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question...is 8cpl with spaces fair market pay

Posted By: msme on 2006-04-04
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8cpl
I hear the pay starts at 8cpl so how is that above average?
Job market
Hiring has slowed up in all parts of the economy. While healthcare might still be a bet, maybe not as good as before. Wall Street hurt everyone.
pay even at 8cpl is
insulting anymore if you have mega experience. All these companies want tons of experience but want to pay junk....they are better off going to india....come on we live in the US. The sad thing is that these companies probably charge the clients 20cpl.
What the market bears

While it is totally ridiculous, unnecessary and downright illegal for her to micromanage ICs like this, the main cause of the problem is that other ICs are jumping to her call, tolerating and enabling her behavior.  Obviously, the only cure for this type of control over ICs is for ICs to stand up and refuse to tolerate it any longer.  It seems that the only choice you really have is to tolerate it or find another position. 


Again, the real source of the problem here is the other ICs who are allowing her to treat them as employees.  You shouldn't feel obligated to respond.  However, if other ICs are jumping to her call and running the account out, you are stuck if the account dries up and work is not available during the hours that you chose to work.  If it is possible to report her anonymously, I'd say go for it; however, reporting her may not actually change her behavior.


market research
They didn't do the market research itself, they did the transcription of the interviews that were done for market research.
I think the market is really tight right now. sm

I've been looking for work for a couple of weeks now and haven't had much in the way of offers.  The few offers I have had have been really low cpl, like 5-6 cpl for subcontractor positions. 


Keystrokes appears to be hiring and I've heard they have good line rates.  They hire only employee, no IC from what I've been told.  But, you may want to give them a try.


They pay older longtimers 8CPL and

Also, you will be paid only half that when you are switched over to VR, which all accounts will be in the coming months.  Also, no incentives for hiring date after November. 


With the market flooded, why are some MTSOs
nm
anyone hiring at better than 8cpl with 1 yr of experience?
I have 1 year of experience as an MT. I would like to know if it would be possible to find something making better than 8cpl or at least a position with benefits at that line rate.
They had an ad here in Jan. for ExText users at 7.5-8cpl. Applied twice and never
s
somebody must be taking it or it wouldn't be offered - whatever the market will bear, ya know--
x
No experience, but was told that work is assigned, no pools, and it's still 8cpl as an IC. nm
s
I think most places pay for spaces. I work for TransTech and they pay for both spaces
as well as punctuation. I would never work for an MTSO that doesn't.
65 with spaces versus 65 without spaces; how to calculate?

Can someone tell me if you are getting 9 cents per 65-character line with spaces how much you would need to be paid per line to make the same amount per line if you are offered a ''65-character line without spaces?''  Thank you very much


So, if not spaces paid, what cpl would be comparable to at least 9 cpl w/spaces, do you know??
Thanks.
All compaines count lines different--with spaces, without spaces, headers or no headers, 65 characte
a line, 75 characters, etc. I would ask each of them how they count their lines. Sometimes the way lines are counted does not make a company worth working for.
54 without spaces = 65 with spaces if you do the math nm
nm
Not fair!
I have been working with them for 7 years now and have NEVER been offered a shift differential! I too, often work in the evenings. I find it a tad unfair how they offer such good incentives for one office and not the other. I have been extremely happy for all this time until I started reading these posts where the truth comes out! I now realize how I have been neglected as a transcriber for them.

To be fair.....sm
....I was on an account with this company. And it was the hospital itself that was trying to cut their own costs, and jimmied the lines counts to a way where the MT and the MT company got less. Taking spaces out of the header, cutting some spaces out of the doc's signature line, etc. I know, because I was told right away, and I know the email went out to others on the account. So in that particular instance (last year), Focus did inform the MTs, and it was all the customer, trying to cut their own costs, not Focus.

Just my 2 cents on that account at that time.
Yes its more fair
but not many companies pay by the minute (that I know of). If the rate is fair, then its a fair method - but then that goes for all the computations... by the character, line, report, etc.



How do you even know? Maybe it's all bad. I think they are very fair. I get both
nm
Yes, it is fair.
They are being charged fair rates for their economic environment, just as we are.

Do you think every tax payer in the US should pay the exact same tax? Probably not, eh?! Think of it: If everyone in the US had to just pay $5000 in taxes every year, we will have a huge number of people unable to do so while the wealthy get off paying just $5K from their hundreds of millions. It is rated against their income.

Same thing with India. India's economic environment is no where near the wealth of the United States. So, to be fair the AAMT has rated their testing rates compatible with their economy.

It is fair.

Now, if you just don't like other countries doing work for the US, that's a little different topic.

Then again, considering that we sure as heck want to do business in their countries, maybe it really takes on a little different perspective.

It is fair ......sm
So, do you think the MT with 25 years experience and excellent work ethic who is reliable should make the same cpl as the MT with 2 years experience with the same work ethic. I think not. We should be paid for experience.

I can tell you that it really ticks me off when I hear of the MT with 2 years experience making cpl for clinic work and do all acute care with the 25 years experience. That really pisses me off.

I have learned to become quite the negotiator when it comes to line rates and pay.
Fair Enough...
You make a good point, since you're up against those very obtacles. I always find myself tending to try to sway to the side of the MT.

Maybe the OP will check back in at some point and offer more info to clarify things.

Have a great day!!!
Fair enough...
You can come back to this board in 1 year.  I will be here.  I have been posting here for years.  I have also been an MT for many years.  I do not need a union contract.  I make a great living without one.  As for working for the Q, I did many, many years ago.  I used them to get my foot in the MT door.  Once I had enough experience to find something better suited for me, I gave my notice and moved on.  It was really quite easy, actually.
That happens to me too. But not fair !!
They see I can cover all areas, (made a point to learn all areas) but it is just as difficult for me on some of the crappy dictators and just cuz was pretty much able, does not mean you made much hour-wise, while others with less experience prob. get about same pay and get it easier. Really does get to me. It is all about what is fair to another human, don't dump the junk.
fair?
It's fair to keep a good line rate if your production and work is excellent. Sometimes, pay is based on how long you're in the field and how good you are at what you do. The great line rates at D's place just show that she has paid her people based on their skills. That's hard to argue with. Just my 2 cents.
No. Must mean that they are a fair and reasonable
company to work for. If not, I would have left a long time ago.
9 cpl at Medware for 150 lph seems fair
If the base is 8.5 and you can make .5 incentive for doing 150 lph, that seems fair to me.  9 cpl nowadays is a good line rate for employee status with benefits.  Plus you say the insurance is affordable.  That's probably why they are a good company and get good reviews, seems obvious to me.  The offshore thing is about par for the course today, any company who does not offshore will soon find themselves behind the eight ball trying to compete.  Balance is the key and taking care of your employees with a decent line rate helps.
Transolutions is Very Fair
I have found Transolutions to be very fair as well.  While I'm having trouble meeting my line counts, to this point they have been very fair in allowing me ample time to get up to speed.  Also, I was a bit leary about using a DOS-based system, but so far I am very happy with that too.  No complaints here.
It says everyone so that it is fair! If they just e-mailed you and not everyone, then you would be
x
well, that would be nice and fair IF we had
anyone can post anything


I though the tests were very fair sm
and although not simple, they weren't extremely hard and certainly much better than some I have taken. The actual verbal, I thought, was the easiest. By the way, definitions ARE a MAJOR part of transcription ability. Sounds like you are sore at the company for not getting the position.
But is it really fair to punish most of your MTs because of
nm
Sounds fair to me, and here's my take on it. sm

Seven diffefent worktypes?  If it's acute care, then you should be well versed in this many anyway.  H&Ps, discharges, consults, ops for sure.  After that, there are many different types of reports an acute care MT should easily handle - EEGs, EKGs, wound treatment (hyperbaric oxygentreatments etc.), psych, nerve condutions, clinic notes - you name it - the list goes on.  I see nothing abusive about 7 different worktypes.


As far as 4 different accounts - there are shades of gray here.  If the account specifics are pretty much the same across the board, then there is no room to complain.  If however, there are a million nuances to remember from doctor to doctor and account to account, then yes - that will slow you down and those *are* difficult working conditions.


On the flip side, it sounds as if the company is at least providing you with enough work to make your line count.


MTs are fickle.  Not enough work, they complain.  Too much work, they complain. Not enough worktypes, they complain. Too many worktypes, they complain. 


I'm in administration at our company.  There is no pleasing everybody, but we try our best.  There are some MTs that *love* the variety of work - they are thankful they're not typing the same reports/same docs all day long.  Then another MT may feel just the exact opposite - and wish she could do nothing *but* clinic notes, or ops day in and day out.  What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.


It's not an exact science.  The company has to try to balance enough work for the MTs without overhiring, yet still meet their contracted TAT. 


Is this a fair wage?
I'm a new graduate and I got an offer for 0.75 cpl.  Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks! I think I tend to be fair
and what this and other MTSOs are not realizing is that much if not all critism here is not meant as an UNfair attack. It's a vent board for one thing. :)

What galls me are the MTSOs who won't discuss the problems *before* you quit, much less take responsibility for true problems, but then want to protest when they see negatives posted...

There's an old saying about a shoe and what to do if it fits...

:)

Just not fair to their MT's -- TAT understandable, BUT
The goodness of TT lasted for 1 year.  Now it is low to no work on a daily basis for the past month or more on an almost consistent basis.  They have definitely overhired for the accounts they have acquired.  Covering their behind, not the MT's at the present time.
Maybe someone who knows a fair amount about
x
I agree with you and that is why I said it was not fair.
With 20 years of experience, working for same company from day one and no raise until 10 years later and find out a 3 year experienced MT gets paid more than you?  Not fair.
By the line is always the most fair...sm
To many variables, and if there is any cherry pickin going on, you are just out of luck... my experience if you are being paid this way, normally is because it is to their beneift, not the MT's benefit.
I will be checking on this. No fair
I currently work QA there and am paid by the line. If they are bringing on new people at an hourly rate, then we all need to be switched to hourly.
DITTO -- IT ISN'T FAIR. ... nm

THIS is why it's not fair to cut VR rates for MTs
in half. VR is ripoff that doesn't work even close to how it's supposed to.
That's not very nice or very fair (sm)
Why'd you feel it necessary to get that jab in? He/she answered a question. He didn't ask for the poster to email him to give him more details, now, did he? And if he were aiming at a referral bonus, he'd probably need a better name for the company than Webhead.

Really sick of the personal attacks here. There's a post from the mods saying to knock it off. Why don't you? With all of the crud in the economy and the stress we're all under, we really need to be a bit more decent to our fellow humans who are in this mess with us. That extends to a bulletin board.

And no, I'm not Webhead and don't know him/her. I am no rah-rah about Webmedx, either. Just sick of the snarky replies like that one you just gave. It's unnecessary, and you don't know what this person has going on in their life that you just added some more grief to it. Please think.
Fair warning
I am confused. You say this is the not the first time they have done this and won't be the last and say money is owed but you also say you do not work there anymore. How can you know all of this if you are no longer working for them? Did you recently quit? Not trying to stir the pot here, just trying to understand. And why don't you handle your issues with them directly rather than posting it on a public board? How is creating this post supposed to help you? And what does the fact that the owners once worked for MQ have to do with anything? It's a red herring, a non-issue. A lot of people, myself included, once worked for MQ. So what? LM has always been on time with my pay, always, and have always been honest in their dealings with me. I think that the owners are decent people who treat their employees well. It is important to remember that great harm can be done to others with our words. If it were me and I had a legitimate gripe about not being paid, I would handle it through legal channels that have power to resolve the issue rather than resorting to a public bulletin board that does not. Just sayin', that's all......It's too easy to come on a board and flail away at someone. It just doesn't seem like the professional way to handle what should be an internal issue between you and a company.
What's "not fair" about PTO?
There is nothing that mandates how much or how little PTO you are given. Fair sounds like an entitlement mentality. (I am an IC/SE and have no PTO but so what? I think that is perfectly fair. I knew the terms of my employmentment when I signed the contract.) Too much what's in it for me, not enough what can I do for the company. Just saying, that's all.
If you didn't think it was fair....
you should not have taken a job with Keystrokes.  You knew before you signed on the dotted line.  It is fair because you knew the policy before you came and you accepted it.  It is not fair that you complain about something that you knew about beforehand.  
Very thorough and fair critique....
...I used to work there and had to sign a waiver that I would not badmouth the company on MT boards (which I believe is still the procedure for the UST employees). However, I do believe that it is the same for any company - the experience is not the same for any two employees, and if this sounds like your cup of tea, so to speak, go ahead and apply! (I had some excellent time there, although I and many MTs there had a different impression of the senior owner .... and I will say that much ;( ).
Doesn't seem fair to me s/m
I have read a lot of the negativity posted regarding Transcend on this board since the end of March when I was told that my company was merging with Transcend, and I have to say that I have not experienced any of what I have seen posted.

I work full time, and I work 3rd shift. I also work both weekend days. And I have never run out of work except for maybe one day or so a week and there are plenty of chances to get the lines made up.

I work the same accounts I did before the merger, but also voluntarily took on a couple of Transcend accounts because I had a desire to learn the platform they were on and a desire to learn the VR systems, since that is most definitely experience I view as needed, since that is the direction the industry is moving in, whether I like it or not.

I know for a fact that the accounts I am trained on have more than enough work.

I have never been told no when I have asked for additional accounts, and am an average to high producer based on my lph.

I have always been able to get an answer to a question when I had one, and have many channels available for contacting people if an issue arises. I have also had a conversation with the prez about my concerns regarding my own merger, and within a short time from the conference call.

I don't know about the offshoring policies, but I do know that I have not had a loss of work as a result. The bottom line is that that is just a fact of life in this field, and it is not likely to change any time soon. As long as they think that that is the direction to go in, that is what we will have to deal with. But if we are too busy B****ing and moaning, we aren't going to change it any time soon.

I am not crazy about work going overseas while many of us struggle to earn a living, but there is nothing I can do to change things. Should I refuse to work for a company who has an otherwise good reputation just because of what others say? I don't think that is reasonable at all.

So maybe you will label me as a company hack, too, and I don't really care. I am just like the rest of you, busting my butt in the trenches trying to support my family, and working a full and a part time job to do it, but it can be done. I do these things by my own choice.

I could survive on the one income, and not have to worry about finances, but I like having a little extra to be able to do things with and for my children.

I think maybe the reason I have never had to worry about running out of work is because I have made certain that my supervisors know that I will do whatever they put in front of me without complaining, and don't mind taking on multiple accounts to be able to meet my financial and career goals. Call me a suckup if you want, but I do what I feel I need to.

For those of you who have any questions at all, or want a different point of view on this company, please feel free to contact my privately by clicking the reply by email link. I am always available.

I hope that maybe I have put a different light on things. Say what you will, but if you don't have personal working knowledge of how a company works, I don't think it is fair to discourage others from what could end up being a really good fit for them.
Virtual job fair

I received an e-mail from Advance announcing their virtual job fairs.  I have no idea if they are for on-site jobs, primarily jobs other than MT, or what, but I thought some here might be interested.  Here is the link:  http://health-care-job-fairs.advanceweb.com/Attendee/default.aspx