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

Quitting: IC - Anonymous99

Posted: Dec 28, 2009

I've been working as an IC for a small operation. There is no written contract, and in fact nothing was stated verbally about terms, conditions, etc.

In keeping with the above ;) , they are disorganized and unprofessional, and I want out. In fact, I have already written my resignation notice.

Another MT just up and quit the other day. I wish to do the same, even though I have never, ever done this in my life (I'm 46 and have been working since the age of 17). The stress is so bad that it is adversely affecting my health, and I am not sleeping.

I have searched the archives, but it appears that my situation is unique because there is no written contract. Certainly in an employment situation I would be giving a two-week notice, but I would like to hear your opinions on an IC quitting w/o notice. Thanks.

quitting - so very tired

[ In Reply To ..]
I would give 2 weeks. Just the fact that you are quitting and only have 2 weeks left should ease your mind a lot. Docs talk and if you up and quit with no notice, you may not find another IC job.

RE: Quitting - Anonymous99

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for your reply.

The physician/client is not in the equation, as we MTs maintain our anonymity. The only party who would know that I quit would be the mgt. of this crappy "service," and I would never, ever work for them again.

quitting IC - tired MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I say if your tired of it, quit cold turkey. I have quit several jobs cold without notice and I have always been able to find other jobs immediately or I already had another job. Some of the jobs I have worked made me sick too and nothing would make the fingers fly across the keyboard. No sense torturing youself.

Quitting - Typo

[ In Reply To ..]
I think we must work for the same place...been contemplating myself these days. Seriously, I would give notice even if it hurts...otherwise, it might really hurt you in the long run. Just an opinion but it says a lot for character.

Quitting - Anonymous99

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for posting.

How much notice would you give, two weeks? They have already treated me so crappily that I am convinced they will make it a Hell on Earth for me during that period before my departure.

It all depends on you.... - Cardinals rock!

[ In Reply To ..]
...I'm in the same situation myself. The small company I work for lost two major accounts, so hence, there is no longer enough work to keep me busy. My issue is that they knew they were losing these accounts months ahead of time, but didn't bother to let any of us know until the day the work was gone. So, do I owe them two weeks notice if I quit??? They didn't exactly extend me the same courtesy. The bottom line for me, however, is that no matter what they have done to me, I live by higher standards and therefore, yes, I will give my two weeks notice, even though I would love to stick it to them like I felt was done to me. No consideration at all. Of course, that's just me, but I have to sleep with myself every day. Do what you feel is best for you and don't worry about what the rest of the world thinks.

RE: Quitting - Anonymous99

[ In Reply To ..]
That is a superb answer. :) Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

My two cents - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
If you give 2 weeks notice, don't be surprised if they shut you down on the day you give your notice. I've heard of this happening to others besides me. Just when you are trying to do the "right thing", they feel the need to stick the hot poker between your eyes one last time.

ic - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'd been in a similar situation without a contract in the past. I'd heard from others who worked for them that they had a habit of saying negative things about past ICs and employees.

I tried to figure out a way to leave on their good side. What I did ended up doing was simply telling them I was contemplating going back to school and couldn't figure out a way to do it while still IC'ing for them. I then gave them my 2-week notice.

They said they totally understood and gave me a glowing letter of reccomendation just in case I ever wanted to IC again.

As it turned out, I ended up only having sporadic work from them during that 2-week time frame. This was also something I was told to expect.

Sometimes when you give notice, no matter how much, you're just not shown the same consideration back.

Good luck.

Quitting IC opinion - Kat

[ In Reply To ..]
I have quit before like you are wanting to do, but take a look at your resume first and see if you will need to admit to working for this company. As you look for other work you may need to explain who you were working for during this time. Other companies or ICs may want to contact them for a reference. If there is a way that you wont need to include them on your resume, I say quit. If you are going to need to use them for a possible reference, hang in there 2 weeks and dont burn the bridge.

quitting - I may be wrong, but

[ In Reply To ..]
Isn't it against the law for a former employer to say anything other than the dates you were employed?

You're not wrong, but there are ways around it - Happy MT Robin

[ In Reply To ..]
That's if people actually really pay any attention. If someone is not eligible for rehire, though, just the way you say it, with the right inflections can get a whole lot of information across in a seemingly innocent sentence. There are a lot of places that just give out information and don't really pay any attention to whether they're supposed to or not. I would be willing to bet that this employer, since it's essentially a Mom & Pop operation, would be much less inclined to follow any sort of guideline the way a big corporation would be.

Absolutely not against the law for an employer - to give ANY factual information

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know where this "name-rank-and-dates-of-employment" idea got started, but it's completely bogus.

In fact, there are lawsuits that establish liability when a former employer FAILS to disclose factual information about an employee.

AND most states have passed laws that shield the employer from liability for doing so as well. The keys are that the information requested must have a legitimate purpose in the screening process, and the information provided must be reasonably believed by the former employer to be truthful (or factual, if you wish) in order to be shielded from liability.

I have done many, many backgrounds, and have explained to former employers that I cannot hire an individual unless I can verify their character and whether there were any incidents involving misuse of personal health information, failure to return company equipment, etc., etc. When the former employer realizes that their failure to answer my questions will prevent the employee from being hired, they realize that the risk of liability increases if they refuse to cooperate rather than if they do because they have no legal basis for refusing and doing so harms the former employee (some of whom have sued former employers on this basis as well).

Bottom line: A former employer may provide factual information about former employees that is related to their employment history and related to their performance, attendance, character, etc.

P.S. - Job References - Sample Link

[ In Reply To ..]
See the link below from West Virginia, giving guidelines to the state's department heads with respect to providing employment references for former employees. (This is in tabular format so not sure how it will come out but you'll get the idea or can visit the URL to see the PDF file itself.)

Note the scope of questions to be asked of former employers:

1. How are you acquainted with the applicant?
______ As a current or former employer (Please complete parts 2 and 4).
______ Other (Please complete parts 3 and 4).

2. If supervisor or employer, please provide the following information.
a. Dates of employment: FROM ________________ TO ________________

b. Position for which initially employed:____________________________________________

c. Last position held:____________________________________________________________

d. Description of job duties and responsibilities:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

e. Reason individual left your employment:
[ ] To accept other employment [ ] Dismissed
[ ] Resigned [ ] Other (please specify)
[ ] Resigned under threat of disciplinary action ____________________________

f. Is individual still employed: YES ________________ NO ________________

g. Please have completed by immediate supervisor if (s)he is still employed, by personnel office
if supervisor is no longer with company.

(Excellent Good Average Fair Poor)
Quality of work [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Quantity of work [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Attendance & punctuality [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Conduct [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
_____________________ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
_____________________ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Please comment on any rating of â��Poor,â�� and feel free to comment on any area rated better than
â��Average.â�� Comments may be made on a separate sheet or on the reverse side of this letter.

h. Would you re-employ: YES ________________ NO ________________
If no, please explain: _______________________________________________________

rights of employee? Notified of info provided. sm - .

[ In Reply To ..]
Who protects the employee from wrong info given. Who. Seems all the rights are on the side of the employer. People can/do have their own personal agendas jealousy/envy/spite etc etc and give out info not correct and how would the employee ever know. How. the employee would very likely never know, never to told.????

I've shared negative info with the applicant - selectively (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
For reasons that should be obvious, you can't share everything, but it's often possible to give the applicant an opportunity to refute or give their side of a situation.

What I've found, though, is that almost invariably the answer is something like, "Oh, yeah - I forgot about that; it was nothing", or "Really? I missed that many days? I didn't keep track", or "That email about my supervisor was supposed to be private", or something else that doesn't offset or explain anything.

And in more than a few cases, they start ranting on the supervisor in question, which doesn't help them either. "She was the worst supervisor I ever had. Always on your back. Never satisfied with anything you did. Tell you one thing one day, then something else the next day. Totally unreasonable...blah blah blah".

Are there such supervisors? Certainly. What interests me, though, is when the applicant herself takes NONE of the responsibility for whatever situation, miscommunication, poor performance, etc. that might have arisen. And what also interests me even more is when I'm looking at a repeated pattern of "rotten supervisors". Someone with a stellar work record and one bad job experience...I'm more likely to buy her explanation. Someone who has difficulty with her supervisors at multiple jobs...that's a different matter.

And remember, it's rarely one thing, or one reference that cooks an applicant's goose. It's a lot of things, gathered from a number of sources, that go into getting a picture of the applicant and forming your opinion. People tell you who they are by the sum total of how they live their lives - we are what we do. And usually that means that we're painting a picture that anyone who bothers to look can see.

I once worked in a supervisory position where I had no hiring input. I had a spate of people who came on board, created one sort of trouble or other, and then left. When my superior asked me what was happening, I said, "Well, let's start by reviewing their applications" - and what did we find?

1. References weren't checked or were allowed to get away with the "dates only" game.

2. The applications themselves predicted the outcome that we experienced. It was right there in plain view, for instance, that the individual had ten jobs in the last six years, or that they were deliberately cagey about their dates of employment, or that there were unexplained gaps in employment, or that the information in their application didn't jive with their resume.

There's a book called "Hire Tough, Manage Easy". The title says it all - pay attention when you're hiring people. Do it wrong or do it right, but expect the outcome to reflect whether you did it wrong or did it right.

Kat - just level with the company. SM - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I have found another position, and though we have no official contract, I am willing to give notice (might want to limit that to 1 week), but if there is no need on your end to find a replacement, perhaps we could agree on an earlier date....

or whatever. In writing would be good, then follow up with an official resignation...After our discussion regarding resignation notice dates, please accept this as my official resignation, with last date of employment 00/00/0000.

References with no consequences to employer wrong - .

[ In Reply To ..]
This is in response to post below who checked references on employees.

Giving legal clearance to employers, gives permission to just say anything; the employee will not even know.

I have experienced a terrible lie, deliberate character bashing (I mean really bad) YES!!!. Absolutely not true, absolutely nothing,ever in my life, yet continued.

Once I was to sign a form releasing any consequences to the providing employer etc., I signed but clearly wrote in "The employeee is to receive a copy. The form came back one word. GOOD. Employers CAN be bad. They CAN.

I feel you are assuming a lot against the MT. Just read the forums. People CAN play the victim, but toooo many like what is written on the MTboards, to not believe what is happening out there.

I had one about a year ago who started playing the rotten attitude game, sent me an email, TOTALLY undeserved, TOTALLY. I could not believe what was written. I unplugged and sent in my invoice; I quit, outlining the great effort (relistening to each report, keeping extensive logs on reports, ie; 1 blank sent in, etc and stated, "since my skill was unrecognized, unappreciated efforts, I quit. Some like to play the "Keep them off balance game" they feel, they will strive even harder, running scared. NOPE won't work with me, I know my considerable/skill, NOPE not me. Treat people decently they will work their butt off for you, YES I do believe this.

Two weeks' notice is nonsense..... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
As an IC, my contracts state the company can leave me high and dry without any notice except just to dump me, if they so choose. If this company is that horrible and you are that miserable, there is absolutely no reason not to quit. You can move on and find something that you don't dread everyday. If you have no written contract(and there is a reason this "company" has no written contract), you certainly are not obligated in any way to continue your misery.

Quitting: IC - eagles_fan

[ In Reply To ..]
I would give 2 weeks' notice. It doesn't matter if you're an employee or an IC. It is always appropriate professional behavior to give 2 weeks' notice. Just because your company is "disorganized and unprofessional" doesn't mean you should be. Don't let them make you lower your standards of conduct.

I also think it makes a better impression in a job interview if you don't just walk off the job without giving any notice. It might make you feel better at the time, but you will need to explain it to potential employers/clients, and I think it would make you look bad.

I think Cardinals Rock! expressed it perfectly. "The bottom line for me, however, is that no matter what they have done to me, I live by higher standards and therefore, yes, I will give my two weeks notice, even though I would love to stick it to them like I felt was done to me."

I think after you give your 2 weeks' notice, you will feel better just knowing that you only have to put up with this situation for 2 weeks.

Good luck!

Quitting: IC - kind of long but please read! - wrkn4pnuts

[ In Reply To ..]

Let me see if I understand this correctly: You are an IC, working without a contract, for a disorganized and unprofessional company; you're not sleeping, your health is affected, and you're concerned about giving these people two weeks notice? For goodness' sake, do the right thing before your health goes further south, and get out of there NOW! Don't wait another day! If you have been doing this kind of work long enough, you know in your heart of hearts that good MTs are a tenacious bunch of people, giving exceptional effort to produce nothing less than exceptional work. The fact is, as time goes on, overall we are constantly expected to settle for less. This is a tedious job, and we are underpaid and very under-appreciated...man, I wish I had a dollar for every person I have encountered that thinks we are overpaid typists! Like you, I am also in the same age group (47). I have finally made the decision to get out of MT altogether - have no idea what I'm going to do next, but it will definitely happen in 2010. My body just can't take it anymore and neither can my bank account. Life is too short!

Getting out of MT - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
I understand COMPLETELY! I will second the comment made about "overpaid typists." It is EXTREMELY difficult to find another type of position, after being a transcriptionist, even if the person has (meaning me) two degrees and a technical diploma, and varied experience in other areas. It is true that for some reason many in the medical field and others think that it is okay for the medical transcriptionist to be jacked around and pushed further into poverty, that we (MTs) are money hungry (a complete joke), and that we WANT this type of treatment -- bizarre thinking out there, let me tell you. I think that with the new year, I too am saying "good riddens" to MT'ing. Be aware though that it is extremely difficult to get out of -- it's like the lion keeps his teeth on you until the bitter end and just won't let go. My theory on this is because the medical field needs good transcribers, but the medical field also does not want to pay them anything -- they want it all for free or next to nothing. I think you need to have someone who supports you 100% and understands where you are coming from, what it has become, and what you need to do for a better future. If you are on your own, find someone who will help you, because the powers to be in this field seem to keep the mind games going until the bitter end. Good luck to you and me and everyone who takes the step out. Although I have no personal experience in this matter, leaving transcription seems the same as leaving an abusive relationship.

Just do the right thing and give 2 weeks - why even ask?

[ In Reply To ..]
You know 2 weeks is the professional thing to do. Give the 2 weeks and soon it'll all be behind you, and you'll have a clean conscience and reputation. Just walking out the door feels good momentarily, but it can't be changed and you'll be stuck defending/explaining it for the rest of your career.

Give 2 weeks' notice - karma

[ In Reply To ..]
You will have done the right thing and it will be over soon enough.

Besides, once you give notice they may very well tell you to go now, especially if they have any inkling you are unhappy. They may decide that they do not want an unhappy, possibly disgruntled IC working on, and having access to, their records and/or system.

If they do keep you around the two weeks, you can make a few bucks while you look for replacement work.

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