Pay plan factors
Posted By: TRSer on 2006-03-11
In Reply to: You said pay is dependent - TexasMT
Those factors include monthly QA score, production (lines/hour), and how much you send to proofing for help. Also if you have the CMT there is a differential. It really does put us in control of what we can make and the potential for increases is there as you get more familiar with what you are doing. It's been a great plan for me to work on! Insurance is with Blue Cross, rates would depend on whether it's just you or a family plan.
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other factors . . .
I think besides the server being busy, my slower processor contributes to the slow word appearance on my screen from time to time. My computer is on my long list of things to replace around here!
too many factors here
are people giving net, take home? How much are they contributing towards taxes, 401K, health ins., equipment rental, on and on....how many hours are you working, what are you paid per line, employee or IC (big one), etc. You can't just ask someone how much they make.  And it's just causing a big feather-raising ruckus.
There are a lot of factors...
But I think also if you can get up to $15/hr, that would be okay because it will be dependable. You also need to consider how much driving is involved each day, will you have to pay for extra daycare, how much the benefits cost, etc. If you can get $15 and all of the other factors are good, I would probably take it. You can always get an IC MT job on the side to make extra money.
It depends on a lot of factors for both.
How big is the page? In other words, how many lines define a page, and how many characters in the line? Or, if paid by line, how many characters in the line? Are spaces included? For both, are headers and things included. I assume you're referring to Silent Type. I have always heard they paid archaic wages per page. There are posts on Company Board about them - I would search back a few pages. I know they make you travel to their offices for 2 or 3 days, and even though I live in NJ, I would never stoop to that in this day and age - not very high tech.
Lots of factors..
Overtime laws are federal/state. Federal law is 40 hr/week. States can supercede that to an 8 hr/day, etc. Company policy doesn't matter. Classification of employees is key. Some employee classifications do not quality for OT pay and can be required to work 60 hours a week with no additional pay. Company policies/collective bargaining agreements can grant benefits not required by the law (sometimes including, but not always the ability to grant comp time in lieu of OT), but cannot offer less than the minimum required by law. Example: If you are in a state that requires OT after 8 hr/day, then you cannot be offered comp time in lieu of OT. If you are in a state that required OT after 40 hr/week, you can be offered comp time SO LONG AS it is taken in the same week. Some employee classifications have different requirements, which may allow the comp time in the same pay period (2-week, month, etc), but for the classification that MT (not supervisory, just plain MT/QA classified as employee - not IC, SE is gray area) fall into, pay period doesn't matter. For those, comp time must be taken in the legal period, whether it be day or week in order to be in compiance with the law, which we all know not all companies are.
Here are the factors in my opinion...$1.10 is okay if...sm
... they pay for links meaning if the CT chest, abdomen and pelvis are dictated together which most radiologists do it gets counted as three reports.
Some companied including Medquist counts this as one report now.
Also if the account is not a teaching institution - no residents only attendings dictating then that means better usage of macros/word expanders.
If the account is a teaching institution with lots of residents and ESL attendings and does not pay for links then it is definitely way too low.
Hope this helps.
JMO
Could be any number of factors
It could be any number of factors. For someone to be on actual QA hold for 15 months sounds a little odd. How do you know the account requirements do not specifically call for 100% review from the service. I think you answered your own question. If someone needs actual QA hold for that long they'd be released. I think there is more to this behind the scenes that you are unaware of. If you're making your lines and an income, who cares how anyway? I can assure you the QA person is not making any extra money and enjoying the power by having to review each and every document. I suspect it's more of a client requirement for it to be going on this long.
All of these factors depend on the
x
Don't worry just find out and then have a plan A and plan B
I have gone through something like this but not with that company. I too am the insurance provider for my family and there are preexisting conditions, so a private policy is no good.
First of all, I work elsewhere but had the same situation. I fell short of line count, but not because of me, because they did not have enough work, and I like many others cannot make quota because of the way they count lines. Then, on last paycheck there was a negative on insurance money taken out of check. I thought I lost insurance, but found out at the end of the year, they did an audit and found out that I overpaid all year and so I actually was owed money that check.
In the meantime, I found another job but have to wait 90 days for insurance. Can't find a policy to bridge the 2 jobs, insurance is on my mind all the time. My heart is with you. Personally I am getting the 90 day meds, working on my second job which will become my real job and if I lose the insurance, Cobra will kick in in case of disaster so that is like major medical.
Sorry such a long post, but I suggest: Not to panic. You probably did not lose insurance. Call the benefit provider to see you are still covered, not the employer. If you are not still covered, get 90 days of Rx if your plan covers by mail and be billed, immediately get another job which is a better place to work anyway (I found one) and in 90 days you will be okay. Some places like Disriter cover the first of the following month, but I would not necessarily suggest you work somewhere which is not so great just for insurance. You can consider TransTech. That would be my suggestion. Sorry for such a long post. But this hit a nerve and I wanted you to understand some options, as I have gone through it. Good Luck.
Some other factors to ponder Maggie...sm
I've been in the MT field for 16+ years now, produce quality work that I have always taken pride in, and my work ethic, well let's just say I do not think that there has been one weekend, Christmas day, etc. that I have not worked in 16 year iin this profession, and those times being mainly at night.
I agree with some of what you state, however with that said, you may want to ponder a few other things. I have met many, many hard working, highly experienced MT's who likewise produce quality documents, take great pride in their work, and even have a stronger work ethic than I. I hear the same story, over and over from MT's such as they, the lack of respect in general for this profession declining over the years, along with declining wages, outsourcing, etc.
Another thought that you may want to ponder is regarding outsourcing. There are subskilled and substandard MT's in the US, however they are in a minority. By far most are intelligent, hard working and dedicated individuals. The reason that this industry is being outsourced has little to do with the quality of the US MT. The industry is being outsourced strictly due to the ability to procure cheaper labor elsewhere. Period. Yes, the Indian MT, etc., works hard and does not whine as you state. They are paid 3 or 4 cents per line for their work. I don't know if you are aware of the cost of living in India, however it is far below that in the US; for example monthly cable television is $5.00 per month, etc., so the rate that is being paid there furnishes that MT with a nice lifestyle, thus nothing to whine about, as this industry used to provide to the equally hard working US MT.
It is often convenient to point one's finger at a small handful of people in a given profession and state that to be the cause of an industry that is declining in the US. Even if that were the case in the MT profession one also then needs to take a look at other professions such as engineering, the IT industry, support centers, etc. that are being outsourced, and likewise in those fields the jobs are not being outsourced due to the incompetance or lack of work ethic of the American worker.
MTSOs have no control over the factors that would make this
:+
You're omitting some very important factors.
1. The cost of living has increased drastically since 1992. That $15 an hour was worth far more than it is today.
2. TIME, which to many is the most important factor. You really can't put a value on what you're losing with your family when you have to work *that couple more hours* to make what you made 15 years ago. In fact, if we had worked that *couple more hours* 15 years ago, we would have been paid time and a half as overtime. Also, 15 years ago when I worked in house I was paid hourly. If it took me a little extra time to find the address for a copy the doctor wanted sent, I was still paid the same. Have you figured the percentage of lost work now working production and trying to find the addresses, first names, correct spelling of referring physicians, etc., for the hundreds of different doctors from multiple accounts for multiple national MTSOs over the 15 years? Our job requires the same, if not more, amount of unpaid time...yet we're not paid hourly anymore.
3. I really liked your phrase *the benefit of working from home.* LOL Sure, we don't have to buy business clothes or pay for gas, but what is the employer saving by having us work at home? We buy the computer, buy the printers to print out the hundreds of pages of account specs, the ink, the electric, the internet access, our research materials, and in some cases even the software. In fact, this brings me to the next point you never considered.
4. IC status. More and more MTSOs are asking for IC status. When I started working at home about 14 years ago, I was an employee making 12 cpl WITH the best health insurance I ever had, weekends off, all holidays except 2 off with pay, AND 2 weeks paid vacation. Here it is 15 years later and the MTSOs not only want us to work for less than we did then, but they don't even want to pay benefits, taxes, disability insurance, or unemployment insurance. They want us to pay all that for less than what they paid us 15 years ago...AND THEN, they want to tell us what hours to work, what days to work, and how much work we have to do in a day. In other words, they want to treat us as employees, but put the price of all the employee *extras* on our backs.
And you're content with all this?? Maybe I shouldn't use the word content. You're used to all this and accept it? Now I see why posters have made the correlation between battered spouse syndrome and our profession. The more you become used to the abuse, the more you accept it.
I would go back. The factors that made it difficult to work there before are no longer there
Clear expectations, documented style guide, friendly and helpful staff from the top down, consistent QA. They put in writing what they expect and if you do your thing within those expectations, you will thrive!
(I'm only a lowly MT, not anyone in a position to profit from these statements!)
I agree. Big factors- ease of dictators, length of reports, platform. NM
.
new MQ pay plan
It's been in QNews, snail mail and on MQ's home page under the QNET as promised by Frank for the last six mths.
What do you like about this new MQ plan?
I would just love to know what people like about this new plan because the way I see it they are not paying for your internet service anymore which is essential to getting this job done and they are not offering any kind of weekend incentives which is when they are always begging people to work and also, the part that really is laughable is even if you are part time and say work 15 hours a week and want to work 20 instead one week you have to get that approved. Now, they are always begging people to work so why do we have to get approval to work extra. I can understand over 40 hours but if you are part time what is the big deal. As long as you put your hours in that you are supposed to, why do we have to go through the trouble of calling our supervisors and asking to work an extra hour or so.
I don't see much of any kind of incentives in this new plan. I mean if you type over 1200 - you get a small increase. Say you type 1500 well you would make an extra $1.50 that day. What kind of incentive is that?
I just don't get it. Maybe I am missing something and people can explain to me what they like about it. I would LOVE to hear it.
new plan
There is nothing to like
well i DO like the new plan
It adds up to a lot of $ to have 18 days PTO at production rate vs. 10 days, plus now the 6 holidays at time and one-half. The difficulty premium adds another level of fairness and compensation to the skill tier.
As far as part-timers having to ask to work an extra hour or two -- where do you read that? i went back and looked and see that your option is to work between 8-39 hr a week -- if it requires permission, i guess i missed it. I can see where it would help in scheduling and TATs though.
As far as the lack of I/N payment now, that's not a plus, BUT you CAN claim it on your taxes along with your books, etc.
It may not be an exciting plan for those who have limited skills and just can do the easy stuff, but for me, it works well enough.
Better than MQ's new plan. sm
You would need to check with their recruiter for what you would make. They have the MQ-type quarterly bonus and shift bonus for night, which allows one to make good money.
TRS pay plan help!!!
I have been working at TRS almost a month now and still cannot undestand the pay scale. I thought I did,but I am lost. I am on a difficult account and I am having trouble making line count. My first pay check is coming up soon, and I need to get another job. Should I hold out, or run for the hills? I hate to jump ship, but I don't want to stay too long if I cannot make any MONEY!!!!!!! thanks
Pay Plan
Well I am one of the MTs who does like the pay plan. I've done quite well on it. I would suggest that you talk to your supervisor and ask for a better explanation of it and be sure you understand it. Once you have a good grasp on it, it's not that tough. Good luck and I hope you stick it out!
The plan is this
IMHO: Hire good typists to transcribe for peanuts; then hire qualified MTs to QA for peanuts.
Ain't globalization fun?
Thank you - I may have a plan now!
Thank you all for your comments...
I am still racking my brain (which is not helping my production by the way)...but I may have just brewed up a plan!!!
Since I was meeting double the LPH requirements, I am just going to slow way down and meet the required production - they require set hours...they are going to get it...they will still get quality work, but I am not going to stick my neck out anymore...
Instead, I am going to focus on the smaller company and pray it turns out good. I will take the extra time from the national and even out the line count I need with the smaller company..and hopefully, it will all fall into place and I will decide the smaller company is my answer...
In the meantime, I am keeping my foot in both doors and looking out for myself for once!!! Staying more and more loyal to the one who actually appreciates me....yup, the smaller company 
Thanks!!!
What new plan?
xx
But it isn't quite going according to plan.
I like how you stated that the benefits SHOULD flow into our countries when companies are allowed to compete better. Unfortunately SHOULD and ARE are two different things. So far the only things happening is that the companies are getting huge, billion-dollar tax breaks that are benefitting other countries. The profits that the companies are making are not benefitting the US workers, they are lining the pockets of shareholders and CEOs. They're not creating jobs here and they're not benefitting this country. Whereas, look at India and China and all the news reports of how their economy is growing at an unprecedented rate. This theory can only work if other countries cooperate and the American companies use profits to grow their businesses, instead of lining the pockets of their CEOs.
Having a plan
is always a good idea but no one should have to try to juggle 2 jobs just in hopes of staying employed. I personally think the best strategy would be to find some way to become self-employed. Everyone has some marketable skill or talent, even me. I wouldn't recommend anyone to get into the field of MT as it appears to me with all the changes, offshoring, no work, etc. ect. etc. it is a pretty poor way to make a living. I know that many people swear they are doing great in the business although how is beyond my comprehension. I'm more inclined to believe those who say they spend 24/7 praying for a job to pop up. I know my own income toward the end of my career went way down and I'm one of those who can do anything that is thrown at me. THAT didn't make an iota of difference, I got the same no available work that the majority seem to be getting. I could think of half a dozen ways just off the top of my head that I could start and operate an at-home business outside of MT. No one should have to hold 2 jobs unless they just want to.
Have heard nothing about the pay plan,
SE possible health insurance, or anything else that is being talked about by certain MQ MT's.
I have had the web-based email since "day 1", and did not need 800 DICTATE to set it up for me. It was simple! Just not getting any of the emails that some are speaking of receiving. Get PLENTY from my supervisor. Guess having no problem receiving emails . . . so where are all these other emails I did not get???
family plan
Anyone know what the cost would be for a family plan?
family plan
I can't find the info they sent me...It should be here somewhere. I'll look some more Sunday and see if I can find it.
family plan
I've looked everywhere and can't find the initial info they sent. Maybe someone else who has a family plan through MQ or at least can find their introductory info on the insurance plan can answer this. Sorry!
How do you think this will be affected with the new pay plan.
:
Has anyone gotten the new pay plan packet yet?
I haven't gotten any information at all regarding a new pay plan. Was the first of this sent out to ME's only. It seems that only MQ ME's have mentioned anything about their pay.
I have a hard time believing that MQ HR would call EACH and EVERY MT. Do you know how many phone calls and how much time that would take to accomplish. They probably hired temporary employees again to do this calling, as they did when the new benefits package was rolling out to work on the benefits hotline!
If ANY of you receive any letter/packet/phone call about a new pay plan, PLEASE post for us. TIA
No. There has been announcement of the new plan yet....
and we have not been able to even verify the few random reports on here of ASR 20% reduction...whether they are for a specific office, etc.
Please, stop trying to scare people with the implication that you know something, that there IS a pay cut, etc.
MQtiered plan
i have not rec'd the packet yet but going by what i am reading here
1) i do nothing but ER accts and make 10cpl, according to the tier system, would my pay be decreased or whatever rate you are at presently, it stays the same and if you were newly hired that is what you would start out at???
2) i do have the ability to do other work types but prefer ER, should my pay be based on that or just ER
3) my friend is a full time employee with benefits but works more that 40 hours a week, 40 hours is on the time sheet but she needs to type 18000 lines a pay period for her bills, she is the sole support of her family, does that mean that she can not type over 40 hours any more even though she is not putting in for OT
4) previoulsy PT MT's need 4000 or 6000 lines a pay period depending on what office you were in, are they still going with the fact that each pay period you would need to produce so many lines or is it giving a schedule and doing x amount of lines each day
5) it sounds like SE, which will no long exist, they have lost the ability for their bonus's ( over 10000 lines a pay period bonus) but is was mentioned that you could get a bonus on a daily basis, which brings me to my next question--what if there is no work--this is a very common factor of life in amherst--so how do they get the daily bonus, also if you do give a schedule, can you tupe outside of the scheduled hours to make up for lost time( anyone with kids you never know what is going to happen) or lack of work during your hours
will everyone be getting the same packet and if so why did we all need to be called if we were getting the same info??
DSG Incentive plan
Can someone tell me what the incentive plan is for DSG?
Incentive plan
I don't have the figures handy, but there are two incentives.
The first is getting a 0.25- 1.0 increase per line depending on how many lines you type in the two week period, again, I dont have the paper handy but I think the first incentive starts at 5001 per pay period. Don't quote me on it.
The other one is a bonus given every four weeks if your line count is over a certain amount starting at $20 and going up, and I believe the first count you have to exceed is 10001 in a four week period
incentive plan
That is Transcend's incentive plan, and they do pay according to it. Unfortunately, their new system, BeyondTXT, is FULL of bugs and is down frequently. There is no pay for downtime. I have worked for them two different times. The first time was when they were in their phase of overhiring and constantly running out of work. They designed their own new system about a year ago, and it is crap. They cut everyone's pay in half, and most of the old employees quit because they couldn't make a living. This doesn't take into consideration their phenomenal management shifts. I will never, ever work for them again. Maybe you will have better luck than the 100s of those who have quit for the last time.
What new pay plan are you talking about? There is no new
pay plan. I have been here for almost three years and, other than raises, the plan has stayed the same. The only thing that has changed is the cost of insurance, which is now WAY lower than it used to be.
MOSAIC plan?? What's that?? (sm)
I work there and have no earthly idea what you are talking about. Please explain.
Wow! I pay that much for my own private plan.
d
That's why I plan to get out of this business..sm
It's a dead end. The entire health information industry - coding, billing, transcription, supervisors... not to mention other industries - every customer service 800-number you call nowadays is practically in another country. We have to go into fields where it is really difficult to offshore - nursing is a good example.
This industry can take their dictation and send it all overseas. All of it. Eventually it will blow up and they'll be back begging for U.S. workers. By that time, we will have all left the field and the industry will be screwed.
" plan on staying right where I am and see it through the end"
Well, you do have staying power. 
I do plan to stay right where I am. sm
And just hope things get better soon. MDI has been wonderful to me. It would take more than just a couple weeks of low work flow for me to want to look elsewhere. I know that I wouldn't have it this good anywhere else, and I also know that MDI isn't the only company with a work flow problem from time to time. However, I do have my husband's income to fall back on when my pay checks aren't quite where I would like them to be. For a single person who has to worry about how they are going to pay their monthly bills, this problem would be a little more difficult to deal with.
sounds like a plan! nm
:
Details of my plan
I chose the United PPO plan. If I remember right it has a $250 deductible, a $35 copay, and a 3-tiered drug copay ($10 -$30 depending on the drug). No referral is required for specialists. I'm not sure on the details of the other plans offered, but this is what I have.
You actually choose which plan you want to go with. sm
They offer many different plans at different rates. You choose the coverage you want and that is the plan you go with.
My team is doing well under the new plan also....
Reading Sue's note, I had to chuckle. MT's are always asking (and rightly so) to be paid more for doing the more challenging accounts, and for working the less desirable shifts. So, when a company recognizes this and creates a comp plan that takes these factors into account, the company should then be criticized as ONLY paying their TOP rates for these factors? Please!
I also have to take strong exception to Sue's statement that 100% QA is impossible. I have a number of people on my team who not only make 100% QA, but do so month after month (and we round QA scores UP, incidentally).
As for losing key people, I'm not really sure what's terribly new or different about that in this industry! The company is doing some realignment of its operational and support units in order to be more efficient. Show me a company that doesn't do that from time to time as its changing circumstances dictate, and I'll show you a company that will go out of business.
Finally, the people on my team are doing just fine, and better than they were, under the new comp plan - and that was the whole focus of the plan. It is true that we had one client that happened to have some very large templates and for which, frankly, that team was, in reality, being grossly overpaid relative to the actual transcribing that they were doing. It was really quite unfair to everyone else. So, under the new comp plan, this situation was corrected and the people on that team are now being compensated exactly like everyone else - meaning, they are paid for what they transcribe. If you look at the results very superficially, you could say these people had money taken away from them when, in fact, that is not true. Instead, for a very long time they had really been unfairly overpaid relative to others in the company who were doing much more actual work.
All I can suggest is that anyone who is interested in TSI get your information directly from the source - our recruiter, June Jackson. She'll be very happy to answer every question you have about TSI.
TT Bonus plan
13000 to 14500 = 0.025, 14500 to 16000 = 0.05, 16000 to 10,000 - 0.075, over 20000 is 1.0.
Yup, you have the perfect plan there....sm
Having your cake and eating it too??? (lol) Great plan, you can still make your line count, be making an income, and have time to see what develops offer-wise from smaller companies, sometimes you can negotiate yourself into quite a nice position, and yes, feel more appreciated! Good luck again!
Have the cheapest plan for the 2 of us - 150 per pay
nm
What companies never plan on going over to VR
I am too fast of a typist to ever make comparible money editing and I am getting worried, and I refuse to do 80% ESL! Does anyone know what companies do not plan ever going over to VR. Is this even possible to expect nowadays?? I am getting out if they all end up that way because my income would be cut one third at least!!! I do 300+ lines per hour and no one can tell me I would be able to do 600+ doing VR.....
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