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

Want to earn extra money? Those of you being told to lie - on timesheets, this could be SM

Posted: Nov 24, 2011

a goldmine, PLUS an opportunity to put those immoral MTSOs in their place. Every job has the time it was submitted and who did it. If those times are strung-out over 10-14 hours when the MTSO bogus records show you worked an 8-hour shift, who do you think will come out ahead in a lawsuit? Also, keep a log on the REAL hours you worked as icing on the cake. An employment attorrney would have a ball with this.

Earning Extra Money - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I totally agree with you. I have always advised people I mentored to keep their own log. It doesn't need to be fancy, just buy whatever kind of notebook you prefer and every day write down the time you log on, any unusual occurences (DQS down, etc.), also print out in hard copy and keep any memos from your TL asking you to put in extra time, saying they are out of TAT, etc. Keep it all in a folder. You never know when this can come in handy. I am an ex-MTSO who played by the rules and had a heart for those who worked with me. It really makes me ill to see how so many MTSOs have turned into greedy machines, and, just like the MTs, would like to see them pay. That may surprise you, but there really are MTSOs out there who want to do right and who know that without the MT, they would have nothing. Good luck to you all, and DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT! Not only would a good employment attorney have a ball with this, the Labor Board (and maybe tne IRS, too) would give it more than a passing glance, I am sure!

That's been the Ace I've kept up my sleeve for the past 3 or 4 years. - Should they ever fire me, I intend to play it.

[ In Reply To ..]

Why would you even want to continue working there? Dont - YOU deserve fair treatment and SM

[ In Reply To ..]
honest pay. To say nothing of the self respect you would gain by standing up for yourself, and your sister MTs, by playing that card NOW. Why should YOU settle for less than what you deserve? Why should YOUR FAMILY have to settle than less than they deserve, and less than you would like them to have? If you have kids, neices, nephews, etc. what does your working at a MTSO such as this tell them? And what message would you be sending them if YOU did the right thing now?

Tell me where I can get a fair shake, an employer - who pays fairly, and I"ll leave tomorrow.

[ In Reply To ..]
Been lookin for 4 years how. Oh, yea, there are plenty of JOBS available, but they pay even worse than the dud I've got right now. I'm not there cause i love it, I'm there cause I'm just treading water. What else can I do.

PS: We're not just talking overtime here - we're - talking skimmed, unpaid lines.

[ In Reply To ..]
NM

Just be sure you were told to do it and not doing it on your own. - OT has to be authorized

[ In Reply To ..]
You have to make sure you were told by someone with the proper authority to get on and document that they did authorize your getting on past your 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. If you cannot document such an illegal action and are taking it upon yourself to work extra hours above your 8/40, then you have no case.

What about an email saying, Lots of work now, hop on if - you want to. But then I guess you

[ In Reply To ..]
could show an employment atty an emails you have and he would know if you have a cause of action. And would think initial consultation would be free or very minimal cost. Also, I keep copies of all my IMs, dated and who they are to and what they are about.

Our company covers their bases on that one. - specifying who they are talking about

[ In Reply To ..]
It has become necessary to spell it out. They don't mean people that will get OT if they do jump on, and that is stated in such emails. That is only for the many part-timers and registry MTs. There are repeated emails about not working overtime unless authorized.

No, employer must pay overtime, authoriozed or not - old hand

[ In Reply To ..]
If you are working overtime, you must be paid for it. However, exactly what is overtime varies from state to state, so check your state's labor laws. If you are working overtime, it is your employer's duty to step in and tell you to go home, otherwise you must be paid for your overtime. If your employer instructs you to only work 40 hours and not work overtime, and you routinely do, he certainly has cause to fire you, but he still has to pay you for your work. But there are a lot of exceptions to that when overtime is authorized by law, whether or not your employer authorizes it.

For instance, suppose at the end of your workday, 10 minutes before you go home, there is a stat transfer summary that needs to be done immediately. The summary turns out to be 40 minutes long (and dictated by Dr. Ping Lee Mush Mouth who sort of learned to speak English yesterday) for a critically ill patient. There is really no choice, it has to be done, there is no one else to do it, so you stay the 1-1/2 hours or so that it takes. You must be paid overtime for that according to the laws of your state even if it wasn't "authorized." Also there are no grounds for termination. This situation carries over to other fields of course, and if you make the judgement in good faith that it is in your employer's best interest that you work overtime (for example you are store clerk, and no one shows up to work at the end of your shift and you can't reach your employer to tell him so you work the second shift) then again the employer must pay you.

Overtime is overtime and must be paid, otherwise, employers could take advantage all the time, claiming overtime was not authorized.

Mandatory overtime on the other hand is a horse of a different color, and there are different laws regarding that, state by state, and according to your contract as well.

If you are a salaried employee, you may not be entitled to overtime, but again ultimately the employment contract and state law will govern that, not your employer's "authorization." His remedy for an employer who abuses overtime is to discharge the employee, not to refuse to pay it.

At our company, you would have to let that pass to another MT. - if the policy is in place, it flies

[ In Reply To ..]
You cannot authorize your own overtime.

unathorized versus authorized overtime still must be paid - old hand

[ In Reply To ..]
If you read my post again, you will note that I said there was no one else to transcribe the summary. The point the LAWS of your state govern this; that your employer cannot legally refuse to pay unauthorized overtime. But if this is abused then he can fire you, certainly it would be very foolhard to deliberately violate company policy.

UNDERSTAND THIS, OVERTIME PAY IS GOVERNED BY YOUR STATE'S LABOR LAWS AND NOT YOUR EMPLOYER. (Caps added for emphasis, not shouting.)

If your employer's policy is that you do not work unauthorized overtime, and you do so routinely, then he can terminate your employment with cause but he still has to pay you the overtime. When in the course of carrying out your ordinary duties, you do have to put in some extra time as does happen to any good employee, then he absolutely must pay you, authorized or not.

If you were in a situation such as a described above with the hypothetical transfer summary or the store clerk whose relief failed to show, and you made the good faith and reasonable decision that working unauthorized overtime was in your employer's best interest, and then he fired you, it is without cause.

Either way, he still must pay you overtime.

May I suggest that you research this and know what your legal rights are. You work overtime, you must be paid, although depending on the circumstances you could also be fired, and therefore ineligible for unemployment, etc.

Again, let me put this clearly so you understand, authorized or not, if you work overtime your employer is legally obligated to pay you, and you have recourse if he does not.

BUT, if it is a situation where overtime is not necessary and you are abusing this against his explicit instructions, then he can fire you with cause. But he still MUST pay you.

The reason is that an unscrupulous employer, which we are seeing far too much of these days, could take advantage of his employees claiming he never "authorized" overtime. That is why the statutes that govern overtime, state that overtime must be paid, and that is that.

These are two different issues, don't confuse them. And don't let yourself be bullied.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, AND QUIT ARGUING WITH ME, I'M PROBABLY OLD ENOUGH TO YOUR MOTHER, MAYBE EVEN YOUR GRANDMOTHER, SHOW SOME RESPECT HERE, YOUNGSTER, I GET ENOUGH GRIEF FROM MY OWN KIDS. (Now I am shouting -- and just having a little fun, things are so serious these days.)

I doubt that; been doing this a long time. - me

[ In Reply To ..]
They can be fired for insubordination if they violate policy, though they might have to pay their last hour as OT. Can't disobey a direct order without consequences.

How about if you work your 8-hour shift but are told to put down less hours - lou

[ In Reply To ..]
Where I work that is what we are told if our line counts do not reflect an 8-hour shift. That would be because you have Dr. mushmouth time and time again. I swear there are at least 80% ESL, whereas I was told when hired that would be 40%, quite the difference. Add to that 3 different accounts, so you are going back and forth looking at account specifics and trying to figure out Dr. Mushmouth all the time.... I sometimes have to put 4 or 5 hours when I have worked my heart out. I have been doing this for 25 years, so it's not that I don't have the experience; I do with all specialties.

I am so between a rock and a hard place right now with all of this, but I cannot afford to quit either because I am treading water with just paying my basic living expenses. Wonder if anyone else runs into this. I suspect they want us to lower our actual time worked, so they don't have to pay us the minimize wage, when we don't even make the minimum wage sometimes with working an 8-hour shift.

lou - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Your employer is asking you to collude in an act of fraud. I'll betcha the Labor Board's ears would perk up if you told them.

Everytime we build a better mouse, the MTSOs will - build a better mouse trap

[ In Reply To ..]
MTs think they have the MTSOs over a barrel with this one, but I've got news for you. You are just making it harder on yourselves. They will adjust to your forcing them to protect themselves, and you will be out on a limb and they will be sawing the branch off. You might win this battle, but you won't win this war.

Old Hand - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
What you say is true. I just wanted to add, in case it helps anyone on here, that the State of California has extremely strict labor laws and rules--and they enforce them.

Well... - JC

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't you get what's going to happen here? Say I have a really bad day production-wise, not because of NJA(don't feel well, tired, bad dictators, sound quality), and I want to put in some extra time to make up those lines. Now you people are setting this up so I can't do that unless I get serious approval for time and a half. My other point is, too, if they ask you to work extra, they're not FORCING you to, you have a choice.

I get that it's not all about OT not being paid, but what I said above is going to be the outcome of this outcry--you will lose total control on how much you can work.

So we all should be able to break the law ... - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
In other words, we all should be able to break the law. Because that is exactly what you are saying. We should allow the employer to commit illegal acts so, in turn, they will allow us to. Do you think people should be able to steal from you so in turn you can steal from them?

My Point Was - JC

[ In Reply To ..]
Part of my point was that unless they are FORCING you to work extra, you don't have to. Therefore, when you say no, you aren't breaking any laws.

If you get in trouble because of low production because of NJA, and they tell you to work extra to make it up, then you bring out the OT card. BUT, you would have to sit in the system for 8 hours,staring at the screen and do what little piddly jobs come your way, as that's the only way you're going to get to play an OT card. By logging out and doing the laundry, cleaning the house, running errands, you're not working, so that extra time isn't extra.

I felt like crud the other day, wasn't on my "game," got low production, so I started an hour early the next day to make it up. I like that kind of control.

If you want total control of how much you work, become an IC. - You want perks of being SM

[ In Reply To ..]
employee, you have to play by the rules, the DOL rules. If you are sick and cant work, so be it but you cant expect then later to make up lines by working OT but not documenting such per DOL guidelines. And what about those people who are scheduled to work when you decide to log on and take jobs that should have been going to them?

Woops, Meant to Mention - JC

[ In Reply To ..]
Sorry, meant to mention that they did want the extra help to keep things moving, and it worked in my favor since I felt like crud the day before. I was more than happy to hop on and get my lost lines in. Nobody demanded I go on, it was just a blanket e-mail stating that "there's plenty for everyone if you want to work extra." (Note it said "if.") I didn't hear anywhere in that e-mail that was requiring people to work extra hours if they didn't want to, and I doubt anyone would have even gotten that e-mail if the company had to pay OT. SO, it worked out. I got my lost lines in that I normally wouldn't have.

So, I'm done here, you all go fight City Hall. I'm going to grab at those little chances to get my lines in before those chances are taken away by all this.

Work extra if you want, sound like they are okaying OT for - any who want to get on and work.SM

[ In Reply To ..]
If they said get on and work extra if you want but no OT will be paid, I would expect I would not be paid OT. Why should I expect to not be paid OT? Nowhere is it said OT will not be paid.

They have knowledge that you have worked your - 8 hour shift. To then say SM

[ In Reply To ..]
get on and work if you want, sure sounds like they are okaying OT to me.

Similar Messages:

Apr 16, 2010

Just got this in a Spam E-mail. Sure wish I had gone into that field instead of what I am doing and making squat!!! ...

Jan 09, 2015

I have never worked on ChartNet and am wondering how hard it is to learn and the earning capacity in it. I love escription but this new account is ChartNet. Thanks all! ...

Jun 23, 2011

I have to make for DQSpeech. ...

Sep 27, 2010

I assume that the MT companies set up a contract with the client for them to pay on a per-line basis. Of course, they charge more than they pay us; that's how they make their money & that's fine. But what I'm wondering is... when we get a report that comes in as VR instead of straight typing, where does the extra money go, since we get paid less for VR. I feel like I work just as hard, if not harder on VR than typing a report. So why don't we make ...

Dec 09, 2010

make up all late reports, etc for the end of the year. At my MTSO it is anything but slow, Getting lots of reports from Sept and Oct. ...

Mar 28, 2013

If you have no jobs and can't work,do you still earn your PTO? ...

Mar 25, 2013

I've been looking at exchange rates as well as information on salaries for MTs in India trying to figure out what they are earning. As best I can tell, a rupee is worth about 2 cents. If my math is correct, a starting MT is earing about $160/month. I cannot find any information as to their line rate. If anyone has better math skills (and it would not be difficult) please correct me. At that rate, you can see why they want all the work to go to India. Even ...

Mar 02, 2010

Are we supposed to report this to someone? Plus, since our earnings may fluctuate from pay to pay, what do we do then? ...

Jan 23, 2011

I average about 400-500 lines a shift (full time), so I guess if you can live on $36-45 a day, they are not lying. ...

Apr 14, 2012

A post on the company board got me to think about what it is we (as MTs) need in terms of pay. Does 3 cpl provide for you and your family (if you have dependents)? Does 12 cpl provide that need? What is your daily average of income regardless of whether it is voice recognition or straight income? Do you have a bottom line that you will not cross or will find something outside of medicatl transcription? I will post separately my personal need and hope others will share theirs. ...

Jan 08, 2015

Well, let me think about this....I just checked Fiesa and I have two 100% reports in there. I'm normally off Thurs/Fri. So if I just don't work anymore chances are good I will stay right at that 100%. If I do (and I KNOW I'll get the worst dictators AND my backup account I rarely work on, happens every time in this situation)....but chances are HIGH that I will get that worked audited and then drop below 100%, prob evening falling off the "grid" and/or having to ...

Nov 10, 2009

I don't know about you all but my CCM is constantly asking us to work "extra," even when there are no late jobs and not an over abundance of dictation. What is the deal? The other night we were requested to work at least 1 extra hour. Tonight they are asking again. I don't know about you all but I have a family and other things I like to do other than work. Don't they realize we have lives away from MQ??? Besides, that extra hour is really not g ...

Nov 25, 2009

The doctor dictates: The patient's back pain responds fairly well to Tylenol; in fact better than ibuprofen. He typically takes 1 Extra Strength three times a day. Do I capitalize Extra Strength because it is assumed part of Tylenol? Or do I leave it lower case because it is not typed with the brand name Tylenol? ...

Oct 04, 2010

Is extraaxial (brain tumor) one word or is it hyphenated? ...

Oct 24, 2010

is extra-strength Tyelnol hyphenated? ...

Nov 01, 2010

was just told that md-it was going to need an extra few days to pay me. This is not the end of the world for me, but it does make me worry a bit about their financial health. Could someone out there tell me if they have had this problem too? ...

Nov 07, 2010

I sit with NJA....on my SCHEDULED day to work. Once again, thanks a lot MQ for your oh so talented way of giving OT and incentives when they aren't necessary and taking away work from people who are actually scheduled to work. I appreciate it. ...

Mar 24, 2012

to work OT, do you still get time-and-a-half line rate, or is it straight line rate plus the $10/hr? ...

Jun 24, 2013

Just wondering to those of you who received the last quarterly bonus, how long did it take for them to pay you the bonus. I didn't receive it last time but should receive it this time. I know the quarter ends the end of June and last time they sent e-mails stating it would take a little while. Thanks for any info! ...

Aug 22, 2013

Every time that I log onto the system, I am reminded how disrespected, how underpaid, how unappreciated that I truly am. So - MTSO - you can publish your "SOS, EXTRA HELP NEEDED!" messages all you want. If it ever comes down to your being willing to PAY for me to give precedence to YOUR needs, perhaps I'll consider it. MEANWHILE, GO SUCK AN EGG, YOU BLOODSUCKERS!! ...

Jan 22, 2010

January 26 is Republic Day in India. It is one of their most important events/holidays in India. It is kind of like our 4th of July. It is the anniversary when they became a republic. They will be dancing in the streets, eating tons of Chaat and drinking lassi until the cows come home (literally), I guess. (I have an Indian friend who tells me these things.) Maybe we will have some extra work. Some of them will be working, but not all I would imagine. Whoo. ...

Mar 16, 2010

For all that do not want to do the extra research to fill in the blanks cuz it takes too much time, too much effort, losing money trying to get it all done to help your qa submission rate I'd like to welcome you to what we as QA/MME have been doing for 3 cpl ....all of that research and more. Now maybe some MTs (not all) will stop throwing QA under the bus and realize what we've had to do all this time for 3 cpl. Thank you and have a nice day. ...

Aug 27, 2010

All week NJA. Everyone has hours to make up I am sure. At 9:30 CCM puts out E-Mail for OT and extra hours for weekend. At the time of her mail "work is low" so why are we looking for OT and extra time committments???? ...

Nov 15, 2011

can you work as much as you want at Transcend or does over time have to be offered? I saw a post below where it said people may be working to bolster their line count as it is near the end of pay period. TIA ...

May 09, 2012

backlog, yet OT is not approved & we have to strictly adhere to our schedules... Doesn't make any sense... Beg us to work extra, yet tell us we are not allowed to do that, LOL. ...

Mar 27, 2014

Its not just the suits who don't care about the MTs. ...

Apr 07, 2014

When I get partial dictation reports on EditScript where you don't have to do anything in regards to header/demographics, my speed in terms of lines per hour is almost twice as fast. When there are so many new worktypes with new MT Instructions, the speed goes way down. When the header shows no medical record number and I have to enter in demographics what speaker dictates, the speed goes way down. The point is that I think every one of the reports should be like partial dictations in wh ...

Jun 15, 2014

thanks in advance!! ...

Jul 06, 2014

Dr. just dictated OBGYN history and then says transfusion s/l extra negative then goes on to dictate medications heading. What could that be and is it part of the OBGYN or is transfusion a new heading? Thanks! ...

Mar 18, 2015

To help with your backlog, so stop sending me e-mails about it! The only way I'll help you with your backlog is if you pay me what I'm worth, and change this wage-theft-based pay plan you just dished out. Until then, I'll do the bare minimum for your company and do extra work at my other job, where I'm paid what I'm worth AND praised on a regular basis for my work. ...