If all the downtime was due to maintenance, (sm)

• Moderator, what's going on with this forum? - me
  • Connection might not be - wondering
  • If all the downtime was due to maintenance, (sm) - at the peak of my career
  • I am having the same problem. Had a difficult time - ss
    • that would be lickity. The slow connection must have erased a few letters. LOL (nm) - ss
  • I've had the same problem, but it could - be maintenance. It looks as if
    • What does the site being down have to do with foreign MTs? - Left Field
      • yes, do explain that train of thought...I am curious, too. - anon
        • site being down? - grasshopper

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stuff, i.e. system scan, etc.  I don't plan to get on.  It is just irritating to me.  I would rather have time with my family than 1.5 pay. 

Computer users can do the main maintenance chores without taking a class because Windows provides simple point-and-click interfaces to things like disk cleanup, disk defragmenting and backup.  The other important things are running antivirus and antispyware software and keeping them up to date, but most of these configure themselves to update automatically.

One thing that can be tricky is installing and configuring a firewall, depending on your particular situation and version of Windows.  However, firewalls have also become much more user-friendly in recent years.. 

Eliminating a virus once you have one is another matter, some being so nasty that they resist removal.  For these,  "a class" in computers won't give you the expertise to exterminate them anyway.

If you Google "regular Windows maintenance" (including the quotes so it's treated as a single search phrase), you'll find lots of reasonably nontechnical advice online that will tell you everything you need to know to keep your Windows system in good running order and as reasonably well-protected as possible.

Since you have less than 2 years experience, it is possible the owner just does not have accounts that fit your qualifications to send you.  Just bevause they have work, does not mean you are qualified to receive it. They most likely are sending it to someone that is less maintenance than you on specific specialities.  

First, this is not spam.  I am just a QA who found the below projects.  It is called BOINC, and the purpose is for home users to allow their CPU and memory to be utilized as a "supercomputer" for the purpose of medical and other research projects.  It runs on parameters you set in terms of when it can run, etc.  I have been using it for a week and it does not slow my system down at all.  Why not use that downtime for projects such as AIDS and cancer research?

Here are the links:

http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta

You can also Google BOINC to find a list of projects.

Do MTSOs, nationals, usually pay for downtime for employees?  If so, what has been your experience - ever received downtime? your company's policy, i.e., pay for two days downtime?

Also, as an employee for a nat'l, if you have a set schedule, what do you do when very little work comes in, for example one dictation/hour?  At what point do you cut out?  I'm new to working for a national and this has happened a lot lately - I know, the holidays.  If there is little work, I usually only stay connected for two hours, let me sup. know, and call it a day. 

I swear, sometimes I hate this industry!!  Any other company, at least in my state, if there is no work, as an employee, you still get paid or after a certain period, you get unemployment...something!

I was doing some research and just thought I would share it here. 

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http://en.allexperts.com/q/Employment-Law-924/2008/3/unpaid-training.htm

Question
I'm a part time security officer.  The contract is changing hands where i work (large corporate facility)...the location stays the same but a new company takes over the new contract next week.  The incoming company has advised everyone that they must attend a mandatory unpaid training class.  Is this legal?

Answer

Expert: Shirley McAllister, CPP, PHR
Date: 3/28/2008
Subject: unpaid training

It is not legal.

Here is the ruling from the Department of Labor Website at

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs22.pdf

Lectures, Meetings and Training Programs: Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time only if four criteria are met, namely: it is outside normal hours, it is voluntary, not job related, and no other work is concurrently performed.

Since the meetings are not voluntary you must be paid to attend them.

FURTHER:

29 CFR 785.27 - General.
Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time if the following four criteria are met:
(a) Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours;
(b) Attendance is in fact voluntary;
(c) The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the employee's job; and
(d) The employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance.

IF THE ABOVE 4 CRITERIA ARE NOT MET, THEN THE EMPLOYEE MUST BE PAID FOR THE TRAINING/MEETING TIME.

29 CFR 785.28 - Involuntary attendance.
Attendance is not voluntary, of course, if it is required by the employer. It is not voluntary in fact if the employee is given to understand or led to believe that his present working conditions or the continuance of his employment would be adversely affected by nonattendance.
__________________

ICs and unpaid trainings:

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59022

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FURTHER
(FROM http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/hoursworked/screen1d.asp)

Waiting for Work
Time which an employee is required to be at work or allowed to work for his or her employer is hours worked. A person hired to do nothing or to do nothing but wait for something to do or something to happen is still working. The Supreme Court has stated that employees subject to the FLSA must be paid for all the time spent in "physical or mental exertion (whether burdensome or not) controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily and primarily for the benefit of the employer of his business."

Place of Work
Hours worked include all the time during which an employee is required or allowed to perform work for an employer, regardless of where the work is done, whether on the employer’s premises, at a designated work place, at home or at some other location.
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