Wish I'd chosen court-reporting! -(sm)-
Posted By: Topaz on 2009-05-31
In Reply to: My friend is a court reporter (sm) - CMTMT
When I was 25, my friend & I were both going to trade school. She chose court-reporting, and tried in vain to get me to take it with her. But no, I chose MT because it was faster and I could get a job quicker.
SHOULDA', COULDA', WOULDA' !!!!
If life were on videotape, I'd rewind back to that year and make the RIGHT choice this time. Too late, now - MTs are screwed.
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You could try court reporting (sm)
...If you're that sick of transcription.
My sister does it and makes good money. I agree with the poster, above, though - there can be two or three people talking at the same time, some people could be hard to hear 'cuz they're really far from the microphone (a microcassette player you bring yourself). Plus it seems like double the work - you have to go to court and type on that little ShortHand machine (oh, and you have to learn shorthand), then type the stuff out in readable form at home. And you have to have a professional wardrobe to wear to court. Yuck; not for me.
She seems to like it, though. She does have flexible hours (it depends when there's a case going on), works from home but has an office base. She has to drive around to different court locations a lot (she might be able to deduct gas mileage). I think she's considered an independent contractor, with all the pluses and minuses that go with that (more freedom but more taxes, pay for own insurance, etc.).
My STM has not chosen to tell me. sm
She is always pretty tight-lipped. She sent a very carefully worded E-mail the last time I asked for another account stating she would study the situation. Hmph. I know that STMs assign new accounts to those in the groups 1st and it is not until things are out of control and they beg for extra help that others get a shot at an account. I have seen this pattern for years.
The chosen few have no problems.
I had plenty. They hound you as an IC to work a specific shift. They paid me wrong, late and VERY poorly as an employee. The insurance is insanely expensive. There are other better companies out there. I'd keep searching.
How AAMT employer of the year is chosen
I've been on the committee before for choosing the employer of the year. MTs nominate their employers by writing letters to AAMT. There is a committee formed of maybe 5-6 people and AAMT sends fed-ex a packet containing copies of all the letters received with the names of the writers and the companies being nominated blacked out to where you can't read it.
This is so that everything read is anonymous and you don't know which companies are being nominated.
Each committee member reads those letters and then there is a conference call where each committee member is allowed to talk about the nomination letters and basically they vote and narrow it down to a winner.
It is TOTALLY anonymous in the process and believe me, I've been on the committee, so I know what I'm talking about. Even when the committee has chosen a winning nomination letter, they do not find out WHAT company was associated with that letter until after the winning letter was chosen.
I'm only explaining this process because I believe the above poster is incorrect when making the assumption that the AAMT prez and Medware being named AAMT employer of the year are somehow connected. It was a total fluke that the current AAMT Prez just happened to work at the same company which was chosen as employer of the year.
The recipient has chosen to share HER letter with us. nm
Maybe I'm paranoid, but sounds as if someone WASN'T chosen...
.
Reporting to the IRS
I did research the IRS stuff about Independent Contractor versus Employee. As far as reporting companies, all I could find was 2 forms; one to fill out when you already work for a company and want to dispute your classification (SS-8), and the other form to fill out had something to do with the actual taxes being withheld while your dispute is under investigation. I was not able to find the form or process for reporting a company regardless of whether I work for them or not. If you know the details, I would appreciate you sharing them. I'm sure that anyone can phone the IRS and make a statement, however what does the person on the other end of the phone do with it if there is no formal process or paperwork in that case? It might just go in one of their ears and out the other, and I certainly don't want to waste my time.
Reporting messages. (SM)
Please do not report messages to be removed simply because you disagree with them. This is a public forum. Anyone can post here. If you disagree with a post, simply look past it. When you post here, everyone is entitled to reply to your entry.
Now, if a post violates posting policy, that is completely different and we want to edit or delete those.
However, you should focus on obtaining the information/discussions you want from the forum and ignore those who disagree with you.
If you want or need to discuss a situation you are encountering, please e-mail me and we will see what we can do to resolve the situation.
IMPORTANT: If you make a post and want to retract it, please do not use the moderating form to report the message -- instead, e-mail me. I must be able to verify that you posted the original message before removing it if it is not violating posting guidelines.
If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them.
Thank you,
Goldbird
I don't work for them. Just reporting what others have said. nm
s
I had thought of reporting her
I had thought about reporting her to the Labor Board actually, but was told by a friend as an IC the labor board couldnt do much for me.. then someone else said they could..especially since, even though she likes to call her employees ICs, they really are actually employees she is illegally calling ICs to avoid paying taxes and bennies.. But since I did finally get paid, there's really not much for the LB to do, I would think. Except maybe light a fire under her in the future and make her pay people and not try and play games with their money. The one she really needs to be reported to is the IRS.. you can't have ICs and make them work a schedule and hound them, and threaten their jobs for not working scheduled hours..but they sure do!!
To poster reporting this...
Yes, we got the complaint. The name was removed. The remainder of the post is acceptable. The voting is not broken. You only get one vote.
Reporting companies
From the website:
http://ethicswontcutit.brentcaulley.com/resources/Complaint+Form
Instructions and info:
There are 3 major U.S. Government Agencies that are concerned with
misclassifying workers as independent contractors when they work as
and get treated as employees
1)The first and most formidable is the IRS. Anybody who has ever been
audited can tell you the IRS is bad news. The IRS is interested both
because Independent contractors get tax breaks on their business
expenses and the company hiring them doesn't have to pay payroll taxes.
The types of penalties on a company like Vector for this kind of tax
evasion on a mass scale with tens of thousands of workers are enormous,
possibly even bankrupting. The only drawback to reporting a company
to the IRS is that you can't do it online. You will have to write a
letter, print it out, and either mail it or walk it in to your local
IRS office, which are all listed at www.irs.gov
2)Your local Dept of Labor, which is interested because it is their
responsibility to make sure workers in their jurisdiction are being
treated right, getting all the pay, benefits, and treatment they
legally have coming to them and that employers are following labor laws.
There are both State DOL Departments and a Federal one. Most likely you
will have to mail them a letter, stop by, or call them up. Their
contact information is at www.dol.gov
3)Your local Unemployment and/or Worker's Compensation Insurance Agency/s
They are interested because if you aren't classified as an employee
but you should be, the company that hired you is skimping out on
unemployment and worker's compensation benefits. These agencies are
closely related to the Dept of Labor and often even a dept within the
DOL. These locations can be found at www.dol.org too.
The independent contractor status is not there to allow some employers
to weasel out of all the rights our local and federal governments have
decided employees deserve, it is there because there are a small minority
of business owners out there (like most attorneys, consultants,
accountants, and such) who run their business by doing small, brief
jobs to multiple other people or businesses- usually at the same time.
Those who run their own businesses don't have anybody but themselves to
give them their benefits and don't need rights to protect them from
anybody but themselves (or the businesses they do their brief jobs for,
but employees get don't get a whole lot rights to protect them from
their customers either, just their bosses).
What the government is looking for in determining whether they are an
employeee or not is behavioral control, financial control, and the type
of relationship. Which are all outlined here:
http://www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/article/0,,id=110344,00.html
To determine these 3 factors, they generally use the IRS's 20
questions which can be found here:
http://www.richterscale.org/garage/20ques.htm
(if these links get outdated you can always search irs.gov and google)
Anyone have information on Ubiqus Reporting
Thanks
Does anyone have any info on Ubiqus Reporting?
Can you work part time for them? How are they to work for? Do they have enough work to go around? Is their pay pretty decent?
TIA!
The issue of reporting companies
I would never think of reporting a company because I have a child to care for and I do not want trouble in my life. I was merely passing along what a tax pro told me. I am just glad to be getting out of MTing for good and after January 1, will not look back. What was once a wonderful chance for many women (and men, too; I am sure there are stay at home dads out there) has become rather a school of sharks. I am glad I am leaving it.
course not, no $, no pay. But if it goes to court......nm
n/m
I saw this tried in a court
It wasn't an MT but an ER physician who was being sued for breach of his noncompete contract. The ruling was that he could not take any of his employers clients but according to the judge (Louisiana) to enforce the no compete to any greater extent would deprive him of his right to make a living. He also won his counter suit asking for payment of his attorney fees to defend himself. Don't know about other states but I would assume it would be pretty much the same. These suits never stop trying to intimidate us do they?
court
As you said you know this will not hold up in court. So sign the paper, get your money, and find another job. Honestly, I do not think they will be hunting you down for the next 12 months to see what you are doing. Obvisouly, this pay is not even covering 12 months of unemployement so what do they think you are going to do. It is not like your a cashier at Walmart (nothing wrong with that) just saying that you have to be trained in the MT field and tht if you went out of the field for a year you would have a hard time finding a company that would take you back. Please let us know what you decide.
reporting cherry pickers falls on deaf ears. I have complained for years.
,,
When a hospital gets fed up with going to court
rethink if cheap is the way to go in the case of medical records.
It's no fun to go to court on malpractice cases and have inaccurate and incomplete records. You look like a fool and it makes it look like you are even more guilty than you may have been. I have seen it from the side of the medical affairs office and talked to the people who have to go off to fight the battles in the court. Trust me, quantity over quality is not what is needed and hospitals can't afford to lose too many of those cases before they lose accredidation. Then the ballgame is over.
As I said in my post, I would go to court
and swear on a Bible about the goings on. In fact, I have documentation and print outs to prove back up my statement.
And to clear the air, I am by no means a disgruntled employee. I definitely MADE SOME MONEY working at the company, benefits, etc.
So before you get on your soapbox, you really should read by post again. I said I was with Healthscribe. You are with Spheris - Healthscribe joined up with Spheris, but a lot of the same people are now running Spheris. Maybe they did change their line docking - BUT AGAIN, READ MY POST - I WAS WITH HEALTHSCRIBE AND AT HEALTHSCRIBE THEY DID DOCK THE LINES IF A Transcriptionist WAS SENDING TOO MANY REPORTS TO QA.
I do not and have not worked for Spheris.
court order?
Terri Davis is gone by court order? How? Why? Such dish!
Who's the businessman running the place?
More info is needed! Totally interested now!
I know of folks who have taken a company to court and won
but still has not gotten paid to my knowlege. If it is DT then hang in there....always have to hope for the best.
It is going to superior court. Can't wait to see what happens!
I was in total shock when I read this article. I also thought, from some of the posts on here, that they were pretty good to work for. Guess they totally screwed themselves now!
Email if you want the court papers.
All info for opting in is in those papers. Current employees cannot be fired for opting in.
My friend is a court reporter (sm)
and she was trying to get me into scoping. From my understanding, the court reporter does the stenographer, which then goes through their computer to turn their abbreviations into words. Then, they send it to the person scoping. That person then does all the profreading for them. My friend spends lots of time proofing, so this would really help them out.
Hope this helps somewhat...
could lawyers have gotten a court release? NM
x
Other than through a court order!!!! Never said the info was NEVER given out at all! nm
laskdjf
IC/Overtime Court Case in Texas
There is an 'opt-in' federal labor law case in the Texas courts naming a midwestern MT company as the defendant for nonpayment of OT and IC/employee status violation. If you Google full company names, the case will come up in the results.
Opt-in means that if someone wants to join the law suit they need to contact the defendant's lawyer or the courts. This information is public and easy to find. I paid only $0.64 online to get the legal papers filed with all of the contact information.
**** This thread is being locked. All replies need to go to email. ****
If it is a court case, then it is public knowledge
x
IRS is the final arbiter on this unless their ruling is taken to Tax Court
Below, you'll the link to the IRS page on this question. Paste it your browser. Or, follow the link at the bottom of the post.
As companies exert more and more control over the work, it gets harder and harder to see how most of them can take advantage of hiring people as ICs. I think the IRS has taken their eye off this ball in recent years.
One thing of SPECIAL NOTE: On this page you will find a link to a form called SS-8, which EITHER the company or the worker can file with the IRS for an official determination of your status.
It can take awhile to get this back, but in the meantime, if you're an IC you might want to ask your company whether they have filed an SS-8 for this determination, as the IRS recommends companies that use IC's file this form.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html
My court report provided the key to her software and
yes, you are IC and basically work for the court reporter. You work when they need you, sometimes weekends when they have rush jobs..without notice because they are not always notified by the attorneys until the last minute and you do HAVE to meet the deadline. Unless you are working for a trial court reporter, you are mainly working depositions. GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT THE ADVERTISEMENT. I think someone with transcribing skills can get into this very easily without that expense. By contacting court reporting companies, you can get the info on the court reporters looking for scopists.
Your point? They have to obey a court order. nm
nm
sign a release saying she wouldn't take Transcend to court ?
What is that all about? Is that true? Why?
ho ho ho but the hosp can play Russian Roulette w/going to court with
Those medical records became cheaper for hospitals how? When they go to court with those expensive incorrect records and LOSE, wonder if they think it was cheaper?
Take her to small claims court. Good luck!
nn
I hope you sued in small claims court! -(nm)
No, we did not give out information. No court order involved. sm
Obviously, TT was able to look at the information provided in the posts and determine who they FELT were making the posts.
No information has been given out by MTStars on this situation whatsoever.
Move on.
Moderator
Well, call a lawyer then. A good one. You could even get court costs paid by your employer probabl
d
Bashing?????? You consider reporting nonpaying employers bashing? sm
Yeah, I got my 1099 too. It included the couple of thousand dollars for invoices that she's never paid me for. She really deserves her due now, doesn't she?? On the bright side, maybe the IRS can do something with her. Cuz I ain't paying taxes on that money she's never paid me.
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