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Has anyone contacted a labor attorney? - RADMT

Posted: Feb 14, 2014

I am wondering if anyone else has contacted a labor attorney regarding the legality of being forced to either sit at your computer for hours on end, use PTO time or risk being fired for their inability to provide work for us? I have an appointment to speak with one, but I was just wondering if anyone else had looked into this and the outcome? This just is really starting to feel like a sweatshop.

I did call the labor board - they were not very interested

[ In Reply To ..]
the guy said well, we were free to engage in other activities while waiting for work right? I don't think he really understood.

You could take a 2nd job with another company, - and toggle back and forth?

[ In Reply To ..]
I used to do that with my freelance work. Whenever my company's work pipeline ran dry, I just switched over to my freelance sideline.

sure - but

[ In Reply To ..]
MM now requires us to get those hours in. If there's no work, it has to be made up somewhere, somehow.

That happened to me back in 2009... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I called the DOL in the state of my former MTSO because I wasn't even paid minimum wage. I would make $2-3/hr sometimes. But I was IC so it may be different for employee status. When I said how I sat there and waited for work and never got any, the DOL told me that I couldn't prove I was at my desk all day and not off doing something else. I kept track of my in/out times, # of hours worked and # of reports per day and then calculated my LPH and wages, and sent that to the DOL and it did jack squat! I low balled myself when I figured I wasn't paid $700 by that MTSO and when the DOL said I had not case, I quit! You can try but I doubt it'll get anywhere and don't waste any money on an attorney either because they won't even talk to you w/o a retainer and who can afford that?

There are PLENTY of attorneys who work pro bono - NM

[ In Reply To ..]
NM

I researched the laws myself. - dnr

[ In Reply To ..]
Technically, we aren't forced to sit at our computer. They fixed that with the 6-minute NJA policy. Also, according to federal law, we are "waiting to be engaged" because we are able to get up and do other things while waiting for work (because we are telecommuters). If we were inhouse, we would be "engaged to be waiting" which means a person cannot leave while waiting for work.

Some states, like California, have minimum hour requirements. In California, if you are scheduled to work, and there is no work or not enough work, the employer is required to pay you for 4 hours, whether a combination of worked hours and NJA hours or just straight NJA hours.

Unfortunately, it is legal not to provide us with work as there is no guarantee of work. Although, again, some states require payment for a certain number of hours if scheduled to work.

It is also legal for them to fire us because of lack of work as we are "at-will" employees which basically means we can be hired and let go at their whim.

It is legal for them to make you take your PTO. I also discovered that, technically, they could call you while you are out on PTO and tell you to come back to work. There is no law requiring an employer to provide PTO.

Most of the laws are federal laws, with a few states that have modifying laws that provide greater benefit for the employee, such as higher minimum wage and no work pay requirements.

I searched long and hard for something to get them on. Most of the laws are federal laws. That is where I found "waiting to be engaged" and "engaged to be waiting" - direct quotes from the law.

I found that too, did you find anything on - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Being terminated for work we don't get paid for, such as ADT? I've been searching long and hard too, but mostly for being held responsible for work we don't get paid for and I can't find anything.

They can easily say that pay is built in. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
They can say our 4 cpl includes pay for ADT. They can say that we are actually paid 3 cpl, but 1 cpl is compensation for ADT. Actually, if you ever submit a report that has no dictation, you get credit for 1 line.

Maybe but - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I suppose that would be true if their policy didn't state otherwise. Under Policy Name: DEP Promotable and Supportable Units of Measure - HDS
"The count excludes document headers, document footers, CCs, QA Markers and ADT information not entered into the unformatted document."

What I am wondering is - - dnr

[ In Reply To ..]
Whether the unreasonable QA score of 99.7% can constitute a hostile work environment. Just 2 "punctuation" errors will fail you. And these errors have absolutely no effect on the readability or on patient care.

Face it, they are playing by the rules - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If they weren't they would have been caught and made to change it already. We may not like the rules, probably never even read our contracts completely. This job sucks plain and simple. If it is affecting your mental health, as it very easily can, then get out asap. The job isn't going to be around too much longer anyway, may as well start and exit plan.

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