ICs treated like employees

I absolutely agree.  I've turned down several IC jobs this year simply because the contract made it sound too much like an employee situation.  One company even referred to themselves as the employer and me as the IC. 

I also don't like being treated like rented equipment when an employee.  I can't believe my own high level of gullibility in being drawn into situations that never turn out as good as the prospective employer made them sound. 

There is one company that I work for as an IC.  They said that they want 20 hours per week, but I've never received any complaints when I've only worked 10 hours.  Also, they do send out SOS emails, but I only read their emails (separate email address just for them) when I'm actually working.  I've repeatedly thanked them for keeping me informed of the status of the account on my days off.

Unfortunately, I have no real solutions to offer.  But, as a relative newbie to this career, I am still shocked at the way that MTs have allowed companies and/or dictators to abuse them with bad dictations, for one thing.  The way it goes is that we stress and strain and send to QA, ask for samples, etc, when IMHO the report should go back to the sender to be fixed, period.  Also, IMHO, every report should be proofread for accuracy before any signatures are placed on it.  Whether proofread or not, the dictator should assume full responsibility for the accuracy of the report; electronic signatures are not good.  My opinion. 

• Do not blame the MTs for company mistakes - Betsy
  • I'm sick of set shifts as an IC. - NewBMT
  • ICs treated like employees - Lillybelle
  • You said that right. - ICs are treated like employees. SM
    • A couple of questions - Would like to know
  • Tried to send you a msg, but it got bounced back. Can you give us the initials of this place - so we can avoid them, too? Thx. nm

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As for how I know my accuracy...

I have QA bonuses.  You have to pull up 99% or better on audit to get it AND send under a certain percentage to QA in full.

NO I am NOT the only OP specialist we have.  If you don't see OPs it is probably because they go to us first and if we finish, you don't have any of them in the general pools.

like dirt.  If there are other things she did that were horrible, feel free to share.  You agreed to 6 cpl and meeting the courier.  If you are the employee with the least seniority and perhaps the least experience, it makes sense that you would get the most inconvenient work setup.  It's called paying your dues.  No need to call a successful businesswoman greeeeeeeeedy. 

So what did she do that was so awful? 

ALL of the support people I have dealt with have been extremely polite and helpful.  I hear please and thank you all of the time.  You do not get that too much anywhere nowadays, it seems.

Granted, I would have been happy if I had been like the one poster and had been paid this Saturday, which is what the original post was abuot, it seems, but I always know that I WILL be paid. It is not like some of these MTSOs I read about who write bad checks, give excuses about paying late, cheat you on your pay, etc.  They are very honest people and I never worry about that end.  In fact, they have shown me kindness in the past where others would not have cared at all. 

There are problems with all companies, and this company is not perfect, but then again I have not found any company that IS perfect.  Admittedly, when I was first told that the company was in India, I was a bit taken aback as I had always viewed them as the enemy.  However, all of the transcription is done in the US, and the work is sent to India to be pasted into the GEMMS platform. How it works out to be cost effective for them I do not know, but anything that saves me having to type directly into that nasty platform (GEMMS) is a blessing.  I now have a couple of other jobs, but that is only because I wanted to be an employee with benefits.

I feel bad that this whole thing has turned into a bashing of the company and especially Tonya.  It is true that she has gotten busy, but I always know that I can email her or call her and she will get back with me.  There are times that the work dried up for me and I was not happy, especially when I saw ads for more MTs, but I also blame myself for not talking to the right people about it.  Most issues can be worked out if you just deal directly with the people who can help you and not just come anonymously on a message board and complain.  In fact, I wrote to Tonya about the paycheck issue, and she confirmed for me that they had my invoice and the funds had been issued, so that was that.

Bottom line, the pay is decent, the work is easy, and the people are great.  People could find far worse places to work.

I apologize for the long post, but when I saw that post, it really annoyed me.  Thanks for letting me vent. 

WE take the risk to run a company.  WE get accounts to keep people busy.  WE pay more to our MTs than ourselves.  WE have to keep up on transcription, drugs, equipment, grammar rules, individual accounts, individual doctor preferences, business practices, tax laws, employment laws, etc.

WE have to pay for QA for MTs that do not know how to look up a word or phrase.  WE have to pay to hire and then be burned.  WE have to pay bank fees, lawyers, accountants, clerical staff, etc.  WE have to put on a smile for customers who don't deserve it because we don't want to lose an account because then our MTs would not have any work.  WE have to put up with crap from MTs who have every excuse in the book from mysterious illnesses to mysterious DSL/phone/electric outages. 

WE get bashed if someone is let go because their work is not up to par or if an account goes to voice recognition or goes with a company in India to save a buck.

WE get bashed if someone is hired and does not work out.

WE get bashed for requiring people to provide equipment, phones, etc OR we get bashed for providing all that but paying too low.

Take a look in the mirror.  If you have what it takes to get your own accounts, invoice, file all tax/employment/sales paperwork with your state and the federal government, can wait to pay your bills until the account has paid you, discount invoices for TAT that your employees do not meet or quality that is not perfect, deal with customers that nickel and dime you to death, give up time off because no one can cover for you, give up holidays so that your employees can spend time with their families, give up hot meals as someone always seems to drop the ball as the day goes on, negotiate to keep customers as each contract expires in an industry where prices are going down not up, then do it.

If you can do better than us, be my guest. 

Yes, some big wigs at some of the huge companies make a lot of money, but for the most part, most MTSOs make a good living, not great.  If I put my hours end to end, I put in the equivalent of two full time jobs.  If I worked two full time jobs for someone else, I would make more than I do running a service.

Before you b**tch and moan about the company you work for any more, ask yourself this question --- why are you still in this field?  The answers are easy --- it is a good field, MTs make excellent money for working at home, most without master's degrees or doctorates, there is some flexibility, opportunity to advance, ability to learn something every day, satisfaction knowing that an accurately transcribed report can make someone's treatment more effective or save a life (rather than having inaccurate medical records) and much, much more. 

The average teacher starts in the 20s, the average accountant in the 30s, the average computer person in the 30s.  We have potentially unlimited income and start in the 20s and move up rapidly.  Several MTs in our company topped 100k this year.  They would never have that opportunity in a different field.

We need to stop bashing each other.  It is not MTSOs vs MTs.  It should be working together as a team.  Teams that don't play well together do not succeed.

employees have to wait a YEAR?  Isn't that a little unfair and discriminatory???

And since when is $12-15 an hour considered GOOD in this profession?

Is this thread real?  April Fool's Day isn't for another 4-1/2 months!

Every single MT company is full of BS these days.  They turn our homes into sweat shops, they cut our pay.  They have no consideration for our feelings.  MTs are job hopping just looking for a decent deal.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a company with high standards.  A company who gave so much in the way of decent treatment, time off, flexibility, civilized treatment, appreciation and good pay, and I mean very good pay.  Can you imagine what it would be like to have every MT in this godforsaken lousy business clamoring for a job with your company?  All you have to do is be FAIR, pay decent WAGES, treat people like HUMANS instead of machines.  You would never be posting a help wanted ad.

Man, I wish I could do it myself.  I would have the best, brightest MTs out there becasue I would attract and draw them to my wonderful company instead of nickle and diming them to DEATH. 

throwing muck and personal attacks all over the place, especially at the company (ies) they left.  I also know the company monitors the board which resulted in the formulation of the language of not allowing the company named to be posted.

As for not wanting a good thing to leak out, I've always been a cheerleader and am of the opinion that if I can help my employer grow by being a good employee and bringing other good employess to them, then that adds to my job security and a recognition by the company of my being loyal to them.

Maybe that's the part that has so baffled.

I got hired for Radiology not acute care...

I only mentioned that again because there were some posters last week who were running out of work at MDI-MD and were afraid they overhired but I think those were acute care MTs...

at a company where I worked for 4-1/2 years from home, then about 10 months in the office.  I ended up leaving  the company because of what I saw happening within the office.  The owner was a great person, but left much of the day-to-day operations to the office manager.  If someone called in and needed extra cash because they wanted to put a child in a private school, she would take work from someone else and give it to the needy person...now keep in mind that the person needing the extra cash didn't actually HAVE to work because of the husband's income and the person whose work was taken away was single and had no other source of income.

This is just one example, but it happened like this A-L-L the time I was in the office.  I lost total respect for the OM and then for the owner for knowing it was happening and allowed it to continue.