Illegal immigrants do it as well as their employers and....sm
Posted By: Georgia gal on 2005-11-11
In Reply to:
they're oftentimes working "x" hours a week or even full-time. It's a big problem here in Georgia because it's not fair that these people not only get the jobs that they're being paid cash for but then they show up in the ERs when sick and are given Medicaid to pay the bill, even though they're not US citizens. Their kids are given free education and right now the illegal immigrant groups are mad because the state of Georgia is planning to start making them pay out of the country tuition to the universities if they aren't documented legal residents - which I think they should be forced to do. Heck, if I were to get on a plane to say France I couldn't walk off the plane and demand that I be allowed into college at the local tuition rates just because I'm there - whether or not I were there legally.
There's some legislation going forward in January here to put a stop to some of this but of course the illegal immigrant groups are fighting it.
I don't mind paying someone cash if they're doing something rarely for me (i.e. once or twice a year).
For those of you who use say teenage babysitters do you really report every dime you give them to the IRS? What about when you go to a restaurant and tip the wait staff in cash? Do you make sure the manager knows you gave them a cash tip so it's reported? Ever have a neighborhood kid rake leaves for you? Do you pay Little Johnny and then demand his SS# to report you gave him $20 to the IRS?
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hispanics are not the only illegal immigrants here in the US.
Depending in what part of the US you live in you will find more of one race than others. Think of it, are you willing to pick strawberries (back breaking work), cotton, or any other type of hard, physical labor? Most of the immigrants are humble and very hard working people (I am more familiar with the Hispanic culture).
Illegal immigrants are taking over the US..sm
Let me tell you this. It is unreal. I was visiting with a friend and we were discussing how many Mexican immigrants there are around here. I live in South Mississippi and used to be it was rare to see a Mexican immigrant around here. Well now they are everywhere. Her mom works in the dollar store in town and she said you wouldn't believe the number of Mexicans who come in and can't hardly speak any English. Well you know they are likely illegal because to get citizenship you have to be able to speak the language I believe to take the testing to become a citizen. I may be wrong of course. She said we have a group of them who have moved down the road. She said there are 60 believed to be illegal immigrants living in one cabin. 60 in one little house!!!! Can you imagine? There is no running water or electricity in this house either. Unbelievable!! To live that way!! They work picking blueberries locally. Well they have to be desperate because her husband is a cop and lives right down the road and he has suspicion they are illegal. Would you move right down the road from a cop if you were illegal?! It is like the US just turns the other cheek for them. Her husband says he can only pick up an illegal if there are a certain # in a group. He can't just pick up one or two. What kind of state is the country in who will not allow law enforcement to pick up illegals unless there is over a certain # of them in a group?
employers
I was just looking at the available jobs, and I noticed all of them require at least 2-5yrs experience. I also noticed that some of the employers can't even spell, yet experience is required. This seems kind of silly to me.
Just tell prospective employers you...sm
Stop behaving like factory workers on piece-work, demand a fair "hourly wage" for what you do. Find out what is paid in your area, 13.00 to 17.00 dollars is what I often hear as a range for MT pay. Decide what you want, be willing to give an honest days work for an honest days dollar" and then only work for an hourly rate. You will say, but no one pays that, and I will say that is only because no one demands it. We are not migrant workers being paid for how many bushels of apples we pick, why should our take-home pay depend on whether or not the doc is ESL, or is just having a bad day? I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to know how much I will earn to determine how much I can spend. When we start acting like professionals, I think we will be treated like one.
My 2 cents is that I wish all employers - sm
of MTs, whether MTSO or inhouse, would realize that their MTs are an ASSET, not just another 'unnecessary' expense that somehow needs to be eliminated. And then treat them as such! A very intelligent & highly respected MD I once transcribed for told me he couldn't understand the whole downward spiral of the MT profession, pay, etc., because we were the MD's 'first line of defense' against malpractice. He said his job was to practice medicine, and our job was to help him document it accurately.
The wages most places offer are an insult right up front. And then all the sleight-of-hand when it comes to cheating MTs with 'doctored' line counts, late paychecks, etc., adds injury to insult for the MT.
I think part of the problem lies in the fact that because most MTs are home-based nowadays, it's just too easy for them to become faceless, nameless, non-persons to the employer, and it's just too easy for them to cheat someone they don't have to look in the eye every day at work.
I don't see why employers are so afraid to ask for ... sm
at least the minimum lines each day. I used to work at a hospital where the required minimum was I believe 40 minutes, which ain't a lot of work. Most times (and this was when we were in house) the girls would chat and chat and chat and go for lunch and chat and chat, etc., and never work. And they got by with it because they were too scared to demand that these people stick to the guidelines by which they were hired. One day I went in to work OT on a Saturday and worked 4 or 5 hours, and I don't remember what my line count was, but one person typed 12 lines. And she was supposed to be the regular Saturday morning person. Some saturdays I would go in to work and there would be NOBODY there. NOBODY typing in a hospital transcription dept. just because it was Saturday. They got by with it for years, continued to get by with it, and we lost our jobs to MQ because nobody worked and nobody made them work. Me, I worked. I worked a lot. I had (still have) goals, meet them, exceed them routinely because I happen to like paying the bills and having money left over. Like I always say, people whine on here about no work but when there's a lot of OT to be worked they are nowhere to be found.
I think most employers have just left
this board
Well, it costs sometimes. I have had to change employers before because
they were not going to negotiate with me. HOwever, there are plenty of places to work and I have luckily landed in 2 good ones.
I feel very fortunate today with my employment. I know full well it may change tomorrow but I am prepared - emotionally and financially - and will not let that disrupt my life. Too many options out there, folks.
What is FTP site and do employers provide this?
I heard that they have this site and will give you a username and password. Or is this something I have to put together myself. If so, anyone have any information on how to set this up? Thank you.
Most employers are fine as long as you tell ...sm
them when you're interviewing the dates you'll be unavailable. When it usually becomes a problem is when someone says something like 2 days before Christmas "oh by the way I need the next week off...." and they wonder why you tell them no!
Still INFJ. We had to take these at a few of my previous employers.
I actually got denied promotion for being an INFJ. Go figure. Then another supervisor told me I was the exact type of employee they were trying to avoid because INFJs are two-faced backstabbers. I've never been like that. If I have a problem with someone, I'll measure the severity of the situation then tell them to their face. Nothing two-faced there. I don't think those personality tests are an accurate projection of a person's future actions or successes. They shouldn't be used in employment or managerial decisions.
Do employers not realize that a little explanatation
low work volume would go a long way? Nothing special, just to notify us. Just like they expect to be notified if our schedule changes, it would be nice if they let us know about volume and if they were trying to do something to get us more work, etc. Rather, they let us sit here and wonder what the problem is!!! 
Pity my employers? Furthermore, grow up!
x
My employers forbids us to have VoIP because...
it fouls up lots of things. Also, I have a friend with Vonage and we are constantly cut off, or it sounds like she is talking from the bottom of a fish tank. She hates it.
Maybe I'm from old times, but I doubt employers could get away with that...
if the EMPLOYEE has proof they are really an employee and not an IC, especially when it came to tax time. They'd need their W2. That's why I ASKED. I'd flip if an EMPLOYER did that to me. There were no need to get snippy about it. I was stating a fact.
Part of the reason employers are getting away with - sm
turning MT into cheap sweatshop labor is because most people don't even know this problem even exists. It is the healthcare industry's "dirty little secret". If this skeleton in the closet of doctors & hospitals throughout the country were to be made PUBLIC (i.e., 60 Minutes,) maybe it would give us a foot in the door to getting things turned around, before we all have to move to India in order to survive in this business.
How valuable is the RMT credential to employers?
x
Did you notice they DON'T recommend that employers
Well then, gee -- I guess that just leaves the MTs! (Why am I not surprised?)
most employers use the Book of Style sm
for standards and I would get one and read up on it to know the latest info...what did you fail on your testing? Speed? accuracy? You can certainly brush up on these things with practice tapes/dictation. Have you thought of typing independently for clinics in your area? Don't forget about psychiatric clinics, physical therapy clinics and other, less obvious places where documentation is necessary. Go personally to a doctor's office, speak only to the office manager there and tell them you are looking for work, perhaps at first only as a helper/coverage for their current Transcriptionist (I cover many doctor's offices for vacations). It will get your foot in the door at least. I have had two doctors ask me to be their full time transcriptionist after their own had left because I was their vacation coverage and they knew I could handle the job. Keep your head up! Perhaps working at a local hospital is the way to go. Good luck to you!
I get extra incentive from my 2 employers too.
nm
Until employers start thinking of us humans again
sunk.
And the American Way seems to be "bottomline" all the way.
I wish Bill Gates had his computer stuck up where the sun doesn't shine and
the person who invented the "hold button" could be on the next space shuttle.
Those 2 objects set us back a million years in treating each other decent.
I know what you mean about even hospitals getting cut-throat about "produce,
produce". Seems like nobody cares if the product is a stinker or any good - just so
a warm body is in the chair and some black ink is on the paper so as to
collect money.
Having MQ experience on resume is appealing to employers.
I think the new employer realizes you have just come up from the bowels of the transcription field and will work hard and be dedicated if you actually survived for a few years with MQ.
That was my perception anyway. Whenever I would state MQ was a past employer, they seemed pleased and anxious to talk more.
I suspect employers are being forced to care. SM
Since it's a new platform, it's a new problem that probably a lot of companies are just waking up to. My sympathies for people who find themselves effectively "forced" to use it as it apparently is now.
With serious compatibility issues with common brands of the Expanders that have become vital to so many of us, at this point I would not apply to a company using it, and I suspect few other good experienced transcriptionists reading about it would either. This seems such a grave flaw that it will have to be repaired, or this platform will end up a dead end used by only a few institutions.
How about contacting the company that developed the platform directly for answers and fixes? Also the developer of your own expander, who must be well aware of the issues Chartscript raises for them. The ShortHand tech guy (not my own MTSO techs!) fixed me up promptly when I was put on eScription and developed glitches. Best wishes with this.
No way. Univ. of Phoenix is considered a joke by employers!
http://uopsucks.com/negletters.html
The best way to obtain an on-line degree is to attend an accredited university that was already well-known for its academic program way before the internet was invented.
Check out University of Massachusetts, Temple University in Philadelphia, University of Minnesota.
The fly-by-nights like U. of Phoenix are the equivalent to the crap that used to advertise "degrees" on the back of matchbook covers and have no credibility in educational and career circles.
Seriously, stick with an accredited, well-known school, not some bogus piece of crap like that.
You get what you pay for.
Yes - I agree - my 2 employers didn't even acknowledge MT week - so this was very nice
DH & I started new jobs & his mom died. Employers couldn't care less. nm
.
One of my employers told me to just add a 0, i.e. 30 minutes would roughly equal 300 lines. sm
Of course, if someone talks fast, you'd get more lines, and if you get one of those guys who stops and turns pages and/or talks slow, the lines would be less. Seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb for me.
As for the length taken, when I started doing MT work 30-some years ago (back in the days of the vinyl belts and carbon paper -- eek!), the quota was that you should be able to 15 minutes of dictation in 1 hour. However, I think anyone with experience would probably do it in much less time.
Hope this helps. 
WebSense is a filtering program that blocks certain websites. Usually used by employers... SM
to give their employees access to the internet via their network but only allow certain surfing criteria.
I work for a hospital and I connect to their network via a VPN connection to work. I can get on the internet and access certain educational and work-related sites, but Websense blocks me from any sites classified as "entertainment", "shopping" etc.
So the question would be who do you work for and do you connect to there network via a VPN? If so, then Websense is their way of controlling the network.
It's not illegal
There is no law against surfing the net. You can have Vonage if your internet is considered high speed. There is another company called zerocents.com that is very reasonable and the quality is about the same as Vonage. Most regular phone carriers off some type of unlimited plan. Ours for Verizon was an extra 10. a month, an extra 30. for Southern Bell.
It's actually illegal for them to....sm
hold your check unless you signed an employment agreement at the beginning stating that you agreed to these terms.
Most employers I know of pay for the return shipping.
There is nothing illegal about
requiring 40 hours a week to be a full-time employee. Nothing whatsoever. You may not like that, but it IS legal. There is nothing illegal about requiring you to use PTO for time not worked.
I don't know if you are the original poster who began this thread, but the attitude of that post was that a 40-hour requirement is a problem. It isn't. You may not like it because you've been accustomed to less, but it is not a problem it is a standard. The original post for this thread has shed a light of doom, implying that things are just getting out of control and that MQ is asking more than they should of you by setting a 40-hour standard. Well, that's simply not true. It may be more than you're willing to commit to and, if so, then you should leave MQ. Otherwise, you'll just have to go along with it.
You may feel like all things are done to spite you with MQ, or other companies, but you're not thinking very logically if that is your take. If MQ doesn't have MTs, they will not be in business. However, they have to have a standard of what they can offer in exchange for your skills. If that exchange isn't good for you, then you don't have to accept it.
No one has forced anyone to work for this company. You made a choice to go with them. You've made a choice to stay with them if you are still there. You can make a choice to leave them if you want to.
Working from home has been a privilege. Some seem to believe that it in itself is standard but think again. Nurses don't work from home; physicians don't work from home; factory workers don't work from home; car salesmen don't work from home; fast food workers don't work from home, etc. We are a very privileged few who have this option.
What the original poster has stated is simply just the standard being set.
I guarantee you there is and will be a mechanism to protect you in occasional and unforeseen circumstances that might interfere with the normal expectation of a 40-hour commitment. However, just as with inhouse employees in every other industry, if you continually fail to meet that obligation without reason, without documentation of why, then you will be out a job. I have no doubt...that is how it is supposed to work.
You ask who I really am? I'm an MT. I've done this over 20 years. I've owned an MT business; I've worked as an employee and an IC; I've worked in hospitals, clinics, for medical research entities, for MT companies. I'm not in management. I'm not an editor. I'm not in QA. I work the same as you and the others here.
I don't defend illegal activities. I also don't see anything illegal happening here. Maybe it is taking away an advantage you have had and become accustomed to, but it nothing less than the standard for the rest of the world. If that bothers you, if you think you deserve more than the rest of the world, I suppose you are going to be sorely disappointed. I hate that for you.
As I've said before, MQ and other companies will never make many of you happy. If you have the ideal situation in your mind of what you want and need, then go find it. If you cannot find it anywhere, you'll have to create it. You can do it.
To sit here and complain over something that (1) you will not act on in a professional, mature, and accepted way to change (i.e., filling out a complaint form and documenting the problem), (2) causes others to become distressed, panicked, and/or overly concerned about something that you personally just don't like, and (3) insinuating that MTs have been done "wrong" with "illegal" activities by their employers IS whining. It is baseless. It is useless. It provides no constructive action. It only serves to keep others (who fall for it) in the same emotional turmoil you are in...and no one ever said it more true than with the old addage, "misery loves company."
That is illegal
They cannot legally call you after 9pm or before 8am. You need to call and report them. I can't remember exactly who you report those things to, but they can be fined big bucks. And if they are just a call center working for your CC company, both companies can be fined. Check the TCPA Act. If nothing else, maybe you can get enough money out of it to pay off the bill completely and tell them to shove it LOL
Illegal???
I've been an MT for quite a few years. I just started a new job at a hospital where my lead has been "making up" reports.
For instance: Medical records contacts her about a missing report. She cannot find that it was ever dictated. Instead of telling medical records that it was never dictated, she takes the patient chart, gleans the information from it and "makes up a report".
Isn't this illegal? And, if so, do I do anything about it? I'm new at this job and I don't want to appear to be a tattletale. And anyway, maybe medical records knows about it and is okay with it - then what?
illegal
I worked for a home care agency and a nurse in a MD office apparently did the same thing - well the patient ended up dying - by no fault of the MD - but the nurses note that she made up when she lost the original neglected some pretty darn important information and the family sued stating the work was not done - You meed to tell someone - when the crap hits the fan - it will be everyone who gets it not just the person creating information
MYs have far too much responsibility to let this go - we all want to be respected, and paid for our job - and keeping things legal is a very important part of this.
So totally and completely false! Plenty of employers test who are not partners with top 3!
nm
Not *discussing* your line rate is a bunch of baloney....encouraged by employers....
They don't want us all to know what each other makes so they can keep paying as low and unfairly as possible.
How is the WORLD can letting someone know your line rate hurt you or anyone? It doesn't--only benefits employers.
Not *discussing* your line rate is a bunch of baloney....encouraged by employers....
They don't want us all to know what each other makes so they can keep paying as low and unfairly as possible.
How is the WORLD can letting someone know your line rate hurt you or anyone? It doesn't--only benefits employers.
Illegal? Hahaha
Your so-called contract was a statement of what your rate would be at that time. It did not guarantee you any specific amount of work nor pay for any specified length of time.
Go seek help! Go seek an attorney! Throw more of the money you're losing to a cause you won't win.
It's disheartening, I agree. Spheris has done it...know what? They're still in business and they still have great MTs (along with the pitiful ones as well). A few jumped ship when it happened; some came back. New ones came on board. The company moved on and is doing better.
That is what will happen here. I'm not trying to downplay your reaction -- you are right to feel upset about it. But please, please don't waste more of what you are losing by seeking help where you won't find it.
Regarding the F9 feature -- absolutely no company is required to charge clients and pay employees on the same definition...and yes, there is a difference - it is called making a profit. If MQ (or any other MT company) wants to charge clients for a flat rate, a per-minute rate, a per-line rate, a combination of flat rate per report + lines, etc., but pay their MTs only a 65-character line...then that is their right. It isn't any MTs business what/how MQ charges their clients. That's business, period. Not just this industry either.
It IS your business that you be paid what you agreed to under your "contract". However, since they have adjusted their pay scale, that "contract" is null. You have the right not to accept it by quitting. You have as much right to nullify that contract as they do.
This is an exchange -- skills and services for money. If either party doesn't care for how the other is conducting/upholding their end, or if circumstances change, either party can leave. It is called employment at will.
Please, save yourself the money at least. Work on healing the heartache of it.
Oh, yes! Illegal drugs are fun!
I never even did drugs when I was a stupid teenager.
alcohol was illegal once too
Alcohol was illegal at one time too..Marijuana should be legalized, there is no reason not to legalize it. It will be legalized one day soon, Im sure. It is less harmful than alcohol.
It's illegal for a company to not...sm
make special accommodations for anyone who is disabled to help them work.
Yeah, but I LIKE being illegal!
Seriously, to me the whole issue of songs being illegal to download for free is dumb - music belongs to the people, not the record labels. And after being ripped off by all these labels for 30 years since I started buying records at ridiculous prices, I don't feel any guilt at all if I AM ripping off the record companies. These companies just don't like the advent of the Internet, but too bad - its the wave of the future! 
Just say your an illegal immigrant
x
It is not illegal. Could be harmful for the
employer-employee relationship, but not illegal.
There is no federal or state mandate that you receive any paid time off at all. It is completely at the company's discretion. Their policies on eligibility, accrual, disbursement and forfeiture are completely the company's own decisions.
Let me say this, however, in defense of companies with paid time off plans: The smartest plan of action you, as an employee, can take is to do a little planning and keep your paid time off balance low by taking it. If you wait until the end of the year, you do risk losing it if your company does not pay out accrued but unused paid time off. However, many companies do not pay for accrued but unused time; if you do not take it, you forfeit it. It is not intended as additional income but as a means of taking a rest from work while maintaining your regular income. It is a "benefit". You are better off taking it, planning on what you expect to have available, and keep the balance low or caught up.
In all honesty, having owned 2 business (1 MTSO and 1 non-MT business), my employees were well aware of how much paid time off they could count on and, despite warnings that we would still have staffing responsibilities to maintain, some would wait until the end of the year to take it. I felt absolutely no need to compensate them for not planning and taking a benefit I offered. It was not designed to give them extra income. I offered it as a benefit so they could take days off without losing income.
Illegal records
I worked for a hospital years ago and sometimes the dictation did not come through our system correctly even though the doc knew he dictated it. We had several docs who absolutely REFUSED to re-dictate, stating they dictated once and that was it. Several times, I personally had charts out of the hospital (which would scare me now to do this) at my boss' request and made up or gleaned from the chart the discharge summary. This was an orthopedic doc that I also worked for, by the way, so I practically knew what he was going to say before he said it. Several of us did quite a few charts like this as some of the docs WOULD NOT, absolutely WOULD NOT re-dictate and we needed the discharge summary and/or op report in the report. Scary or not, we did it. Don't know as I would do it now, though.
That is so illegal. My hubby is sm
also in health care administration. If the doctors don't dictate their charts, they are put on suspension I don't know how ANYONE could think that an MT has the right to "glean" information from a chart and make up a discharge summary.
That is absolutely totally nauseating to me that someone would "make up" a dictation! That is coming from an MT with a chronic illness and many hospitalizations! That is the scariest thing I have ever heard of.
MTs are not doctors and why any MT would take that kind of risk is beyond me. I would call Risk Management if it meant losing my job, but no way would I sit back and watch that go on.
I don't know what has happened in this profession in the last 30 years, but this is ridiculous. Unbelievable!
ILLEGAL WORKERS
Good for you, glad your experience worked out. Mine didn't. I got a bid for our lawn, which is huge, from a local landscaper, it (the bid) was huge. Unbeknownst to me, my dh had ordered sod and had a delivery date. Someone called from the landscaper with a revised bid ($400.00 cheaper) and I said okay, and took it because the sod was on its way the following day, no cancellations allowed (it was a whop-load, like four truck trailers). I cold not afford to lose all that money. I took the bid, not knowing what else to do and low and behold a mass of people showed up with the truck and guess who they were? Right! I was totally out of my element and just backed up out of the way as huge machine things sent the sod rolling off the trucks and these guys all grabbed some and started rolling it out. Four hours later, the foreman from the landscape company showed up and these evidently were "his men" who showed up (complete with children and dogs and yes, they did want beverages, etc). These kids ran rampant all over the place with little to no supervision. Seems the foreman was stabbing his employer in the back and did this frequently. He is a citizen, but his workers are not. Most ended up being his relatives. Never again! This is my one personal experience with this and I know that it goes on all the time from a neighbor who is a contractor. So, I still blame illegals and people who foster illegals. They need to go home and leave us to ours. I was railroaded that day and others are too. Be careful who you talk to at landcaping companies.
illegal aliens
A burglar is not an uninvited house guest. A car jacker is not an underrated driver. A bank robber is not making an unauthorized withdrawal. And illegal aliens are not undocumented immigrants. Let's not sugarcoat things. The correct terminology for the nearly 20 million people illegaly in the US is illegal aliens. By definition an alien is a person who comes from a foreign country. Thus an illegal alien.
What is the minimum lines per week required by employers for part-time for transcription?
nm
I think it's illegal too. I find it hard to believe
you've earned. Talk to an attorney who specializes in employment law.
It is illegal if you found out someone's salary through
unauthorized methods, such as snooping in personnel files, but you can discuss your salary with others if you wish to.
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