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

Can an IC be made to work a schedule? - All Thumbs

Posted: Apr 22, 2011

Not namimg names here, but I see an ad for an IC and they are asking for full coverage from Wed-Sun 3p-11p -- all this for 8500 lines per month. Can they legally ask an IC to do that?

Yes. Just because you're an IC doesn't mean they cannot - have requirements for when they need the work.

[ In Reply To ..]
If they need coverage during those times, they can specify that.

agree, and don't be surprised if they do not have work - for you outside the hours they need coverage.

[ In Reply To ..]
x

We give them that right by accepting their terms - Call me an IE, Independent Employee

[ In Reply To ..]

An employer can ask anything. It is up to the Independent Contractor to decide if they want those terms or not.

If you are having a party on Saturday and ask the plumber to come only on Friday at 10 am, it is up to the plumber to decide if Friday works in the schedule or not. If the plumber cannot do it when you ask (or cannot negotiate a mutually agreeable time), then you have to find another plumber.

Independent Contractors take jobs because they need the income, so the employer really has the upper hand. If we all could afford to say no, then less and less employers would make such demands. We give them that right. Legal or not.

There are probably hundreds of MTSOs who could be turned into the IRS for treating their Independent Contractors as Employees, but all the people who work for them are afraid to do so because they are afraid of losing that job entirely. Until the job market turns around again and there are more MTSOs looking for workers than workers available, nothing will change. Employers will continue to make those types of demands, and nothing will be done to stop them.

What they CANNOT do - (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
Control or tell you how to do the transcription (use their system only). If they require you to use their system or platform - you are an employee -- they are controlling how you do the work.

Control whether you do the work or you subcontract it out.

Control how you are paid (tell you they will take care of computing your lines, etc., so that you don't submit a bill), or whether you are reimbursed for necessary expenses for that particular job.

Other things to look for: Do you have an actual written contract? Is transcription the main portion of their business? Will you continue providing services?

Best to talk with the IRS. Easy to call them.

Thanks so far - All Thumbs

[ In Reply To ..]
I see your point about the coverage window. Looks like they are asking for full time coverage for only 8500 lines a month. What would you do, work a second account at the same time? Oh, and they want Win XP too. Think I'll keep looking. Thanks.

Yes - ic mt

[ In Reply To ..]
They tell you the time they have work available. You accept them as one of YOUR clients or not.

this whole industry is based on TAT. Scheduling is essential. - SM anon

[ In Reply To ..]
The laws are just catching up to cyberspace workers, us predominantly.

question is - do you want to work?

if you want to work if/when you can on a daily basis - what you need is a service with 24 TAT on their accounts.
Those days a long gone with technology what it is in the here-and-now.

Short answer - probably not - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Short answer, no, because they are establishing an employer/employee relationship and they are controlling your work.

I spoke with an IRS agent a couple of months ago (I work as an employee but while I was talking to him I brought this up), and he just rolled his eyes.

As another poster mentioned, virtually no one should be working as an IC for an MTSO.

The first thing the IRS looks at is how integral are you to the business. In other words, what service does this business provide and do they need someone doing what you are doing to exist. For example, the primary purpose of a doctor is to provide medical care not transcription services and she/he can, continue in business without a MT (i.e., handwriting the notes). Therefore, she/he can hire an MT as an IC. However, obviously, an MTSO cannot exist without an MT so therefore, in almost all instances (possible exception described below), they cannot have an MT as an IC. The way many state taxation laws describe it is that no business can hire someone as an IC that provides the same service they do.

I think how many smaller MTSO get away with it is because not only MTs do not report them, but also if the IRS questions them, they say that medical transcription is not their primary business. That is what the prior company I was working for as an IC I later found out did. Also, the IRS does not devote their most experienced and knowledgeable agents on smaller companies. This is why the biggest companies like MedQuist, do not have ICâ��s because they cannot fly under the IRSâ�� radar.

However, that is changing which is one of the reasons why some smaller MTSO will not hire MTs from certain states because the states are now checking for this. I noticed an ad last week on this board from an MTSO looking for an IC and the ad stated that ICâ��s could work for other MTSOs (as if this was the only determining factor).

The next thing the IRS looks at what is the expectation of employment. Is your employment as an IC for a very short time (a month or two) to because this company has a one-time special project or maybe only to work 1-2 weeks a year while someone is in on vacation? If that is the case, then it is possible they can hire you as an IC. This is the exception I mentioned above. However, if the expectation is that you will work on a continuing basis, than they cannot as that establishes an employer/employee relationship.

Finally, they also look at the IC. Do they advertise to the public (i.e., an ad in the yellow pages), do they have multiple clients, do they have employees, are they allowed to subcontract out the work, and is their work product controlled (i.e., told what software to use, how to send the work, who can see it, etc.).

There are some other deciding factors but these are the most important.

Bravo, excellent explanation! The IRS is....sm - Old MT

[ In Reply To ..]
beginning to catch up with the MTSOs that hire ICs. This is why you see certain high-profile companies requiring all transcriptionists to be/become employees.

There have been quite a few "IC" MTs that have been able to collect unemployment by challenging their IC status. Now the spotlight has been shone on these MTSOs. Hopefully, there will eventually be a trickle-down effect.

There is no such thing as a "full-time" (35-40 hr/wk)IC MT working for one company. If you work this many hours for one MTSO you are an EMPLOYEE.

In short, legally, you cannot be required to work a schedule. This is the standard caveat now that companies that are hiring ICs use to try and stay within the IRS rules. "As an IC, your hours are flexible. We do ask, though, that you give us a general idea as to when you'll be working so that we can make sure we are properly staffed 24/7."

IC schedule - oaf

[ In Reply To ..]
Depends on the contract and the agreement at the time they hired you. If you apply for a job that states those are the hours in their ad. That's it!! Don't like it, don't apply.

I worked as an IC - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I was not required to work a certiain shift or certain hours. I got work from the company. There was a turn-around time of either 24 or 48 hours. I worked whatever times or hours I wanted as long as the work was returned within the TAT time. This is the nature of the beast, having TAT, but as an IC I could not be told what hours I had to work. This was a very small company with just a few people working.

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