when minimum wage goes up do IC rates increase also?
Posted By: katlow on 2006-08-03
In Reply to: Just read 5-7 2 ads listed MT jobs - darlene
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No, soon the government will increase the minimum wage
and MTs will be the working poor. Sad business this is.
I believe that would come to a little over minimum wage...
Not good at all! 
Minimum wage at best, probably not that!
I would not take any QA/editing position unless it is a set hourly rate. Again, I have said it before, do not sell your fellow QA/editors down the drain like AAMT has sold us. Hourly is the only way!
They have to pay minimum wage s/m
They have to pay for minimum wage if you do not reach that on your line counts.
Minimum Wage
You have hit on a point that the service owners did not plan for. Pursue this with the DOL office in your state:
USMLSU Initiative
Washington, DC
ONLINE, REAL-TIME CONFERENCE CALLS/MEETINGS BEING SCHEDULED FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF 2009 !
Respect, reasonable compensation, and humane treatment for all U.S.A. Medical Transcriptionists
VR or not, need to pay MINIMUM WAGE--sm
Not just my 2 cents' worth -- that's the LAW in all 50 US states. At 3-4 cents a line, this is hardly possible, especially at the start, to make at least a minimum wage that any 16-year-old kid makes delivering groceries. Add to that all the UNPAID work we are required to do for the privilege of being fleeced by the MTSOs, CCs, researching doctors, endless demographic work having nothing to do with transcription... 
Minimum wage
You cannot by law make less than minimum wage. If you are making less than minimum wage I would tell the company, they have to make up the difference. If they don't then you should call the labor board.
If you cannot make minimum wage with this, then
get another profession. I make over $20 per hour. You are a poor excuse for a Transcriptionist if not able to do. End of message and end of talking about something apparently not everyone is able to do.
minimum wage is $ 7.--/hour.....nm
nm
California's minimum wage is higher than SM
the federal minimum wage, this may be why.
Heck, NO!! I'd never survive on minimum wage. nm
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So you don't mind working for less than minimum wage?
That's what a good Editor would make because most good editors that have 100% listen I know get between 2000-3000 lines a day. I think not. People like you who take these jobs bring all of us who have worked hard down. If you have only been an MT for 2 years, I would not think you would even qualify to be QA
MT, minimum wage, single moms, etc...sm
Medical transcription requires a great deal of skill and knowledge. It is not a minimum wage job, or should not be a minimum wage position. Years of learning and experience are involved to master this profession. No qualified MT, single mom or otherwise, should be working at minimum wage levels, in turn necessitating the help of assistance programs. This is too skilled a profession, and it is a shame that it is not so slowly sinking to the level of a minimum wage-type job.
Oh nice..getting late..how about MINIMUM WAGE.. LOL
Must be paid MINIMUM WAGE for each hour -sm
worked under 40/wk if employee in the U.S., regardless of work type, job description. In addition, must be PAID FOR ALL WORK PERFORMED - I won't even go there.
Att: Flamers: You can look this up yourself in DOL regulations.
Minimum wage only applies to employees.
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No, she said 1000 monthly - not weekly. Less than minimum wage! nm
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LABOR BOARD / MINIMUM WAGE LAWS
Regardless of all the bull dished out by the MTSO companies, especially as it pertains to VR, i.e., We're cutting your pay 50%, so you'll have to work twice as hard - but you're going to LOVE the platform. Also get tired of hearing about Learning Curve and wonder if my grocer, landlord & hungry kids understand this learning curve concept.
However (and the MTSOs can like this or lump it) WE MUST BE PAID FEDERALLY-MANDATED MINIMUM WAGE for workers with employee status - whether straight typing, VR or being required to babysit computer during no/low work. Of course, it's exploitation to cut wages in half from an already insultingly low rate & most MTs are surely feeling the pinch. But whether 2, 3, 4 or 10 cpl ... minimum wage must be paid. (Sorry Suits/MTSOs - the law is there for a reason!)
$1,000 divided by 40 hours is $25.00 an hour. Where do you live that that is minimum wage? nm
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Minimum wage laws are for employees only, not independent contractors
Would you pay your plumber or pool cleaner (examples of other IC jobs) more because the minimum wage increased?
Couldn't Amphion be held liable for minimum wage
I'm just sayin'
Our work is considered piecemeal and not subject to minimum wage laws. Just what I've been told
MT
taking a low wage does not lower the pay for a field. The fact that they are offering stated wage
means that is the market. You don't see ads for McDonald's for $36/hour and you don't see ads for A.G. Edwards for $20,000/yr. If they didn't think they could fill a job for $14, they wouldn't post it. Notice MT jobs are now posting at 5, 6 and 6.5. So guess what editors are going to make?
Bare minimum? I make over $50,000 a year in 40 hours a week. That is not bare minimum. sm
Bare minimum would be $8 an hour which is $16,640 a year or $10 an hour which is $20,800 a year. I make more than twice that and that is NOT bare minimum.
I worked to get my typing speed to 80 wpm. I worked to get my Expanders user-friendly and plentiful. I am not the fastest because I look up what I do not know, but I am lucky to have a very good memory so if I type it a few times, I do not have to look it up. I keep notes when I run across something I do not know. I am interested in my profession and read the magazines for our profession and network with other transcriptionists during my free time, devoting a minimum of 2 hours per week to networking and learning new things.
I am not the fastest MT, but I am accurate and boiled it down to simple math. I need to transcribe 250 lines per hour for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. At 10cpl, that is 2000 lines a day x 5 days per week x 50 weeks per year. I take 2 weeks off per year during July to visit my grandchildren (unpaid), 1 week a year to vacation with my husband (paid) and 1 week a year to spring clean (paid). I have worked for the same company for 4 years and 8 years for the one before this.
I treat my work hours as work hours and take 1/2 hour for lunch which I do not include in my 8 hours. I pretend that I am working outside the home and do not answer the door, get the mail, do laundry, etc. If I have a good day and go over the 2000, I bank it in my mind for days that are not as good and make sure that I get 10,000 lines each week.
My W2 each year is consistently $50,000. A few years it was higher, but I worked a few weekends, which I no longer do.
It IS possible.
A pay increase.
:D
Ins. Increase
OK, you can panic or you can check into other things. Go ahead and call other companies and see what their insurance is costing the employee and the benefits it offers. This is going on in ALL insurance companies. Everyone and I do mean everyone I have talked to in the past 2 days about this has told me theirs has gone up, too. One of my friends who works for a very well known company pays over $108.00 a pay period for single coverage and basically the same benefits as my Aetna plan with TransTech. This is not some remote thing. Even my husband's insurance went up for all the plan options. He is now going to be paying $8.17 more a pay period than I am with Transtech for single employee only coverage. The cost of health care and medications are astronomical and they are having to pass this on down to the consumer. It's nothing new. It is time to wake up though. Inflation is not getting any better, only worse by the day. As for me, I will gladly work 45 more minutes a day to pay for the increase in my plan with TransTech. I would like to suggest a company though for those of you who have children and want a good insurance policy for them. My husband is ordered to provide health insurance for his daughter from his previous marriage and we took out a terrific policy on her with Midwestern Life of Tennessee. For a PPO plan that pays just like a group plan with your employer we pay $98.00 a month. This is for an 18-year-old female. Might be worth checking into. They will also take it directly from your checking account every month. They pay their claims well and on time and we've NEVER had a problem with them. Good luck to you all.
They would have to increase it by about 30% , that is
if they want to keep the MTs and want the MTs to type those spaces... LOL
RE: VR..anybody been able to make an increase in pay doing ME?
I more than doubled my production editing voice recognition drafts, and I am completely happy with the pay I receive for my efforts.
VR..anybody been able to make an increase in pay doing ME?
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Webmedx MTs, 30% increase with ASR?
I keep hearing this is the productivity percentage an MT will see with ASR at Webmedx. What has your experience been?
Please share:
How long you've worked at Webmedx
How long you've been on ASR at Webmedx
If and how your production has changed (numbers/percentages if you have them)
I'd like to know how much of this promise of increased earnings is truth.
Thank you.
I think you might be wrong about a 30% increase sm
maybe a 30% decrease for ASR reports is correct. I don't know for sure though.
I got a significant increase when I
went to this company. Pay is based on experience, like anywhere else. You get adjustments based on quality score. I got a raise the first quarter. Regarding the negative comments about demographics, they were time consuming to me at first but CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE to eliminate a lot of the data entry on the unpaid screen. I don't spend any more time on demogs now than I did at any other company. 
LPH and increase speed
As I mentioned before, I am struggling with speed.
I am curious what most people start out typing (LPH) and how quickly you increased to your max (many mentioned they are 200-300+) lph. Anyone who will share on this?
I appreciate it!
That's a shame about the increase
excited to be getting to work for that company. Keystrokes has a high plan too and are looking into it, but I've read that on here for over a year now. I guess I have nothing nice to say, so I'd better be quiet. Sometimes saying too many good things can jinx us! 
Try 9 for decrease and # for increase.
NM
Have you asked them about an increase for the
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Can anyone help me increase my lines?? sm
I've read how some of you produce 250-300 or more lines per hour without VR. I'm wondering if you have the same docs every day who say the same things over and over so you use alot of normals and shortcuts. I mostly type for 1 hospital, not that difficult of an account, use many shortcuts but can't seem to produce more than 175 lines per hr. I've been doing this for quite some time and am getting discouraged at the end of my shift. Any tricks of the trade would be very much appreciated.
Should I ask for an increase or just be glad I have a job? sm
I know with the economy the way it is, I should probably just keep quiet and be thankful I have an income. I realize there are many here that are without jobs and my heart goes out to you.
I have 18+ years of experience working in this field. Six months ago I was hired by a national to cover a cardiology clinic account at .08 cpl. I'd say at least 70% to 75% of the dictators are either ESL or mumbling/speedy Americans on a good day. Today I have 100% ESLs!. There are probably only two or three decent dictators in the whole lot if you can find one in the queue. Turnover on this particular account has been so bad that cherry picking is actually permitted!
I've already applied for a other accounts within the company (that were advertized on various job boards) and haven't had any luck yet. I probably won't get the opportunity to move because they can't keep this account covered.
With that being said, would it be unreasonable to ask for an increase to at least .09 to stay on this account? The only other way I have a chance of making any money is to type for 10 hours a day.
Sorry I couldn't give you the short version! TIA!
VR does not necessarily increase
your speed. If you are making lots of corrections, then you will actually lose ground.
Dang - that's just a bit more than increase in
See link below for online calculator that lets you see what $x in a certain year should be worth today. I plugged in $14 and 1999, and it shows it would be worth $17.79 today.
That means that your 10 years of loyalty, seniority, accumulated knowledge about your platform and client sites, etc. are worth 21 cents.
Here's the calculator:
http://www.aier.org/research/worksheets-and-tools/cost-of-living-calculator
20% increase in production - haha!
haven't they been repeating over and over to you that you WILL see a 20% increase in production RIGHT AWAY!! after you conquer DQS then they're going to throw ASR at you and swear up and down that you'll have a 25% in production and they're going to cut your baseline rate by 20% to become a Medical Editor -- doesn't that sound just peachy!! i recalculated my last check with my MT work and my ME work and it came out to be $50 less because of the 20% decrease on my baseline rate for the honor of doing ME work (i have until 10/1/05 before the cut takes place). Oh, but you have your choice of doing 100% MT work and keeping your baseline rate, but guess what you'll be getting the docs that the voice recognition system can't do, therefore, you will probably see a 25% decrease in production. Heck, now as it is, the VR program can't pick up the little words like an, and, in, etc right and it's even leaving out very, very clear words that a very, very clear dictator is saying, so you figure how you're going to have a 25% increase on production when you're pecking nonstop on the keyboard like when you first started typing on a manual typewriter?? Tell me again, how grateful we're supposed to be for working at MQ? And, yes, I know I can go to MTJobs.com and find another job, but you know what, there's principles and if we just walk away from how we're being treated we're just going to be treated like that at another MQ-like company. Something needs to be done so they know that we don't appreciate being treated like someone with a 5th grade education.
What is the line rate for IC's, does it ever increase? nm
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promised rate increase
I have to 100% agree with your statement as I personally experienced just what you stated.
I think OP meant an 30% increase in productivitySM
I don't think the original poster meant a 30% increase in pay, but a 30% increase in productivity!
Has anyone seen a line increase in the last 2 days?
Interesting, working the same but lines have increased by about 200 per day.
I did ask that, it would increase accuracy, productivity, TAT....sm
She took me off one of the two clinics so now I only have about 35 docs and maybe 10 specialities, but I believe this is only temporary since I am having trouble familiarizing. I just get the impression that I am not up to par where I should be and I'm surprised, as I'm a quick study. And to pour salt in it, my two QA people on our Messenger List notated next to their names yesterday that they were typing ___ and listed my account name. These ladies only type when backed up. So I think I'm bogging them down:( I feel so inadequate, and for less than 8 cpl. Oy.
Do you love their insurance increase as was
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Fuzzy math. A 40% cut in pay is not offset by a 40% increase
in production.
To break even in this picture, you would have to have a much greater increase in production. IF you currently do 2000 lines a day at 8 cpl, and your new "blended" rate pays 4.8 cpl, you would have to do 3,334 lines to break even, or at least a 67% increase in production. Do you all really think you can do it?
as others have said, increase dictation speed, let spellchecker do it's job
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I believe everyone starts off at 8 cpl and usually reviewed in 90 days for an increase.
There is also incentive pay if you go over 1200 lines a day or 6000 in a pay period I believe. That is about all I know.
No they don't. There is slight increase for evenings and nights;
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