Our contracts will expire at the end of 2009
Posted By: Bummed out on 2009-08-28
In Reply to: We band together and start our own company offering our services to the hospitals we've been work - An MDIer's dream
at which point we will have to sign all that HIPAA confidentiality stuff and probably noncompete agreements with Transcend too. While the 2009 MDI contract says they have to pay us a certain line rate for 12 months (and this would be binding on Transcend as well) I bet what we signed says we cannot compete for at least couple of years (and this would be binding on us as it pertains to what would now be Transcend accounts.) Don't have time to hunt up and read my contract right now but I would be very surprised if the noncompete agreement expired at the end of 2009. Way to easy to walk off with accounts that way.
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19% first quarter 2009
I found this clipping interesting; see link for more.
**********
Gross profit for the first quarter of 2009 was $5,343,000, an increase of $1,189,000 or 29%, over first quarter 2008 gross profit of $4,154,000. As a percentage of revenue, gross profit increased to 36% in the first quarter of 2009 from 35% in the first quarter of 2008. This was down one point compared to the three most recent quarters due to the impact of the DeVenture acquisition on the company's gross profit margins. Approximately 62% of the Company's total revenue was processed on our BeyondTXT platform in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 64% in the first quarter of 2008. Most of this reduction relates to the addition of DeVenture in 2009. Approximately 53% of our BeyondTXT volume was edited using speech recognition technology in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 38% in the first quarter of 2008. The Company's goal is to increase this percentage to at least 60% over the next twelve months. The percentage of the Company's total volume processed offshore was 19% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 16% in the first quarter of 2008.
Whenever we acquire a company, our top priority will always be to keep all of the customers, stated Sue McGrogan, Chief Operating Officer. It is typical to see lower gross profit margins initially from companies we acquire. As we integrate the newly acquired business, we have three primary strategies to help improve the gross profit margins of acquired businesses: migrating as much of the business as possible from older platforms to BeyondTXT to take advantage of the increased productivity inherent in our speech-recognition enabled platform, considering the use of offshore resources, especially for night and weekend coverage, and implementing our operating model to streamline the operation. These three strategies are really no different than what we do every day in our existing business. I want to thank our employees, including our new team from DeVenture, for the hard work necessary to integrate DeVenture quickly and the extra effort made to reach out to DeVenture's customers and employees to begin forming strong long-term relationships with Transcend. I'm also pleased with the progress we have made with the integration of TRS in April. Our customer retention remains high, with only one customer leaving Transcend in the first quarter due to a corporate decision unrelated to our service at the local customer level.
k, its digital TV signals by 2/2009...but
I still don't know what the details are
check out 02/12/2009 string
which is on about page 4 or 5 of this board right right now. Posts claiming to be from MDI MTs who say their accounts are going to VR this weekend. Post by C. Buckley not addressing the VR issue. MDI seems to be holding its cards pretty close to the vest, and if your particular account is not involved, you may not be notified until it is. Better to know ahead of time while you have time to do something about it?
Here's the link for their ad from June 16, 2009 (sm)
Hope this helps
When doing a search on google, it said there were omitted links due to duplicates, but I clicked to show them anyway and that's when I found the link for their ad on MTStars.
.07 line pay offerered by Superscript in 2009
I would have liked to have had some part-time work, but the pay offered, with my 13 years' experience and passing their test, was 7 cents per line; way too low. I counteroffered asking for a higher rate, and she said she was unable to agree. So, I told her I could not accept .07 cents or .075 cents per line. That is my experience.
contracts
Everyone should keep in mind contracts work both ways. If the company voids the contract in anyway - nonpayment, late pay if stated in the contract a date it is to be - then the entire contract is void. If you have a problem, go through the yellow pages for a free consult with an attorney - but the contract is not just for them it is for you too - so if it states you are to do 1000 lines a day and they do not offer it up, if the wording is proper - they voided the contract not you. If a company says the payday if Friday and you do not recieve it within a standard mail delivery date, they have voided the contract. So yes please everyone review what they sign to see if you can get what you deserve. So many of us just take it, I say get some legal advice - Lawyers hand it out like candy. If we dont - they will continue to bounce checks, pay late, decrease workloads, etc.
contracts
Tried to email you privately but it would not go through. can you send to my email and let me know company name you mean. I would like to know if it is the same one. thank you.
contracts
Anybody have this experience? I was just offered work from a company that sounded wonderful, just what I needed. No set schedule, work anytime, just set number of lines. Then I got the contract which stated basically paid on the 15th and 30th assuming payment received from client. What? I should do the work for their business and then they don't have to pay me until their client pays, if their client pays. I don't think so. The contract obviously precludes the MT from contacting the client so how do I know if the MTSO got paid or not or when they got paid. Just looking for other people's thoughts on this. Am I being paranoid? Have you ever been asked to sign such a contract? I have seen many postings on this board about people not being paid, and I do not want to be in that situation. I do the work for XXX Company. Doesn't XXX company owe me that money either way. I feel it is their responsibility to pay for work done for their company and THEN deal with the client for any nonpayment issues. What do you think? I politely told them I could not sign the contract with that statement included and asked them to reconsider their position, explaining my feelings on the subject.
contracts
Without reading the contracts, I would say that they need to give notice to change it, unless there is a clause in the original contract that they can change it at will. If you see a clause like that don't sign it.
RE: CONTRACTS
Right ... employees, IC or employee status, should have some type of contract with their employer. But who usually writes the contract? How many contracts presented by the MTSO actually allow for input from the MT? For the most part, they are WORTHLESS, often detrimental, to the MT, since they are almost always one-sided favoring you know who.
contracts
Do you then sign a contract you disagree with? I don't understand doing that.
When I'm given a contract, I surely do take my pen and cross out what I do not agree to, add in what I want agreed to, and sign it.
This at the very least opens the door to negotiation of what I see as issues I can't work with. I've turned down contracts where the MTSO wasnt willing to negotiate to meet my terms. And more often than not, the MTSOs have been willing to work with me.
contracts
You can give direction to a contractor. You can tell the plumber you work until noon so he needs to fix your bathtub between 1 and 5. You can tell him you can only have a plumber there on Monday.
Most ICs do not ever bother SUBMITTING a contract to a service, which is just insanity. Instead, they kowtow to the demands of a service (treating them as employees), then kvetch when they aren't treated as ICs.
Education and knowing how to conduct BUSINESS is seemingly lost among way too many MTs.
You need to negotiate better contracts.
.
Depends on Contracts
I do not know whether the contract specifies only that the work be done in US, or that the provider not outsource at all. If so, that could void contracts. But at any rate, they will still need us US employees to do the work.
Some union contracts have more pay for certification. sm
At a facility I worked at for about 11 years, we had that benefit - $1.00 an hour for certification. You would have to find a unionized hospital and see how their contract reads.
Beware of contracts that state
you get paid when we do... run, run as fast as you can...! Do not sign it.
MTSO HOSPITAL CONTRACTS
What duration of time is a contract with a hospital, one year? It is now April, meaning 50+ transcriptionists needed a year ago, means 50+ now fighting for work. ??
They don't go up b/c hospitals have contracts with MTSOs, sm
saying this is the rate for 2 yrs or whatever. The company may want to pay you more, but they aren't getting reimbursed a high rate from hospitals or clinics.
I'm an IC and I won't accept contracts that have line
IC. Those of you who agree to working a certain amount of lines are being taken advantage of, and you also make it harder for us true ICs who know that line quotas should not be enforced.
If these companies worry about keeping the client happy, then hire more people. The company I work for does just that. If I can't work for some reason, then someone else picks it up. If they can't work, then I pick up the slack.
Those of you who want steady work put up with the rules and accept IC status because you want to work every day. Well in response to your lazy post, then don't come on here crying when you run out of work because as an IC these companies do not have to promise you any work or provide it all.
So it doesn't work both ways. Most ICs, by definition, should really be employees especially with set schedules and set hours.
As soon I see that I have to work set days or type a certain amount of lines I bypass that crookery of a company. Sorry, that's how it is and I do fine in the salary and job department, and I am a true IC that makes my own rules. I am by no means lazy but I will not tolerate set rules when none should be set unless they want to offer me employee status.
P/S: You all cry when these companies run out of work and when you're an IC, they don't owe you any work; so the joke is on you for not looking out for yourself and instead trying to make excuses for these companies who are getting away with paying ICs and controlling ICs when it's against the law.
FUNNY THING ABOUT MT CONTRACTS - SM
They're about as LOPSIDED as a 3-legged dog/horse/donkey - take your pick. WHO GETS TO WRITE THESE CONTRACTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Who has the most to say on what does or doesn't go into it? Certainly not the MT. They're almost all written by THEM - with the help of their attorney or in-house legal department - and I can guarantee you they didn't miss a trick.
Case in point: Ever look at your apartment/house lease, for example - you know the tiny print on the back with about 200 clauses - favoring, guess whom?? IC status might have its merits for the MT - CERTAINLY for the MTSO - no taxes, no SS to pay for you ... no worry about lawsuit for wrongful termination or worry about you applying for Unemployment - but they STILL b---- and moan ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK. 
FUNNY THING ABOUT MT CONTRACTS - SM
They're about as LOPSIDED as a 3-legged dog/horse/donkey - take your pick. WHO GETS TO WRITE THESE CONTRACTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Who has the most to say on what does or doesn't go into it? Certainly not the MT. They're almost all written by THEM - with the help of their attorney or in-house legal department - and I can guarantee you they didn't miss a trick.
Case in point: Ever look at your apartment/house lease, for example - you know the tiny print on the back with about 200 clauses - favoring, guess whom?? IC status might have its merits for the MT - CERTAINLY for the MTSO - no taxes, no SS to pay for you ... no worry about lawsuit for wrongful termination or worry about you applying for Unemployment - but they STILL b---- and moan ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK.
Yes, the hospital contracts out to the MTSO who is an IC...sm
and has to hire people to fullfill that contract. They have the option of hiring independent contractors with some sort of line quota in a period of time or hire employees who work a schedule enabling them to meet turnaround times more precisely but having to pay employment taxes and give benefits. A company can have of mix of these employees but there is definitely a difference by law. I myself prefer flexible part-time, but so far those jobs have been hard to find.
I'm not posting contracts. You're insane!
I don't care if they don't believe me. I'm the one getting paid. What do I care if they don't believe me? I can understand the problem with others getting hired in at higher rates, but truly that is their situation, not mine.
You're real sharp but not I'm not dull enough to bite that! LMAO
Good Point, But Contracts One-Sided
Sorry for duplication, I now see both your posts. You bring up a good point, though sometimes these contracts are one-sided and allow a lot of manipulation of job pool by client. But fact remains that US-only work remains and someone has to do it, preferably those of us already trained. Hopefully one way or another we will remain working for those clients. ???
Sten-Tel contract, anyone with any info on their contracts? more inside
I received their contract and had my attorney look at it and some red flags came up. One of the things that is in it is an indemnity clause stating that I an as an IC hold them harmless for ANY liability even if it's THEIR fault. And there is no guarantee of any certain amount of work or amount of hours in it. Please help and advise if you can. I would like to hear from any previous Sten-Tel workers or present ones. Thanks.
As a service, I do not carry liability insurance...on contracts,
I line out that clause. The liability for MT work is extremely low. I personally have never heard of any MT being brought into court on a transcription. Has anyone else? Therefore, liability insurance is either a) not necessary or b) if purchased, would be really really cheap as the liability is practically nonexistent. None of my clients has ever been offended that I don't carry liability. I simply tell 'em that no body does.
Non-compete clauses in contracts. Has anyone refused to sign this and still got the job? nm
nm
Companies close old and gain new contracts all the time. (SM)
Stop rumoring.
If you have information, share with the Administrator or myself. Otherwise, leave rumoring off the board.
Goldbird
I've got a question about contracts. How legally binding are they?
I was reading the MDI discussion below and a couple of ex-MDI MTs have said that their contracts were changed while they were still employed forcing them to work different days, different schedules, etc. I worked for JLG not too long ago and they basically did the same thing. I signed a contract stating a certain wage and then they basically breached the contract and completely changed my wage.
So what are the deal with contracts anyway?!?!??!?!?! Why do we bother to sign them if the companies aren't honoring their side of it? And shouldn't the MT be able to take legal action against an MTSO that has breached their contract? Shouldn't there be legal ramifications? The MTSOs make sure to put in noncompete clauses in the contracts so we don't steal any of their clients and try to scare us into believing that if we try to steal their clients, they'll sue, but then they completely disregard the fact that they signed the contract and they could be sued for not meeting their end of the deal!
I HAVE HAD IT!!!! These MTSOs are getting away with too much! I have a file folder the size of a freaking PDR with nothing but contracts I've received throughout my career as an MT and I'd bet that if I sit down and go through them, not one of the MTSOs honored them.
When the hospital contracts an MTSO they are abiding by contract
and the hospital CAN ask that the work be done at certain times. That does not make the MTSO an employee now does it?
They CAN contract a person out to do work at certain times with certain turn around times, and that is NOT called an employee. It is called CONTRACTING someone out to do the job they need done when they need it done.
Most contracts said either party can quit or fire at any time. Would be unusual to get locked into
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