 PM to 11 PM (total of 6 hours);  transcribe from 6 PM to midnight and be done by the deadline; or any hours in between.  If you had a doctor’s appointment or a school meeting or whatever, you just went and took care of your personal life without needing to get it okayed by the client.  It was totally up to the discretion of the IC and how professional they were, to decide when the transcription would be done.  This kind of flexibility is what makes being an independent contractor preferable (to some people) to being an employee and that is why some MTs become ICs instead of employees. 

On the other hand, it is my understanding that as an employee, the employer gives you specific hours when they want you to transcribe.  If the agreed upon hours are 8 AM to 2 PM Monday through Friday, that is when you are expected to be transcribing.  If you have a doctor’s appointment or a school meeting or whatever, if it happens between 8 AM and 2 PM, you had to tell your employer that you would not be transcribing and maybe even request PTO to cover the hours that you did not transcribe. 

So basically my question is:  If you have set hours that you have to work as an IC, what is the advantage of being an independent contractor versus being an employee?  Why not just become an employee and let them pay half your Social Security and taxes; and get whatever benefits your company gives you (PTO, insurance, 401K, etc) that are not available to most ICs?  If you do not have the flexibility of transcribing whenever you want (within the time frame agreed upon) then why become an independent contractor?  I would really like an explanation as to what is the advantage?  Sorry for being so dense.  

Thanks for taking the time to explain this.  I do not want to change jobs if there is no advantage in doing so.  

A no-brainer - me

No brainer - Anonymous