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

Error charges? - CMB

Posted: May 16, 2011

I am in the process of reviewing an IC contract that states, "Contractor will be charged and deducted for errors found by Company at a rate of $0.25 per error."

Are "error charges" a standard in the industry for independent contractors. I am brand new to MT, but this is something that I have not heard anything about, at all.

I have something similar in my contract. - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
regarding no-pay and half-pay for report errors. Depending on the type of error, we're also going to be charged a $20 fee on top of not being paid for the report/reimbursing the company if we've already gotten paid for it.

From what I've read here, it's not standard.

Shirl - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
You bet yer bippy it's not standard. It's a colossal RIP-OFF of the MT. I have worked as an MTSO and am now a MT for another MTSO. I can tell you, I would never charge an MT for an occasional error made in good faith, nor would I ever sign a contract that had such a clause in it. If they had a gun in their hand, they would call it extortion.

I still haven't signed - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
the new contract. How can I get that removed? There are two pages about it.

It even says excessive blanks are unacceptable. I've sent reports through with more blanks than words because the doctor was speaking like the guy who gives the disclaimers at the end of car ads, while talking into a pillow.

There's a ton of stuff in it that puts all the blame on the MT. Here's one excerpt. God, hope I don't get released for this.

"DESPITE ANY CONFLICTING LANGUAGE IN THE INDEMNIFICATION SECTION, "THE COMPANY" MAY RECOVER THESE DAMAGES FROM SUBCONTRACTOR EVEN IF "THE COMPANY" WAS NEGLIGENT OR CONTRIBUTED TO THE DAMAGES BY THEIR ACTS OR OMMISSIONS."

All caps and spelling errors typed as in the contract. I removed the name of the company.

Shirl - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Before you do another thing, HAVE A LAWYER REVIEW THIS CONTRACT. Yes, I know it costs money. But it will likely save you money in the end, perhaps a lot of money, not to mention grief. If you are still determined to work for them (though why is beyond me), just tell them you want a new contract. Tell them what YOU want in it, and that you will have the new contract reviewed by your counsel. See what they say to that. That should tell you a lot.

Wait a minute.... - so what that says is...

[ In Reply To ..]
You pay if you make a mistake AND you pay if they make a mistake.

I am (practically) speechless at that disclaimer.

Not only would I not agree to that, I would tell them they are full of horse..... puckey!

Wow, the contract I have does not go that deeply - CMB

[ In Reply To ..]
It's about half a paragraph. I asked for clarification on this from the company and they replied this -- "This section applies specifically to errors that are considered excessive. That would be errors that have been corrected numerous times and still continue to be made by the MT even after several corrections. This also refers to errors which are made and NOT marked for review for our QA staff. This does not apply during the probationary period as during the probationary period 100% of your work will be reviewed 100% by the QA staff regardless. It is extremely rare that we ever have to charge anyone for errors like this."

Yours is only the second instance - I have heard of this

[ In Reply To ..]
The first instance was on these boards within the last several months.

I personally have never had this penalty in a contract, having worked IC continuously and exclusively from 1997 to the present. I also have not worked for any of the large MTSOs, only small companies - less than a dozen ICs "on roster" - so maybe it is more common with the big boys, or is a trend in the making?

My first (and now second) reaction: YIKES!

I don't think my company is very big, it's - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
never mentioned on here. I'm not surprised, though, that he has this clause in the contract. The owner has already done a few (what I think are) shady things to avoid us being considered employees and having to pay more taxes.

Shirl - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
The IRS has very clear instructions on what it means by the US Tax Code to be an IC. Your CPA can explain it to you. If you think you are being misclassified or other shady business is going on, talk to the IRS and/or the Labor Board.

Labor Board - which one? - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
California, Nevada, Costa Rica, or Wisconsin. I'm thinking between them all, their laws combined, there would be a loophole for every one of the "we're right, you're wrong, pay up" statements.

Actually, they have been mentioned. - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
I was looking them up by their new name. They're still mostly called by their old name on here.

Shirl - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Wait a minute! They MOVED TO COSTA RICA and you are still considering doing business with them. Wake up! Don't do it!!

Sounds like her eyes are open. As long as she's free - to walk away whole if she does not like it.. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

This particular company - BeenThereMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Ahhh yes, Intellitype/Lofin. They moved the business address to Costa Rica a very long time ago, but the office is still located in CA. The contract is sent via a firm in Las Vegas. It has to be the longest contract in history that is totally one-sided. Having worked under this contract in the past, I don't believe the company has actually acted on the penalty on many occasions.

On the other hand, there are plenty of other reasons to reconsider working for this company. Lack of work would be the biggest reason. Some serious lack of professional manners towards MTs would be another. Constant phone calls even when you are not scheduled to work can be extremely annoying. And the list goes on. Check the archives here. I'm sure things have not changed recently.

I have signed contracts that by agreement with a supervisor or HR, we crossed off more than one paragraph or altered the wording because I found the wording to be questionable.

Best of luck to all those looking for decent jobs.

They moved about 4 years ago. - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
I remember because it was during the time before I moved in to my current place, which was May 2008. I was only at the previous place for about 18 months.

I blindly signed the last 3-year contract and managed to escape anything horrible happening. I don't want to make the same mistake.

I asked my DH to look it over; he has more experience reading contracts than I do. He emailed me back all of 15 minutes later and said there really wasn't anything that bad, because he couldn't see a lot of that happening in the first place. It's a 20-page contract. He said most contracts have the same sort of legalese, so he basically skimmed it. OBVIOUSLY!! He doesn't understand why I've been so anxious and reluctant to do any report types that I'm not extremely familiar with.

The fine for taking any of their clients away from them sooner than 2 years after leaving? $60,000-80,000, and it says by signing the contract we're waiving the right to say those fines are excessive or unfair. EXCUSE ME?!

We're responsible for ALL court costs. We can be seriously fined for bringing attention to them that makes them look bad. Basically, they could sue me for posting any of this stuff.

DH thinks I'm overreacting.

As long as you have not - signed their contract...

[ In Reply To ..]
They can't sue you for posting here any more than they could sue anyone else on these boards for talking about them, good or bad.

I don't think you are overreacting. I understand the need for work but that would stink to have to take work from a company and then have all this stuff you have to watch out for for fear of being fined or sued.

Lack of work, not a problem. - Shirl

[ In Reply To ..]
They understaff and/or hire very, very inexperienced MTs.

They keep accepting larger and larger volumes of work from clients that we already can't keep up with.

There's been a huge turnover of staff. Rick, Alma, and Jason are the only consistencies.

lack of work was a big problem - BeenThereMT

[ In Reply To ..]
In the not too distant past, they lost a couple of huge accounts, then claimed to have new contracts coming on board. This never materialized. There was no work available for months. They avoided contact with the MTs.

In the past, I knew a few very experienced MTs who worked for them. I am an experienced MT.

Yes, they do have a turnover of office staff. One of the consistent people is full of himself and very rude.

Not one of your better companies to work for unless you like abuse in various forms on a regular basis.

Re: Error charges - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
It sounds to me like the small MTSO you are working for is an opportunist. (I am tempted to ask why anyone would sign a contract with such a thing in it.) This will NOT become a trend in the making if people will stand up and say no! I worked for two of the biggest companies in the world for a time, and neither one required anything like that. It looks to me like someone is taking advantage of the MT. Just say NO!!

error charges - vic

[ In Reply To ..]
Absolutely say "NO!" loud and clear! Disgraceful!

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