No. That's SLAVE CHANGE.
Posted By: There's a difference. on 2006-04-18
In Reply to: If you can transcribe 175 lph, that is 14 bucks an hour. I wouldn't call that chump change. sm - Southern MT
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Slave no more!
I recently left Spheris after 8 years. At this time last year, I loved my job there. Then we were all moved over to the new Cornerstone platform. I watched my paycheck fall $500+ per pay period. On top of having to learn the new platform, we also had a new SR engine. It is a complete joke. I sat in on many conference calls where we were told to just be glad we had a job in this economy. Guess what? This economy has not had any impact on the need for highly skilled, trained, acute care transcriptionists! I am now working for another company. I was given a huge sign-on bonus and have been told again and again how much my expertise, experience, and skills are appreciated. I feel valued and respected, something I never felt at Spheris. The platform is so easy and reminds me a lot of TWS, the old Spheris platform. The speech rec actually works the way it's supposed to.
When I gave my notice, my supervisor started to cry. She said that the upper management has been warned that they are going to keep losing their best talent - their biggest asset, and they do not seem to care. This was the 1st time in 7 years my supe ever said that she appreciated my work, and I was one of the highest producing MTs on her team! They are using MTs to train their speech rec engine, and not paying what they should be. The new platform relies on tagged ShortHand commands -and you will work twice as hard to make the pay you're used to getting.
Please do not buy into that garbage about how we should just take whatever little Spheris is willing to hand out and be happy with it. If you have experience, I strongly urge you to leave Spheris. I did, and it was the best decision I ever made. I now work for a company where almost every employee is a former MT. I don't want to say the name of the company as someone may think I'm a recruiter, which I'm not. I'm just an MT who is now happy to go to work every day instead of dreading it.
As an experienced MT, you have options. Don't ever believe that what we do is something that just anyone can do, or that we should just be happy to have jobs. There are companies out there that value their MTs and will compensate us what we deserve. I was told the company I went to would never pay me what I was making at Spheris, but when I asked for it, they gave it to me. If you have the skills and the quality - you hold the cards.
Ugh --- SLAVE wages. - (nm)
nm
Slave No Longer
Ditto to your post. This new compensation plan is insane. I am now having to work 12 hours a day instead of 8, while all the while making less $. I probably make less than the greeters at Wal-Mart. They expect us to be on standby during our scheduled shift, yet there is no work, and we are not compensated for this time with no work. Now I have work at midnight and on weekends in order to get my quota, and end up working what should be paid as overtime. I am going to call the labor board in my state because this cannot be legal. I suggest we all do the same.
Yes, they seem to have put in place a director of OPs that came from MQ, only to now be doing her damage at SPi. I understand she is also busy putting into place managers from MQ, so it is obvious what her agenda is...to mimic MQ, so we know where the direction of SPi is going, and it seems to hold true with this new comp plan.
In a matter of 18 months, SPi has successfully turned what was once a well-respected, successful company with a talented team of MTs and mangers that was once Cymed and turned it into a cold, disorganized machine. They have had to have have lost millions in revenue with all the clients and MTS who have quit them due to poor service and disorganization, including ongoing unresolved IT issues. It's almost as if they want to fail!
Folks, it's tiime we all stand up for what is right and make someone pay attention. What is a transcription company without transcriptionists? We are not slaves and we do have options. If SPi wants to be another MQ, then let's let them have it and see where they end up in the court system.
I have been in this profession long enough to know that you can be successful at whatever you do by working hard, treating people with respect, and never compromising your integrity, a virtue that is foreign to SPi. I for one am sick for us all at the latest turn of events and am going to spend this time when there are no jobs available making the necessary calls and then submit my resignation.
Let's all stand together and see how long this compensation plan works for them when there is no one to do the little work they have. They may have people offshore who will do it for even less than the slave wages they are paying us, so I say let them have it and suffer the consequences when what business they have left walks out the door.
slave wages
These companies really want a return to slavery for the worker. The sad thing is that if you need any income, you'll take it and there is desperation out there, which they are counting on.javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
Slave wages??? Not here,
Why are you earning slave wages? Maybe you should take a look at YOURSELF and what is holding YOU back! Probably easier to blame the big bad corrupt MTSO for your problems. I am not earning slave wages. I consider the $20 I make per hour to be decent. For 18 months of schooling, it's not that bad. My husband is a company executive and just took a 15% cut in pay. Hey, maybe he should organize a union for beaten down and repressed executives. Now there's an idea!
Hate to be a slave driver, but
Our apologies for letting her out. She has no sense of humor.
you are working slave wages! Companies sm
were paying that wage in 1980 where I lived at and that was on the gross line not 65 character. I just got hired by a company today that their base rate is 8 cpl and goes higher for experience. You are getting ripped off for sure!
We're ALL earning slave wages. Our job should
You can make more money standing in the middle of highway construction zone with a 'slow' and 'stop' sign in your hand and your finger up your nose, than you can at even best-paying MTSO, these days.
Okay then, why did you jump in? sticking up for slave labor?
that's what it is
editing rates are 1.5 cents per line....can you say SLAVE WAGES??
If offshore owned, they want to play by their rules, treating MTs like slave labor, much like
:+
Nothing will change unless we make it change..SM
As long as we accept the exploitation that this MT profession has reduced us to, it will keep going on. The top of this is the outsourcing.... well, get your legislators involved....better yet, the MEDIA. How many patients know their private medical information is being outsourced to halfway around the world? The squeeky wheel gets the grease. Do the patients know that their info won't be sold by some unscrupulous MT (halfway around the globe) to insurance companies, etc., making all this Medical records privacy a joke. It's not just our T-shirts being made in other countries; it's our most personal, private medical information, of which the public is not being made aware of. Not to speak of undercutting out profession to the bare bone. Granted, most US MTs are willing to work below market wage just to have a job, especially in economically-deprived areas, where outside jobs are scarce, and kids need to be fed and mortgages need to be paid. MTSOs know this. I'll bet they'll be the first to lobby against any action against outsourcing. (Wouldn't you be...if you got people to work for pennies while you're raking in the big $$$'s ? Still, notwithstanding the outsourcing problem, we're still going along with all the BS...working for pennies, whatever the client wants, he gets... ever notice how all of the MTSO flak seems to be re. unpaid work...mostly, demographic issues we're not even paid for... bec. It has to be done.. Part of the job... The client put the wrong info but we have to correct it...all unpaid work. Just give me a job with nothing but straight transcription, w/o the unpaid/demo. flak..I'll take it even at the present, absurd pennies-per-line state of the profession.
Hope you're enjoying those slave wages you're earning.
.
tons of work because no one wants to work for slave wages
think about it
MQ BIG CHANGE?
I just love these posters..gonna be a big change..well, what? Dont post something like that and not explain. It only causes anxiety and speculation in an already scarey field, with outsourcing, etc. Big change, well, come on now..what is gonna be the big change and where did you get your information from?
Well, then maybe that should change.
Maybe they, too, should be paid based on what they produce, with a little bonus if the person stays a year.
Sometimes you just get in a rut and need a change. Sometimes you just
get burn-out in general and think it is the company/account. I've left a position before because I thought the grass was greener, but it wasn't. Had to learn new platform, new software program, new dictators with various new accents to figure out, new way to count lines, etc. Even if the pay was a bit better I still figured I lost money and the grass wasn't greener. No company is perfect, but there are some very good companies out there, but there can still be intermittent issues with any company. Sometimes talking with management might resolve issues, sometimes taking a break will refresh you and make you see things in a different light. List pros/cons of present account and compare that what a different company has to offer. You may realize you are better off where you are and if not you can feel comfortable that you're making a change that really will be better for you. If you do decide to leave current account just don't burn any bridges so you leave with the possibility of being able to return if new account/company doesn't work out.
No. Currently, you can use your own. That may change
nm
I think so...I am not one for change tho....but there
To change
the subject somewhat. Gastric bypass and lap banding scare me to death! I personally know of five people who underwent the procedures, and all had complications, one being death. They all had excellent surgeons, one being my surgeon. Everyone responds differently I know, and that is the problem. It is too much of a gamble for me.
change
Are we all in the same boat? I work for the largest national in the country and am hoping to hear about another position with another company tomorrow or Wednesday. Many of us have been MTs for years and make less now than then we started. We get thrown into the national cesspool and may get 20 different states in 20 different reports. Impossible to make a good line count this way. I'm slow to change and always fearful, but I'm really at the end of my rope. Anyone want to add to this conversation, please feel free. Happy New Year everyone! May 2008 bring us more MONEY and more CONTENTMENT!!
have to change dsl
well just talked to Vonage and everything was fine until they tried to transfer my line. Said I have to discontinue DSL through ATT for ATT to allow it, then vonage can transfer it...
So I will change to time warner for cable and then get the adapter from vonage. Yes it is a lot cheaper, but have to work out all the transfers.
I know... but I need a change... SM
It was a great benefit for me being an IC because I would work and get big paychecks and being a single mom, I would get the child credits and the earned income tax credits, and I would actually get money back, quite a bit.
But now that that is not going to happen anymore, I want some PTO and all those nice benefits!!! Im just ready for a change...
Which companies actually hire employees and offer PTO, etc.?
:-)
Change in pay
Contact the Wage and Hour Department of the Federal Labor Commission. This is illegal.
Looking for change
Good luck! I hope you find what you are looking for. I might also add that Landmark is a good, honest company that does not offshore.
Do you know by any change the
system you will be using? Some are apparently much better than others.
I wonder if that will change with the new sm
employee handbook? I briefly read it this morning and it seems that it boils down to **you owe us this, this and that and we don't owe you anything**.
That will all change.
I've been in the business 20 years too. I worked for Transcend for 4 years and my honeymoon period with them lasted about 7 months. Once the honeymoon was over, it was one of the worst job experiences I have ever had.
What would you like me to change it to? (nm)
I don't like change that much. I started posting here when I was a newer TT'r, so why change?
that says a lot. You would change sm
your mind if you were the sole bread winner as a big majority of MTs are. You wouldn't care about weekends at that point. You do what you have to do to support your family.
You can say what you want, but you have some off as self-righteous and definitely a slap in the face to all of us hard-working full-time MTs
exactly to change this???
x
What you are not getting is the change.
If you've always been used to it, fine...you have worked it out with the mortgage company, car payment, insurance, etc. You've got auto payment set up for your internet or your phone bill. So all those things have to be realigned. That will take some time to readjust both the inflow of money and the getting the autopayments changed.
And, some of you folks really don't seem to have any feeling for those that literally go paycheck to paycheck. I work two jobs. The only time I can take any length of time away from my desk is on Saturday evening and Sundays. Which works out great if I'm getting paid on Fridays. Not so good when it's falling through the week....so you're waiting extra days waiting for payday anyway and then you've got to wait longer before you can get out and do anything with it.
I'm glad your life is so stable that that waiting three extra 3 days doesn't impact you in any way. But having been there myself, and still almost there, I can certainly expend a little sympathy and try to understand how it might be problematic for someone else.
Why don't you change your hours?
I thought you were allowed to choose your own hours.
Times change. It's not about YOU, it's about
what the reality is today, not four months ago.
Congratulations on your windfall, though.
If you have doubts, email or call the person who hired you and they'll verify this.
Good or bad change?
What do you think is going to happen?
MQ big change? Hmmm maybe
Big changes a coming...
she's talking about that we will have to volunteer xxx amount of lines to the legal fund
put in for PTO 3 yrs in advance
be required to have state of the art systems (say the ones for 2 grand)
pay are own and 10 of our neighbors DSl bills (because MQ may have a stake in that company
commit to not only real chains to the chair but also go on ankle monitors, so that MQ management can tell when we stray farther than 2 ft from our puter's...say to go to the potty
have to go through our supe's, area managers, district higher up's then finally corporate to sign off for the shift or to notify them of our own deaths
not only be able to understand our loving ESL's but to also be able to transcribe in their native languages if they so desire
be ready, willing and able to put up during training all the offshores who so desire to come to the US to train...kinda like a foreign exchange transcriptionist
Last but not least, to have the common sense to duck when that sky falls
 i love those the end is near posts.....geez
Hang on it will change
I am surprised to hear that FOCUS ICs are without jobs!!! I work for another company that provides services for them and we have so many jobs from FOCUS that we are asked to work extended shifts. I know that they have some accounts that are supposed to be VR editing but everyone working on them is mostly doing MT work until the VRE kicks in. We hear it is about 30-60 days from 90% VRE.
worrying does not change anything
Two hospitals that I worked at..rumor was they were going to oursource. We were told no way, dont worry about your jobs. One hospital was reassuring us on Monday, Thursday we had a meeting and were told we were let go, pick up our purses and leave. The other hospital was reassuring us in the morning and by 11am we were called down to Human Resources and let go. Corporate is not gonna tell us what they are deciding as they dont want to scare the transcriptionists away and then they wouldnt have transcriptionists. Plus the management are only workers like us. Whatever they know, if they tell, they will lose their jobs. Corporate looks out for making a profit for their stock holders. I have heard the rumors about MQ also, some from office workers themselves. If you are a good transcriptionist, dont worry. MQ isnt gonna get rid of the transcriptionists. It is the offices they are merging. The transcriptionists will just have to call in to a different office. Also, there are many transcription companies out there. Nothing you can do about corporate decisions. If you worry so much, you will make yourself sick. Used to be when I first started working, there was loyalty between employer and employee. That isnt how the American workplace is any more. Just remember, transcriptionists are in demand. You will do fine.
subject to change..lol
I worked for a large national for an entire week, getting only one report per day, but one of them was really really bad. The patient had allergies listed and then the same medications listed in "medications." The family history had the father 2 different ages and dying of 2 different disorders, and it went on and on. I sent it to QA with a description of all of the obvious and potentially dangerous errors and was told "it is verbatim and not our problem." Scuse me...that could be somebody's grandma laying there about to be given a medication that could or could not be deadly due to an allergy!!
I wonder if there was a change in management...
...to account for your different experience. Something for potentials to consider.
As much as things change
there, yes it will change again, for better or worse, who knows, I sure don't.
Is Webmedx going to change all their
accounts to VR like Transcend is doing? I work for Transcend and am going to find another job due to that fact. It's a pity cause I liked my job until that happened. Webmedx sounds good, but if they are gonna do the same thing, I won't go there.
yes, pay rate does change, but...
you know prior to the new month beginning what your pay rate is going to be for the next month. Everyone receives a report card that shows how the pay rate is added up. It does not change until the next month.
As for the critical error of typing an instead of and, there are things about that, that just don't make sense. I just can't believe they would dock someone's pay for something like that. Maybe since the report was obviously an extremely long report, good chance there were more errors than just that one.
I really don't know anything about the Trinidad thing. I just know that I have plenty of work, and have never run out, and have been there almost a year.
I should say this, when I first was offered this job, I was discouraged about the pay rate, as it was less than I was making with my current company at that time. After taking a long time to decide, I took the plunge, and I actually make at least double what I was bringing home with my other company. Lines seem to add up so quickly.
That will change - once you start
producing consistently and making money, you'll be switched to ESLs, mumblers, stumblers and speed talkers. That is a guarantee in this business. But congratulations on your increase.
Wow, that's a major change.
They used to pay $10.00 per hour for the first 90 days and then put you on production. Yikes.
They were upfront when this change was
made and have never denied the fact that they are owned by Transcend. But they operate separately and on most accounts with different platforms. Always amazes me that people who do not (and many times have not) worked for a company try to create doubting Thomas attitude and the only reason I can think of for this is that this is a competing company representative or you were there and just did not fit in.
Don't think so. They're trying to change the name and take out
They're causing a huge rift in the organization by doing that.
I agree that we don't like change, but
it seems to me that not liking change and distrustfulness gets more people in trouble as being trusting. I don't think to be trusting is to be naive. Yes, MTSOs, even small ones, are in business, not friendship. But if you are a good employee, and a good MT, you don't have to necessarily fear change, and an MTSO is not going to willingly let the good transcriptionists go. It's the ones who insulate themselves or think that they're better MTs than what they are who get mad when change happens or whose accounts are cut off because they do crap work and then go and spread nasty rumors trying to make trouble. I've been on both sides of the issue multiple times in 18 years, both remote MT and middle management, and I've worked for a company that sold out. It wasn't the end of the world, though some of my coworkers tended to make it out to be. You can be friends with your employer and yet still realize that they're not going to leave you their company when they die. You don't have to cut yourself off of all emotions, you just have to be realistic and realize if you don't do good work, you're going to be out of a job, friend or not.
color change
Does anyone know in word how to change the background color and get it to stick? Everytime I change and exit out it goes back to white.
Thanks
The reason there is a change in pay
between IC and employee is because as an employee they pay part of your taxes. I prefer to have company pay taxes rather than dealing with having to pay quarterly taxes. There may be a line rate difference and your net will be lower, but you don't have to worry about socking money away to pay quarterly taxes. I haven't run the numbers, but I don't think there is a difference in pay.
cool change--sm
I sat back all day yesterday and watched the *backlash* you had wanted to start. It is unbelievable the twists and turns a post can take. Interesting! but entertaining, to say the least..thanks!
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