I've worked both per line and hourly..sm

• Considering QA - Advice - QA
  • I QA'd a 4-minute report yesterday with over 100 blanks - Going back to MT'ing... nerves are shot NM
  • I love QA, but I'd only do it for a good hourly wage that - is as much as I make MT'ing. nm
  • QA - Not for me - GothMT
    • I've worked both per line and hourly..sm - Bayou MT
  • Nobody out there does QA and finds it rewarding? - QA
    • There are some things that are rewarding (sm) - moon1010
    • You see the same people sm - who can be happy?
    • QA - Shelly
    • I do QA and MT and I like doing QA... - MtMommyof2
  • Did QA for $20 an hour 5 years ago and will never do it again for any amount! sm - DLC
    • i would take $20 an hour in a heartbeat! - x
  • Thank you! - QA
  • Normal pay for QA? - About 50% to 75% of MT (NM)
    • EXAGGERATING A BIT, NO?...SM - NC MTtoo
      • not exaggerating - moon1010
  • Wouldn't do QA again for a million dollars. (sm) - BTDT
    • Actually, yes...lol - QA
      • Think carefully about it because sm - who can be happy?
        • She is meaning you will see lazy MTs while doing QA that no longer care - MtMommyof2
        • what a nasty shot at QA people - QAer
          • I also found that remark uncalled for - QA
            • I agree...and that is the way I look at it too.. - MtMommyof2
            • Sorry...I misunderstood what you were saying - QA
  • My biggest challenges (SM) - frustrated editor working for peanuts
  • QA - Just my experience - Zville MT

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

I have been looking for an MT Employee job for a couple of months and I have noticed that more and more job opportunities are asking for Independent Contractors rather than Employees.  Out of the hundreds of MTSOs out there, I could only count less than 2 dozen MTSOs who offer employee status. 

Between off-shoring to India and VR, it has almost become impossible for a single MT to make enough to pay the mortgage, etc.  Medical Transcription is becoming a secondary employment in two-worker households.  If some of the MTSOs who hire ICs would admit that they are actually hiring employees and treat them as such, MTs might have a better chance of getting paid what they are worth.  With less than 2 dozen MTSOs offering employee status, they can pretty much set their wages and we are stuck with it if we want any benefits at all.  They are on the verge of almost a type of price-fixing or monopoly.  We need more employers to create more competition for the well-trained MTs looking for work. 

There is an ad for employment as an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR – Editor at $10.00 per hour.  After the Editor pays taxes and Medicare, etc (which can be 20 to 30%), they are actually working for less than minimum wage. 

I am interested in knowing if anyone would take a position for this wage and also if you think this is actually an Independent Contractor or really an employee. 

Below are the IRS guidelines for IC versus employee. 

I think if the IRS audits this company, the MT will be stuck dealing with the IRS for years to get their money back. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?   Is this IC Editor job really IC or employee? 

Thanks. 

*****************************************************

In determining whether the person providing service is an employee or an independent contractor, all information that provides evidence of the degree of control and independence must be considered.

Facts that provide evidence of the degree of control and independence fall into three categories:

1.    Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?

2.    Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)

3.    Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

Type of relationship refers to facts that show how the worker and business perceive their relationship to each other.

The factors, for the type of relationship between two parties, generally fall into the categories of:

·   Written contracts

·   Employee benefits

·   Permanency of the relationship

·   Services provided as key activity of the business

Written Contracts

Although a contract may state that the worker is an employee or an independent contractor, this is not sufficient to determine the worker’s status.  The IRS is not required to follow a contract stating that the worker is an independent contractor, responsible for paying his or her own self employment tax.  How the parties work together determines whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Employee Benefits

Employee benefits include things like insurance, pension plans, paid vacation, sick days, and disability insurance.  Businesses generally do not grant these benefits to independent contractors.  However, the lack of these types of benefits does not necessarily mean the worker is an independent contractor.

Permanency of the Relationship

If you hire a worker with the expectation that the relationship will continue indefinitely, rather than for a specific project or period, this is generally considered evidence that the intent was to create an employer-employee relationship.

Services Provided as Key Activity of the Business

If a worker provides services that are a key aspect of the business, it is more likely that the business will have the right to direct and control his or her activities.  This would indicate an employer-employee relationship.

The accounts weren't too horribly bad.  The reason I ended up leaving was because slowly but surely they began to inch closer and closer to paying QA by production.  When I first started, the quota was something like 30 reports a day.   We simply had to make sure that we QA'd all reports that were close to being out of TAT first and then do the rest.  Then, my supervisor left and they hired a new one who immediately called a big teleconference meeting and said we had to up production to 60 reports a day.  Then, they started counting lines.  Which was fine because they were still paying hourly.

Next, there was an MT who used VR software because she was blind - yes blind.  Again, when I first started, I was told we had to edit her entire reports because she used the VR software and we had to make sure that everything was correct and made sense.  Then, we are told only check the blanks.  I wasn't comfortable with that and I continued to completely proof every word.  Then I was called on the carpet not because I wasn't meeting the production quota, but because I was ONLY meeting the production quota.  I told them I was proofing all of the MT's work that used VR, I was told that no one ever told me to proof every word of the VR reports and that I needed to fill in blanks and move on.  When I voiced my concerns, I was told that was my job, to fill in blanks and I should move on and strive to product above the standards.  Next thing you know, rumors abounded about changing the QA staff to being paid on production.  So I left. 

There just seemed to me to be too little concern for quality and more emphasis on quantity and I just didn't want to be part of company who would take money out of my pocket just to line their own and that's what they were doing by putting QA on production.  I also am not comfortable with the job of QA being thought of as a blank filler.  There is much more to the QA profession than just simply filling in blanks. 

I don't know if Transcend ever did start paying QA by production, but I could see that the idea was being floated there.  Maybe there was a enough protest that they didn't change from hourly. 

Good luck to you!

until recently, but if you like the DocQScribe platform, you might want to look into DSG.  I tested and interviewed with them and was offered a decent pay of 9 cpl.  I originally accepted a position with them but ended up turning them down b/c they wanted more of a schedule commitment from me than I wanted to give.  For the short while that I was on their communication roster, they seemed to have a lot of work available in DSG-II and they offered bonuses almost every weekend to work extra that were paid back to the first line that you typed for the day it was offered. 

The people I spoke with there seemed pretty nice.  Like I said, I never actually worked for them, but had I not wanted the true IC status, I would have.  I really liked the idea of working on DQS, especially since I'm not familiar with any of the other platforms out there (until now).

Good luck in whatever you decide.  There are a lot of archives on here for Keystrokes if you check.  Don't really know anything about Transcend other than the constant jobs they post.  That would kind of make me wonder, but maybe they've hit a growth spurt.  If you do end up at DSG, please email me and let me know what they're like.  If things don't work out with my new job, I may try them again.  The recruiter was open to that idea.

but if I had not decided to stay retired that is where I would have gone because I know someone who works for them (I trained her myself).  She's been there a number of years and all-in-all says she is quite happy.  Her pay is way above average although I didn't ask her if she knew what the starting rate is now.  One thing I did ask her is whether they ran out of work and she said almost never.  AND she doesn't do VR.  I didn't ask whether they have VR or not.

As I said a few days ago, this is second hand information and I have no first hand knowledge.  Probably not much help but I would suggest at least talking with them.  You never know until you try it for yourself. 

Good luck!

nm