Loyal to scammers & sweatshop labor?
Posted By: Why? on 2008-07-25
In Reply to: So let's justify your RIP OFF of everyone else? O-kay CUPCAKE - NutterButter
We all know they aren't the slightest bit loyal/appreciative/aware of, any of their employees. To believe that is to be REALLY naiive.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
SWEATSHOP LABOR -
c
Man must be a sensitve issue, dont you just hate scammers?.
I hate scammers
You're right on it with the sweatshop
mentality thing. There is definitely a lack of appreciation for workers in this business and a presumption that we are all just happy with having to work holidays with no extra perks. Us gals shouldn't be concerned with benefits or paid time off, after all we should be thankful we have a job and should shut our mouths right? This has become the most unrewarding career ever.
it is one thing to be loyal, but ..
you have bills that cannot wait and probably a family to feed.
And you will stay loyal to them while they RIP YOU OFF???
What kind of loyalty does such a business deserve from you? That's the kind of attitude that allows management to rip off its workers in the first place. Don't complain, be loyal to us, be nice, take those pay cuts and LIKE THEM!! If you don't, well, you are DISLOYAL!!! What nonsense.
And trying to convince folks like you that there are some companies (many, actually), that don't deserve your misplaced loyalty is like teaching a pig to sing: It is totally useless and really pisses off the pig.
Take those rose-colored spectacles off and look at the world around you. Just a suggestion, of course.
Loyal to HTS - they've treated me well
I have no concern as to your credentials. I speak solely of my experience with HTS.
Let me address some of your facts. You state: Not enough tech support (not available evenings or weekends My experience: They have been available to me 24/7 for ten years. You state: No raises. My experience: Frequent raises. You state: ..their hands are tied. My experience: What does this even mean? I have never experienced anything along these lines. If there is a problem, they resolve it. Period. You state: Many people in this organization are related to the current owner (red flag). My experience: Again, what?? I know many of them, and of those I know none are related to one another, let alone the owner. Spare us your red flag. You state: The current owner makes it a habit to bash the prior owner, tell you all sorts of dirty laundry, goes on and on about how she cannot afford to give raises, yet she's managed to dwindle down this pay off mighty quick. It's an attitude thing. My experience: One of the nicest women I have every worked with/for. Very considerate of her MTs and their personal needs as well as professional. It IS an attitude thing. On both sides of the equation. You state: There is not always work. My experience: Never, ever have I not been able to work in ten years. Never. They accommodate me around every turn. If my main account is low, I can request another account and that request is fulfilled immediately. You state: (re: tech guys)..their hands are tied based on minimal programs and/or education. My experience: I should be so lucky as to have a fraction of their knowledge. You state: The owner wanted me to stay. My response: Why? No MT is indispensible. You state: The problems with HyperType are solely due to how the company is run. My experience: No clue what this refers to - not enough work? not enough money earned? tech? no embroidered golf shirts? To posters Looking and Leigh - I wish you the same success I have had with HTS. There are many MT companies out there, obviously, offering many different packages that may or may not suit your needs. Hypertype is a well-run company that has never come up short in any regard in my experience. Rest assured that if you chose to work with HTS and keep up your end of the deal in terms of providing quality transcription, you will be appropriately compensated and have the pleasure of dealing with some really great people.
Loyal Transcend employee
Everything Liz is saying is true. I have worked for just about every transcription company out there and Transcend is the best by far. Please don't be worried about outsourcing of work to India...that hasn't impacted my ability to get enough work at all. A very small % is sent overseas, and this happens in almost all of the national transcription services. They mostly provide us with 3rd shift coverage when there aren't enough American MLS to meet turn-around times. The only thing that will keep you from getting enough work is not being willing to work on all work types and all accounts, or not wanting to adjust your shift/days to accommodat workflow. Please try to keep an open mind and positive attitude about Transcend. I wouldn't still be here after 8 years if this wasn't the best transcription company out there.
I'm an IC, I adhere to a close to set schedule, am loyal and the first day that I
hear employees get preferential treatment over ICs, I'll jump ship. I am an IC because my husband has better health benefits and they are cheaper than my company. We still have line counts to make just like employees and bills to pay, etc, plus we don't get vacation, etc, so need to work steadily just to keep up if we do need to take a day off or are off sick.
What do you mean not loyal to their employees? please give details
I would not want to work for a company that is not loyal, but in what way are they not loyal?
I agree 100%. People should know better, but those of us are who loyal will remain so.
nm
I do believe your loyalty is displaced. No MTSO or national are loyal to MTs
even though they claim to be. Loyalty is earned just like respect. This is a business just like any other business. If one company cuts pay, takes away health insurance, etc, why should any person or MT be loyal to that company? If promises are made and then broken or lies are told, why should any MT be loyal to that MTSO or company?
On the other hand, yes, if the MTSO or national and their people take care of the MT and provide her/him continuous work flow, as promised, pay on time, and work together with an honest and respectful relationship, then, yes loyalty should be mutual and reciprocating.
For you to just come on here and claim MTs should be loyal to company is very improper of you!
Ok, those are my cents worth! Have a good night!
TransTech is not being loyal to their MT's, so you have made a great decision
The pay is always on time, but the paycheck continues to dwindle, so makes it easier for TT to pay their MT's, for sure.
It is so depressing that TT mgmt/lead/sups/tech/in-house clerks, etc. have absolutely no LOW PAYCHECKS.
They have VERY MUCH OVERHIRED; however, they are losing MT's at about the same rate, but they don't care, because there are newbies that will work for practically nothing to get a start, and all they have to do is make a phone call to TT and they are hired !@!
MTSO not loyal friend, relative. Best not to treat
ms
lots of office problems, not loyal to empls, unworkable
.
Also, if MTSOs want MTs who are loyal, hardworking, and take great pride in their jobs by truly ....
dedicating themselves to knowlegdge and producing correct, Grade A reports, then how about paying us as the highly-trained, skilled, hard-wokring, tecnical, workers we are....we are expected to always stay abreast of every medical procedure, drug, medical instrument, operatative procedure, and special procedures, in every specialty (especially for those of us doing acute care and surgical, also radiology/nuclear medicine), we must update references, computes, learn new platforms, train our ears to decipher the SLOPPIEST, LAZIEST, RUDEST dictating physicians, not to mention all the various dialects and accents from all over the world, have superior knowlegein grammar, punctuation, and style....there are highly-paid executives who cannot keep up with what we do, honestly. We have sold ourselves short for way too long, back when I first came home out of hospital, I was lucky to get 6.5cpl, back in 1994, doing all acute care, had 7 different hospitals, we were one of the first live systems. I was out of work, and after getting my associates, being a part of the AAMT (who never helped me personally), 28 years of in-house training, radiology, surgery, etc., it took me months to get someone to pay me what my knowlege/dedication/experience warranted, I still had MTSOs offering 6 and 7 cpl......what??? and I am an IC right now! I finally found an MTSO who is paying 12cpl, and I work my tail off for her, love the company, but I still believe by and large that we are being fed CRUMBS OFF THE TABLE. How do I know? I have a friend who has a company with 75 MTs, I see what she bills and what she pays, and I also know what other companies are making off our backs. Not all MTSOs, to be sure, but most. And remember MTSOs, a lot of us old-timers who were trained in hospital and college, are going to retire, if you want to attract really good young MTs for your company, you had better take a better look at your bottom line and what you are investing in...IMHO!
I've been loyal to MDI for 13 years and planned to finish my career here. I
can't even begin to express my dismay, disappointment, and feeling completely blind-sided and slapped across the face by this after a decade plus of Dorothy always saying she had too much integrity to EVER offshore, and now she's going to be in charge of sales and marketing TO offshore. My mind is still reeling. So not sure what you mean by loyal. The MDI I've known and been loyal to for over a decade no longer exists. Now I've just been left sitting here stunned wondering how she could do such a 180, or if it was just a facade all along.
Loyalty has nothing to do with it until you find the company for you. Be loyal to THAT company.
:p
It may have to do with their labor law of ...sm
anything over 8 hours is considered overtime and must be paid 1.5x even if you work 12 hours one day a week.
It is no longer anything over 40 hours per week but anything over 8 hours a day. That, my friend, will cost the company plenty of money.
That is why companies are not hiring California MTs.
You might want to try IC positions......and not employee.
Labor Day. nm
You have to be IC because of labor laws sm
I don't know of any companies like this because they have to verify the # of hours you work. Most places require a set # of hours per week, if you are full time often 32-40 hours, PT 20-32. All I have dealt with require the hours be met more importantly than the lines, they have to have staff to cover set hours for client needs. If your lucky enough to type 250 lph, apply for part-time, then you'll only have that 6 hour day you are looking for and not be obligated to type longer, then if you don't meet the line requirement in that time, you'll still have room to type longer without costing the company OT if you need to type another half hour or hour longer than expected to get there. These companies have to be very careful to keep track of the hours because they are required to pay OT for anything over 40 hours, and they have a minimum line count so they know the have people that can get the work done instead of people that aren't disciplined to type from home. All of this is just what I have seen in my 12 years as an MT, may be different for other MTs.
US labor laws
Maybe this company is claiming ignorance of US labor laws b/c they are based far, far away. I have no idea, really. It's a lame excuse if that's their thinking. Something's very wrong at this company!
labor board
Oh boy, I worked for a place like this. They didnt actually threaten the IC's...but...the first time an IC was not available they would send them an email and say that their services were no longer needed. They held IC's to a schedule and let them go if they didnt work the scheduled hours, so yep, agree with you, they say IC, but expect EMPLOYEE like hours and schedule.
So they are not doing offshore labor only?
Are you the OP?
Contact PA Labor
Oh, well if you were not a part of the HMC account, by all means if you were not paid, email me and I will give you our contact at PA Labor and Industry. Im sure he would be interested in hearing your story, as the Marinos are just pleading innocence to all our woes. You could be another cog in their wheel. Email me and I will give you his name.
PA Labor Board & D&L
They already have my information as well as the PA Sates Attorney's office.. There were a lot of us that quit in and around August, because when the big account people left, they ran out of money to pay us too! My question is what did they do with all the money that we made on the other accounts that were not a part of the big hospital account. Heard they (Marino's) live pretty high on the hog partying it up and jet setting or at least trying to keep up with the high society. Sounds to me as though they have a Champagne appetite with a Beer pocket book.
Ive used the Labor Board, and they definitely get
}:) heh heh heh
Labor board.
x
IC labor laws
HAPPY THANSGIVING... Could somebody point me in the direction I am needing to get the independent contractor labor laws. And can an employer tell you that you can submit your work in an e-mail if you cannot get into your system. Doesn't that break confidentialty laws? Anyway I am needing to know how IC work, works. Can I set my own hours? If I am too sick to work for a day and I tell my employer can they charge me a penalty fee?
I would appreciate any help I can get.
If I were you, I'd be at the Labor Board the next day
Even dinging employees' pay for mistakes is pretty low, but since you never typed these reports, I don't see how they think they can legally deduct your pay for not typing them. It would be sort of like if the government siphoned money out of your SS fund, to cover all the years you didn't work because you weren't born yet.
Ripoffs like the one you describe are exactly why your State Labor Board exists. Go sic 'em on that low-life employer of yours!
Labor laws
That is because a lot of MTSOs abuse the IC status. They treat the MTs like employees instead of ICs. Many years ago I worked for a service that fired someone. That person went to the Labor Board and the service had to pay back employee taxes on everyone. We all had to get a second account to satisfy the State that we were ICs and not just working for one company, which they considered a employee situation.
labor is not the only expense
an MT company has so your figures, while interesting, don't show the whole picture.
Labor laws
Why was your last thread locked?
go to the department of labor web site
and check out their TAA and ATAA page --Trade Adjustment Asisstance Program and Worker Adjustment and retraining and notification act. Congress was talking about extending benefits for people who have lost their jobs due to offshoring. My heart goes out to your all.
thanks for the support, Labor Dept. did say ... sm
that they will investigate and they will get compensation for me on lost investment earnings. MW sent me a check for what they withheld from my pay but denied my request for 4% interest that I would have gotten in my money market account. I truly hope this is just my problem and not the other 133 participants in MW's 401(k) plan. I have not been in the plan long enough to be vested so their contributions don't matter to me personally.
I'd pay a little visit to the LABOR BOARD, myself. sm
Many years ago, my last paycheck from an MT company I worked for BOUNCED. Not, once, but TWICE. (I put it thru a 2nd time at the owner's branch). So, I went to the Labor Board for help. They not only got me the money from the last paycheck, but also some insurance reimbursement I was owed to me. Apparently this had happened to others at that place, as well. A former co-worker told me the L.B. paid the COMPANY a visit one day, and they went through her office with a fine toothed comb. Found lots of illegal little problems going on, and put her out of business for good. What goes around, COMES around! ;p
That Acetera is going offshore labor only? NM
.
If Indian labor is so cheap, how come.......
there are getting to be so many Indian-based companies here and in India, owned by Indians? Do you think maybe this is a lucrative field for owners of transcription companies?
Only ran out of work for 1 hour after Labor Day. (sm)
Usually always work in primary, if not secondary and tertiary kick right in and seem to be plentiful.
For those new hires or people considering TT, ask the recruiter and she will let you know if they are hiring in anticipation of another new account or not. That should help alleviate your worries.
It's a great company, well worth riding the slight ups and downs with.
Labor Relations Board
might be another place to check in your state or the attorney general in the state, what we used in passed experiences
to break labor laws?
x
labor boards and lawyers
A nice thought, but in today's economy, it is an employer's market. And we are ....hate the dreaded word....human resources, commodoties to used up and discarded. The only way anything could be achieved is if none of us had to eat during the time it took to get organized. Got a plan?
Over the Labor Day holiday people were
crabbing the work was low. But that was the end of the summer holidays as usual anywhere when everyone including docs take their kids on vacation. Aside from the usual lulls from holidays we are busy. This MT has several accounts and I for one have rarely run out of work. If it ran low during the holiday, I would take a break and come back and there would be reports there. Now there is the usual amount of plenty of work as far as I can see. They do keep things in TAT, but staff accordingly as you need to let them know your intended line count so they will have enough work for your projection. They, in turn, staff accordingly.
They need to be reported to the Labor Board..sm
and their names posted. Another example of MTSOs pushing as far as they can before we MTs cry, Ouch! They know they are breaking the law.
Contact the labor department.
They will investigate and fine them for not paying in employment taxes, etc., as by having to ask for time off, vacation, etc., that means you are an employee and not an IC.
Every state's Dept. of Labor has...sm
rules and regulations re. unfair labor practices. I don't just mean the BS with the IC and set schedule baloney. What about:
1. Requiring an employee to work a set schedule of hours, but not being paid for your time, just the actual lines produced during those hours.
2. Being told during your set, scheduled shift/hours (which you're not being paid for, remember?) that, sorry, no work or work is slow, but you can't take the day off, because, what if everybody decided to take the day off. Ergo, must sit glued to seat until work comes in. Needless to say, line quota not able to be met in the specific schedule you're bound to but not paid for.
3. Told at end of week you must make up line quota or, (take your choice):
a) Lose bennies for that month.
b) Expect a phone call (who is paying whose phone bill? I know who's paying mine, and that's why the Almight invented voicemail).
c) You lose job w/o cause... it's in agreement, after all. Hire Indians or other US MTs who are desperate and who'll work for $0.01 less than you are.
d) We take your first-born (That's next.. with what they are allowed to get by with).
d)
Two words. LABOR BOARD.
labor board only helps if you are
x
Dept of Labor and All Other Agencies
PAYROLL ISSUES: Visit the web site of your state DOL. The federal DOL has hired 3,000 to handle the overflow of complaints. Complete paperwork for a complaint, send registered mail, then give them a followup call. They DO follow up.
EEOC: Discrimination by disability, age, gender, race, religion, etc. They have hired thousands of new mediators to handle case overload and are approving more cases for trial than ever before.
RETIREMENT FUND FRAUD: Visit the ERISA web site; they act fast and audit anonymously and take this issue absolutely seriously. They also represent you legally.
SOFTWARE LICENSING VIOLATIONS: Illegal software installed on your PC by employer can get YOU in trouble. Contact the BSA (Business Software Alliance) with any questions. They take online complaints either anonymously or, if you want to be placed on the reward list, they will audit your computer and if there is a licensing violation, reporters receive from $5,000 to $100,000 in rewards for reporting illegal or unlicensed software use. BSA investigates for Microsoft as well as any other proprietary NON-public software.
INSURANCE EXCLUSION/FRAUD: ERISA and state DOL. Also, look up the consumer protection agencies in your state; there may be an additional Insurance Commission.
Keep a diary, keep good, accurate records (dates, times, calls, emails); this information will prove to be priceless :)
Labor Board Question - sm
Will the Labor Board listen to you if you are an unpaid IC or is this organization only for employees? 
Is it possible to retain anonymity so that the company you contract with does not retaliate?
Won't help with the cheap labor issue though.
nm
Contacting labor board.
Could some one tell me how to go about contacting the labor board about an issue with my employer? Since I am a remote MT do I contact the labor board in my state or the state my employer is based? This has to do with pay that I believe was deliberately shorted out of my paycheck as a retribution because I did not type reports on my secondary account that were approaching TAT when I was contacted about it by instant messenger an hour after my shift was over. I wasn't even at my desk an hour after my shift was over. I also found out a couple days after the fact that an email from my account manager's supervisor was sent to an email account I no longer use stating that I was requested by my AM to type some reports so they don't go out of TAT and would I please log on and complete these reports.
Now, lo and behold, my paycheck will be short by almost 800 lines because these 800 lines supposedly sat in QA and weren't completed by the time the pay period ended, even though my shift ended at 4 p.m. on the last day of the pay period. I have worked for this company for a whole year and this is the first time I have ever heard that the MT is not credited the lines produced until cleared by QA...and I'm not even on 100% QA. Furthermore, I can't see how I would have even SENT 800 lines to QA in a day. After multiple emails to both my AM and her supervisor requesting some sort of documentation where these lines went to, I still have heard nothing in regards to this and I'm fed up. Is this something the labor board will even handle?
|
