liking tax break as IC as opposed to employee
Posted By: es on 2007-02-09
In Reply to: IC work - typingforpennies
I have a question...I am an IC where my employer took out no taxes whatsoever....no W-2 form, but received 1099-MISC form....ends up I had my tax preparer prepare my taxes today...I ended up having to owe the government for first time in my life...I am single parent claiming head of household. Come to realize no FICA taxes out whatsoever by my employer....usually an employer who gives you a W-2 form pays half the FICA and you the other...just wondering how is it better to be an IC person as opposed to an employee come tax time? As an IC, I received no benefits whatsoever, no taxes whatsoever were taken out of my checks, no overtime, no medical, no PTO AND I owe????? Do IC people usually make more than me or what? She is paying us 9 cents per character line with 70 characters per line with spaces...old fashioned slow down system...C-phone and a book to look up every doctor...??? Am really wondering....how do people on here who state they make past 20,000 per year doing what I am trying to figure out to do? Sincerely
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As opposed to?
Oh, I dunno,working on an assembly line day after day and not engaging your brain at all with a crummy shift and losing your job after years doing this, cleaning toilets, emptying bedpans,stocking shelves at Walmart, handing out fries and burgers, waiting tables and serving snotty people that look down on your choice in professions? I think I will stick with my MT job and think it is about as secure as most these days. I don't see my MT job as boring. I make myself look up new instruments, drugs, and everything else so I learn something new every day.
Yup, get over yourself. But good luck with that newfound profession.
when there is no work as opposed to sm
working overtime. Its their money, they can do as they please. This is STILL America where we can spend as we please what we make.
The answer to this is to get into management so you can go on the trips too! I bet if you were going, you wouldn't complain would you?
ESLs on VR as opposed to English
at the hospital where I work makes absolutely no difference at all, in fact if not for VR and all the ESLs we have now, would probaby be pulling my hair out trying to figure out what they are trying to say. ESLs on Escription is as good as with the perfect speaking English so again, the system you have, how MTs train and the speaker makes no difference in how VR gets it. You need a good platform and then you can make a good salary on it.
A little too much for my liking.
It also just throws you out sometimes without a way to recovery report. I have told others that have posted to be sure to save mid stream on long reports to save yourself the trouble of having to retype reports. 
How does this MT not liking to do VR affect
your work life in any way to the point you'd tell them to quit their job? If you're an MT enjoying your job and your VR, then why would this MT's opinion on VR bother you? You sound like management doing damage control.
How am I liking the W today?
Just fine and thank you for asking. I am grateful that I have a job, happy that it is at Webmedx and oh so grateful that I have not allowed myself to turn so nasty and cynical. Flame away while I get back to work.
As opposed to what sort of "panties" she wears normally? Thanks for that mental picture!
I'm not liking what I've heard so far!
Did this all happen recently?
Hey, seektruth! How you liking the W TODAY?
Did karma just take a chunk out of your gratitude about your job? Is your cheerleading outfit smelling like teen spirit today? Be sure to wear it when you call in to find out how low YOUR wages can go!
Dang It girl! I'm not liking my fourth one
I wonder where a person in the field of only MT'g for 10, 15, 20 plus years could get hired for any other kind of work anywhere?
How did they break it to you?
Why would they drop direct deposit? Does it cost a company to provide that service? Sorry to hear about your insurance. 
Give me a break.
I doubt 100% that you posted AGAINST Keystrokes and used your real name. Not gonna make me believe that in a minute, cause if you did, it would have been spread all over this board like wildfire, with Lee and the whole gang from KS posting to you, yadda, yadda. Don't believe you one minute. As for posting against Spheris, hmmmm... they have like 12,000 or more employees now? Bigger than MQ. So, boy, you're sure brave if you ever posted as Michelle. Yep, they'd be able to zero right in on you on their radar screen! Please....Transcend watches this board like a hawk, and DOES contact posters. PERIOD. It is scary and it is a hassle, so its a business strategy that does work for them regarding damage control. Doesn't mean any of us are "hiding" or that our negative comments are any less valid than your soap-box stances defending Transcend.
Give me a break!
I understand there are two sides to every story, but there is no excuse for not paying the people who have worked for you. I just hope you are a better business owner than she is.
Give me a break.....
I know a whole lot more hard working, LOYAL, honest, go-the-extra-mile transcriptionists then I do companies who truely appreciate them. It is not the work ethic of the general TX that has caused the rates to go down. It is greed on the part of the company. I have now been with SEVEN different companies in the past 3 years as an IC and have never done the things you suggest. What I get is days without work or days that I am expected to work 24 hours, late/no paycheck, awful and ridiculous platforms, doctor switching games, etc.
I'd gladly still be with the first company I ever worked for if they'd just pay......
Give me a Break!!
Ya know, I must be cranky today, but...some posts below really got my dander up! MTs are asking for referrals about companies, and someone actually posts that the company is GREAT - I believe GREAT is the adjective. Then inside message says something to the effect of: I'm a new hire, too, and I hear the work will be picking up soon. PICKING UP SOON!! This is after several MTs claim no work, which is what we all-too-often hear with these companies. Hiring and WORK SHOULD BE PICKING UP SOON!! And the poster closes by saying how NICE everyone is. That he/she doesn't mind lack of work cause they are NICE. Grrrrrrrrrrrr...
I wish we could have some coding system where MTs gave job referrals based on LIFE SITUATIONS. Like how many of us really need the income?? Versus those who obviously don't really need the $$ and don't mind being hired for a job with NO WORK. But the people are nice...Can you imagine? I used to hire people in-house for hospitals - all depts. I can just imagine me HIRING people for work that wasn't really there... Give me a BREAK. Nice...
How about giving me a break?
I am the MT who seemed to upset a lot of you with my post below about MDI and the lack of work for some. Unlike what many of you surmised, I also need a regular income, a daily line count that I can depend on and I work far more than 1-2 hours per day and always have. I am also an MT who has been kicked to the curb by enough MTSO's to make me want to quit this profession at times and work at just about anything else. What I was saying below is that MDI, at least for me, is trying to get me more work and guess what? I have more now! Yes, everyone, they are being helpful and NICE! When compared to others I have worked for, who have also been low in work at times, and who have told me and other MTs who ask for more work, to basically get over it and wait it out or go elsewhere, I think I prefer the treatment I have received with MDI far above the others. If a nice company doesn't cut it for you, then go to the many out there who don't give a rat's behind how they treat you. They are not hard to find. When the work is there, you will be worked to death and when it isn't, they could not care less. Heck, you can make good money these days working on a garbage truck, so if nice isn't important,what's stopping you?
It is just a different field to break into now...
I have only been an MT for 4-1/2 years, and I am happy to hear that you found a job that you are happy with and making a good wage at.
However, to say that because MTs are not happy has something to do with their skills does an injustice to hardworking MTs. There are some of us who do 12-hour days, too.
The field is totally different that what it used to be. You can ask a majority of seasoned MTs, and they will tell you that wages are going down and the cost of benefits is becoming outrageous. It can take you almost 2 weeks to earn enough money to pay for family insurance. Couple that MTSOs who are making contracts with companies for acute care work when they have only hired transcriptionists with clinic experience, and you have some very overstressed MTs just trying to make a living. I have felt since starting I am being pushed to gain 10 years experience for each year I work. Some days you just wake up, go to work, and you are on a totally different account, totally different work type, and totally different part of the country with no warning.
Since starting in this profession, I have worked on over 20 different accounts in all areas of the country. Not only have I been required to learn medical transcription (and I have done all report types right through the OP notes), I have had to learn umpteen physician groups, hospitals in those areas, nursing homes, drug stores, county social service units...you name it.
I have consistently good quality scores, and I usually work at least 1-1/2 times my required production. I have been with my company close to 3 years, work nights and holidays, and have given up more family time than I care to consider. However, I just saw an ad where my employer is offering 10 cpl to do discharge summaries while I am doing consults for a clinic no one in the company wants to touch because of the difficulty factor, and they will not raise me above 7.5 CPL.
On top of that, I had to darn near beg today to have a technical problem taken care of that was preventing me from working. It was a 2-minute fix that took almost 40 minutes to resolve because our customer service kept telling me I wasn't even working as I had no jobs checked out and my boss kept switching her MSN messenger to say she was busy or away.
Do I feel disrespected and underpaid? YUP!
That is my reality.
Hate to break it to ya, but
*Isn't this just good business sense on their part in an environment where it is hard enough to feel connected and part of a team?*
Good business and reality are galaxies apart. During my final time at the last company I left, it was commented to me that for as long as I had been there and as good an MT as I was, they were surprised I had not asked for a raise. I had been with them 9 months. I was covering 12 different accounts and doing mostly ESL dictation. They thought when I turned in my resignation it was about money. It wasn't. It was about a having a level playing field and I didn't like their level of *honesty.* My work route was being manipulated and they couldn't admit what they were doing. Gravy was being given to lesser experienced MTs and I was getting nothing but crap and it was being touted that everyone was paid the same cpl. (okay, this example shows they were lying to me on that level! If they were willing to give me more money to keep me, then they were surely doing that to other people, right?) I wanted an honest work environment and the money. That is what I have now. I've already gotten one raise at the new MTSO with the promise of a second when I hit a new lpd average (two months).
So, it would not hurt to broach the subject if they don't with you. The worse they can do is say no to a raise and explain their review policy. At least you will know where you stand, how you feel, and what your options are.
Give em a break at least -- sm
they are giving US MTs a chance to get started rather than offsourcing to India. At least they are giving back to the USA in one form or another.
They could just send it off and be done with it.
Looks like OSI can't catch a break
Ah, I do agree with you on the break sm
pay. As for sitting in front of the monitor for a certain period, you can work for a company that allows some flexibility (a window of time) in your schedule. That makes it better. I know the MT side of it, our low wages, etc, but the hospital side of it is - we have strict TATs and sick people, whatcha gonna do? There's got to be coverage during certain hours. Anyway, I digress.
give me a break
It's called being courteous to my employers, asking rather than telling them and this is completely irrelevant to this board and rather discourteous on your part.
Give her a break!
Maybe there are reasons she does not want minimum line counts per shift/day. I have a hard time with line counts myself but with good reason. I tore my TFCC in Dec. 06 and had surgery. It is stable now but I have lost some range of motion which has slowed my typing speed a bit. That's why I stay away from minimum line count jobs. I do work for a smaller company though so they are ok with this.
I'm going to break out of the mold (sm)
I'd like to branch out to doing general transcription so I can finally 100% work for myself instead of partly me, partly them. I'd love to have a home-based secretarial service that did a lot of things I enjoy, bookkeeping, typing, etc. Maybe I'll do some research and just do it.
Best way to break into the MT business? SM
A good friend of mine is wanting to learn the trade. I am self-taught from many years back and have no clue what to recommend to her. What is the best way to get training - any online courses? None of our local schools offer anything except maybe a terminology course, etc. Any MT companies have mentor programs for true beginners? Any advice would be helpful. BTW, I truly believe she has the basis for success as she is very computer/English literate and quite the perfectionist - she lacks the medical experience, however. Again, thanks so much for any input! :)
Give me a break
I do answer posts about which companies are good, who pays on time, etc, if I know the answer so I am not a board troll but a participating member. Its okay to have an opininon the same as yours but something different and your a flamer. As for working hours, I was making a general statement as I see it all the time on this board...no one wants to work weekends or past 6 p.m. at the most. More than the OP jumped on this thread with the me too, no work post...and in my opinion if more people were willing to make sacrifices they would have work but everybody wants to work M-F. If that's the case then you need to leave your home and work in an office.
Give me a break
I'm working with 3 companies right now and will weed out the crap just like they weed through the MT's. I do ask the worst case scenario questions and have been lied to over and over again! I'm doing this to make money and put food on the table and if that means weeding out the B.S. that these companies give you - so be it! You sound like your from one of the companies I am now working for. They just started a new account and have NO CLUE what they are doing. The way things are so out of control I bet they never sat down with the hospital to go over how this project was going to be run - and now they are advertising for ANOTHER NEW ACCOUNT! I got 2 words for you sister - and it ain't Merry Christmas!
give me a break
are you saying becausse I am defending the company I work for that I am management and I am lying??? Give me a break. Obviously you are just not up to the high standard that we are held accountable for at this company and you got fired.
Break this down so I can understand
what are you talking about? TTS or this board or ?
GREAT why do THEY get the break!?!?
about the people is nothing new
Give me a break please!!
I am 100% Cherokee and never took that as a racist remark. I think that someone is just trying to stir the pot.
hate to break it to ya, but
the statement about MT being dominated by females is no longer a factor when it comes to wages. The picture is much bigger than that. If you look at the owners of the majority of companies, they are men, or groups of men and women. We call those _Boards of Directors_ Some are even called _Lobbiests_ and _Leaders_ of MT-associated groups.
I do agree with being nauseated over the new era of paid spaces being treated as if it was a benefit. This field is hurting so badly and it has nowhere to go but down.
Hate to break it to you....
but leads do not type during the time they are watching accounts nor do they take work from you. Get YOUR facts straight.
I am prepared not to break the law
Among other things.
Will I need to file past taxes? Yeah. But I've only worked for this company for a year, so it's not that big of a deal for me.
Will it mean I have to pay MORE in taxes? VERY HIGHLY unlikely. However, even if I do, it's worth it to me.
Why? Because I would prefer to stay inside the law.
There are several reasons why it's a Very Bad Thing for companies to willfully misclassify employees as independent contractors. The least of which is that misclassification - on average - costs taxpayers money.
Second, and most importantly, because so many companies are willing to dramatically uneven the playing field ILLEGALLY, it leaves VERY little room for success for an honest company willing to provide quality service and pay their employees accordingly.
Being complicit in the cheating of one company SCREWS the majority of all other transcriptionists.
Are you really so selfish to be a cog in this machine? For what cannot be much more than a few dollars a paycheck, when you start figuring in the tax issue and the lack of benefits?
If we're going to have rules, EVERYONE should have to play by them. Or we should get rid of the rules ... and then see what happens.
Give me a break (sm)
This doesn't sound at all like an MT who has worked on this platform: 'It's actually good news in that moving to a more efficient platform means management is working to save our jobs in a very competitive, unstable market by increasing our output, and thus our value to the hospitals.'
How do you know it's more efficient? Because they say so? Have you worked on it and found your output increasing?
I'm waiting for those MTs who are finding they're producing more to pipe in.
You are very rude and smug to people who have been hurt by this announcement. 'Rude and foolish messages' pretty much applies to yours.
Give me a break -- I am overworked!!!!
You obviously do not work there.... we have a ton of work.
I am sure there are 40,000 non-MQ people too, give us a break
I don't clock out for just a bathroom break or to
get coffee, but the bathroom and the coffee pot are only about 10 and 2 steps away respectively.
I agree 100%! I definitely think it's time to break them down! nm
x
She was trying to be helpful, give it a break. nm
nm
Give a girl a break...
Why aren't people allowed to speak here without always getting chewed up and spit out and told what a dumb u&^^%$$#@@*** they are? Ask some questions. Offer a similar experience. Hey person with head cut off, how might we support you, or did you just need to vent? I just had a few days of that, put me into a tailspin. I'm unfortunately not in a place to be able to ride with it. Lovely, nice company, however. It was temporary and my mind was put to ease. I just WISH I had the liberty to ride it; unfortunately, I just can't right now. So, problem solved for me, but I hear you loud and clear. I rather get tired of being married to this thing 20 hours/day. I'd scale tall buildings for these nice people, but mortgages are mortgages..hang in there. It really doesn't mean your're an ungrateful jerk if you fret over no income. Why do forums make people so cranky? I think I'm going to do a study on the sociology of the virtual community. It's interesting.
Not to beat the break thing
to death, but I just read the responses to my question about the lunch/breaks and think I might have been misunderstood.
It is line-based pay (not hourly). I don't expect to be paid for lunch (that is voided out like other jobs). We work the extra time to have the lunch so doesn't affect our line count
It just seems like if workers are legally supposed to have 2, 15-minute breaks during an 8 hour shift but line count is based on 8 hours, then it's sort of like we really don't get the breaks (like if in an hourly-wage job, people got pay deducted if they took their breaks).
Am I making any more sense wording it this way?
Yes, don't worry about signing in and out for every little break.
nm
to break labor laws?
x
Ever hear of taking a break?
nm
Yes, last week was not too hot. Spring Break sm
I have 4 accounts I can work on and I do about every day of the week, right now. We have new accounts coming in the near future too.
This is not permanent. I have changed my shift hours so I get a sort of a peak time of plenty of work on a couple of my accounts. I hope that change is not going to be permanent, but if it is, I am okay.
My STM says it was spring break in the Pacfic sm
Northwest, where lots of our accounts are located. I see today already work has significantly picked up on 3 of the 5 accts that I work on.
Just a fluke, I think.
Give me a break. I get so tired of
people saying you do crappy work, you can't work your schedule, etc. every time someone leaves a company, voluntarily or involuntarily.
I don't know what adds have to do with anything.
Unfortunately there are new grads out there desperate for a break and some may take it. :( nm
nm
puhleeze give US a break..
with your relentless rah-rahing! Sweety pie, work has been low at TT for months and months...not just now. Yes, you certainly are newer TT because you as an overhire are taking the work away from those of us who have been in there for the long haul! Secondly, it has always been my experience that doctors work wayyyyy over 40 hours a week, and someone else mentioned that this low/no work is due to the holiday...what the heck??? July 4 was LAST weekend, with it probably being observed in the work force on FRIDAY...so that is hogwash, absolute hogwash. When MTs who have been with this company for years say there is low/no work and it is a problem, THEY MEAN IT IS A PROBLEM, not just due to a holiday or low volume period...
I will agree with you on one thing, and that is things are not greener anywhere else right now, so that is probably why we are hanging on with our fingernails where we are at you dumb A. MT is slowly going down the toilet...but with many of us in all stages of life, choices may be limited as to profession change, and especially with the economy the way it it, so DO NOT be so quick to judge!!!  And don't bother spewing your venom on me, I won't answer.
Please, give ME a break! Just do your job and you'll be fine!
Why, if you were doing what was required of you, would Transcend single you out to treat unfairly and why would you be afraid to post publically if you were not stirring up trouble? This what the rest of us wanna know!
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