Legal/Moral issue advice needed
Posted By: Still angry on 2005-12-12
In Reply to:
I worked as an IC for a company with questionable business practices and who treated me like a dish rag for about 8 months this past year and when I finally could not take any more, I quit. In the end I was stiffed for about $1900 in pay but I pretty much knew it was pointless to even try to get my money and decided to leave it in the past.
Well now, they have just sent me tax papers, evidently they never got my signed forms or lost them or whatever. My question is do I really have to fill them out and send them back, or should I hold out for my back pay, or what? I really don't feel like I should do anything for them even though I know that it is wrong. Does anyone know if I can get in trouble for not returning this form?
TIA,
Still angry MT
Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old. To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
Oh, brother! It is not a moral issue...
YOU are making it a moral issue. It is unusual for her, and she is unsure about his statement and is therefore questioning it. She is NOT questioning prayer.
Very interesting. May I ask how that is seen as a moral issue? sm
I understand being against the procedure and the beliefs that follow that. I myself am against it; however, I don't see how transcribing a report about it would be morally wrong. Upsetting? Yes, very. Not trying to be rude or anything, I'm honestly quite curious.
Thank you for any insight.
Ridiculous. It's not a medication or a procedure she's questioning. This is a moral issue.
She is way out of line to question transcribing that. You're comparing apples to oranges.
Legal issue
Received an email from the company with an attachment that says we have to sign it, giving them the right to access at any time our email and computer files. We do not have email through the company and the computer is mine, not theirs. Why would I be required to sign this to keep my job? It's none of their business what's on my personal computer or what's in my emails!!!
Legal issue
They have absolutely no right to your private emails or personal files. If it is your computer, they have no legal right to access it in any way, actually, without your permission.
Check with an attorney.....I did.
Legal issue
My business attorney said NOT to sign such an agreement. They are free to access my MQ computer but not my personal computer. We have confidential financial data on there.
Legal issue. Please let us know how this one turns out? nm
:)
ADVICE NEEDED - PLEASE :)
I was offered a home-based MT job as a direct employee of the hospital with an extremely good per-line-rate. But yes, it was too good to be true! Apparently on further consideration, the administrator now says it is too costly (technically) for home set-up; mentioned something about the Lanier DVI desktop and how costly etc. etc. and some other MT has the license (?what's that about?); also mentioned "Cquence" transcription software program. They already have 5 other off-site MTs. Anybody out there with opinions and/or constructive advice...please.
Advice Needed
I am an IC MT. My MTSO continually loses files that I have already sent her. I am paid only for what I type per line, not doing secretarial work. Just today she said that she needed me to resend EVERYTHING I have done for her since October 15. That's going in, in separate emails so I don't crash her computer, and sending separate emails with each day's work. I just spent over an hour doing this.
Saying anything will get her irate, because she doesn't understand the concept of IC versus employee paid by the hour. But does anyone have a good sample email for how I would basically say, "I spent an hour on this. I bill out at $25 an hour, so further resending of previously sent work will be billed at this rate."
That will probably get me fired. Any better way to put it?
Advice needed.
Hello everyone! I am needing a little bit of advice. I have been talking to a clinic about doing their transcription. It is a strong possibility that I will be picking up and delivering tapes and files. What do you suggest I charger per line? I do not want to price myself too high, but neither do I want to price myself too low either. I will be driving approximately two and a half hours both ways. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Wow I needed this advice
Thank you for posting this and thanks to all for your words of encouragement. I thought about giving up also but I paid too much money for my course to give up.
It was good to read that others failed before they succeeded.
Thanks again.
Pam
Advice needed please!
This is, I know, an old and overdone question BUT...Please, please other than coffee, protein, water, energy drinks, herbs, and Provigil, please does anybody have a way in which I can stay awake in between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. during my shift? My shift is second oddly going into third. I am fine when I do third shift going into overnight and early morning. But, it is absolutely the worst struggle between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. I would gladly give my highest paycheck to the person who can help me stay awake at that time. That is if I could LOL. Appreciating your replies.
Advice needed
I currently do transcription for a doctor who still uses tapes, which entails me printing out his work and driving 50+ miles round-trip three times a week to return the documents. Today, his wife (the office manager) called and left a message telling me they were making some changes with the New Year in their office and that I would need to start "cutting" the transcription before returning it (they use sticky paper and I'm to cram as many patients as possible on a page) to help their front office personnel. I wasn't asked if I could do this; I was told to do it. I feel this is my business and I control my time and services, not the office manager of that practice. However, on an added note, these people are personal friends (we bowl on a bowling team together), but I've never mixed business and pleasure with them, always conducting myself in a most professional way when dealing with their transcription. My biggest concern is that if I oblige, how long before she wants me to start filing it when I return it. Ugghh! I don't know what to do and I'm open to any and all suggestions.
That's all I needed to know.. Thanks for the advice.
Just needed validation. Enjoy the site!
I've got a totally non-MT related issue that I need advice on. SM
Several years ago the husband of a friend of mine made a pass at me. When I was married we would get together with my friend and her husband to play cards and stuff like that. Her husband made a blatant pass at me, basically called me one night and asked me if I wanted to.... well you get the idea. After that I basically avoided going over to their house to play cards and we stopped getting together so often. I never told my friend because she is one of those who thinks the sun rises and sets on her husband's behind. Women have called her in the past and claimed to have slept with him and she has basically said they were liars and believed everything her husband said. I figured she wouldn't believe me and it would basically ruin our friendship.
Long story short, I ended up moving to another state and so the issue became a nonissue. Recently, I have separated from my husband and have moved back to the area where I'm from and where my friend and her husband live. She has basically started calling me and wanting me to come over again and stuff. Now, because I'm basically single, I am REALLY uncomfortable going over to her house. I've accepted her invitation a couple of times, but I just can't stand to be in the same room as her husband. It just makes me angry to look at him, so smug and just full of himself, like he's gotten away with something.
Anyway, my friend invited me to dinner this weekend and I decided to say no. She just called me and I told her that I have to plan my daughter's birthday party (which is true) and maybe some other time. Well, she was very short with me on the phone and basically hung up on me. Telling me that if I don't want to be friends, I should at least tell her to her face.
So now I don't know what to do or say. I want to be her friend, but I loathe her husband. What should I do? Asking her to do stuff without her husband doesn't work because she does EVERYTHING with him. She can't go to the grocery store without taking him with her. I feel very guilty right now, like I've hurt her feelings and I don't know what to do.
resume advice needed, please!
Problems on this job have me seriously considering making a move if there's no improvement soon. Last night I started to polish up a resume, and realized I'm not sure what to do with references. I am not ready to tell my current employer that I am investigating my options, and I would rather not have them called for references until I'm in discussion with a company that looks like a good fit for me.
So what to do on the resume? "Available upon request"? I have a number of reference letters from when I was an IC that I can attach, if I really need to have references on the resume itself. Do you think many companies actually followup on references before they interview? Any thoughts/experience are appreciated!
HELP - Advice needed for my friend ASAP - sm
My friend and her boyfriend of 5 years recently obtained custody of the boyfriend's now 7-year old daughter. You talk about a handful of trouble, that's exactly what has been packaged into this mini sized monster child.
Bear with me because this will be quite lengthy. I will call the girl by her nickname, Tater.
Tater was 5 when my friend (S) and her boyfriend (D) started with the custody proceedings. Every time Tater would come for visitations, she was full of these wild stories that were quite alarming to S and D. She would come and tell them how her mom walks around the house naked all the time with all of these different boyfriends, how one of those boyfriends held a pillow over her (Tater) face one time, and how Tater and her baby brother were often left alone for hours at a time and sometimes overnight while her mom was out "getting drunk" with her boyfriends.
Naturally, S and D were really upset by these stories and so they got an attorney and really pushed for custody. They got custody in March 2005 and their life has been a living hell since she has come to live with them.
Less than a day or so after she moved in, she started telling them how one of her mom's boyfriends "did things to her" so S and D were once again in an emotional fit because they thought someone had molested Tater. They called a psychologist and the police. Had her evaluated, everything. Even had Tater talk to a detective that works child abuse cases. His findings and the psychologist's findings were the same. She had not been abused and, in fact, had a severe problem with delineating fact from fantasy.
Tater now sees the psychologist once per week. The goal of the treatment was originally to get Tater to understand the difference between telling stories and the truth, along with dealing with the fact that her mother now has absolutely no contact with her. It's been rough for S and D as well as Tater.
Things went well for a short time, then school started 3 weeks ago. Since starting school, S and D have been called to the school numerous times because Tater has either said that she couldn't do her homework because her daddy was "all drunk", that when S dropped her off at school she was "drinking wine from a bottle in the car" (it was green tea in a glass bottle,) and that they don't allow her to talk to her mother, which is not true. Her mother has supervised visitation but chooses to opt out.
She has told her aunt and uncle that S killed her cat on purpose when it was actually her aunt who accidentally ran over the cat but Tater didn't know that. She told one of the neighbors that her mommy had her (Tater) picture taken once and was in a naughty magazine because her mom got money for it and Tater would get it when she was old enough. OMG yet? Yeah! This kid is something else.
She also made a little boy cry in class by rudely saying how he was so stupid and slow during outloud reading time.
S and D have tried all of the things the psychologist have recommended, taking her toys, taking her TV, radio, making her write apologies and hand deliver them, and sit directly behind the bus driver (for even more trouble on the bus.)
She also missed the bus home purposely last week because she was going to go to a friend's house. Her grandmother had to come all the way into town (they live about 10 miles out) to get her. When D and S questioned her about what she was doing, she screamed at them that it was "HER LIFE" and she could do what she wanted if she felt like it. Remember folks, this kid turned 7 last month!
Now, a few minutes ago, S called me in tears. She got another call from the school because Tater had told some of the boys that another boy was threatening her and making her scared (which was a lie) so she wanted them to do something about it. These 3 little boys proceeded to gang up on the other boy and he was hurt. Not seriously but that he was hurt is bad enough. These 3 boys and Tater are now suspended. These are first graders and this is a very small town.
S and D are ready to snap. I don't know what else to tell her. The psychologist told S and D that she was afraid that Tater had multiple personality disorder but couldn't make that diagnosis on a definitive basis because, as of yet, there are no clear cut documented cases in children of this age. They usually don't start developing these tendencies until they are in their mid to late teens.
I have looked online for any kind of research or specialists that can deal with this but it's very difficult to find information even on pre-adolescents that are out of control.
I am asking for your help. If anyone knows of a professional or group that can help S and D with Tater, PLEASE post here ASAP. At this point, I'm very concerned about THEIR well being. This kid is a serious danger. There is much more but I think I have told you enough already. We are in Washington State too, just in case anyone has any ideas where to go for help.
Thank you so very much if any of you can help.
advice needed, will you guys be my magic eight
Pay cut at the beginning of this year, cannot make the incentives I used to because my hands cannot type a lot in a short period of time. I need a 10 hour window, at least 50 hours a week. So i've been considering leaving the MT field. Trouble is, i'm about 20K in debt. There is something i've decided I want to do, a tech school, since I do not see myself going to school the next 10 years to get a degree. Problem is, the cost is 6K. The thought of delving deeper in debt makes my teeth chatter, BUT, I will be making more than I do as an MT, and my hands are in bad shape, not up to par anymore. Should I go with this, be out of the program in six months OR get a second job now to make up the loss I took with the pay cut and continue getting myself at 0 debt. Will you sweet, intelligent ladies advise me? Thanks...
Advice needed - Switching from employee to IC
I have been working with a national company for 5 years and have enjoyed it but a friend called me recently stating she had a doctor who is despirate for a new MT and she recommended me. I talked to the doc. today and she is very interested. I have a meeting with the office manager next week to work out the details. I have a few questions and would appreciate your advice:
1. Doc. did not know what type of dictation system they use, but it sounded like a C-phone or DVI system. Currently I do everything on line, is there a way to dial into a C-phone system through my computor's modem? I know that this is probably wishful thinking, but it can't hurt to ask.
2. Do you draw up a contract?
3. Are there any questions you would recommend I ask (we have already discussed pay and vaccation/sick time as well as turn around on the reports)?
I am a bit nervous about striking out on my own but the company I work for made a lot of changes last January and it just is not working well for me anymore.
Thanks for your help,
Mariah
Job search help needed/advice/clue me in!!!
I guess I've been lucky to work with some wonderful MTSO's in the past! I've been an MT for over 10 years, but am just now looking for new work and have not worked for big, national companies before. I posted the other day about testing with companies, and I did and got 2 job offers. Yea!...you'd think. Ha!
I thought I'd get offered a decent wage, for starters. Two companies offered me positions, one at 6.25 cpl and the other at 5.5 cpl. Both of them say they go up, the more lines you have. Unless they go up...like double...forget it! At least one of them additionally charges a fee if I don't make my anticipated line count during the payperiod (and I had to make my schedule a month in advance), as well as a bi-weekly service fee for using their software.
Is this what I have to look forward to????? I guess my head has been in the sand, because I had no idea this is what people's contracts had in them. No wonder no one is making any money. Honestly, is this standard? Sorry if I seem so out of touch.
Help! Need advice. Trying to get my own MT accts in CA. What paperwork/contracts needed??
Hi, I'm trying to start my own small local MT business, and I'm just wondering if anyone knows what contracts/HIPAA paperwork should be signed between Drs. and myself. I'm clueless on where to begin!
Thnx,
Rachel
Thank you for your reassurance and I will take your advice, it's much-needed. Will post an updat
night:)
moral
Ignore them for awhile. They ignored you. If they hound you, NEGOTIATE, and under no circumstances should you give them the papers that they want until you have a BANK CHECK or MONEY ORDER in hand. (Obviously they will stiff you on a check and then laugh at you.) That's just my take. There's "moral," and there's relegating yourself to the status of "doormat." Don't be a doormat. Just my take. I'm not an accoountant, just an MT who doesn't like to be stiffed.
Thanks for the moral support! sm
do you believe it... even psych MEDS are not covered on my plan???
(yes, I am presently shopping around for new insurance LOL!)
You raise a good point though... just try doing it w/o a psych referral first. Interesting. Thanks!
All the wonderful and varied input here; you guys are great. Thank you so much.
A lot of legal transcription and legal jobs in
xx
Is this a semantics issue or is it a you versus frustrated issue?
Which ever it is, if your feeling superior on a board makes your day go on ahead. I am sure frustrated knows what she is doing and now so does her boss. I am also sure that in the future frustrated with think twice about how she words every sentence perfectly so that you can perceive it correctly. After all, that is what she would rather be doing than kissing her little daughter. NOT.
Good for you frustrated, for handling it in a professional manner. For the other MTs on here who need to get a life, well, maybe they shouldn't bother since feeling superior here seems to suit well. JMHO.
Join as in moral support, call me and I will be there with my name on the line.
I have called the attorneys and given any information they may need including my name, phone, e-mail address and home address to contact me if and when I can officially become part of the lawsuit. For now, I have joined in the solidarity of supporting the original MQMTs which is better than them just standing out there alone with no support whatsoever. So if the attorneys go to them and say hey, we got a list of 1000 names who have phoned us to join in support of your efforts it's a whole lot better than no one responding the attorneys who asked MQMTs to call in their complaints.
WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?
It isn't a Smartype issue it is a Word issue
On the Word toolbar at the top, click on Tools, then Autocorrect, then check the box that says "capitalize first letter of sentence." That will do it for you.
Advice to YOU..1st learn to spell before insulting poster and trying to give advice...sm
Sound advice from a fellow MT if you want advice or support (sm)
I have been an MT for over 10 years. I also am getting burnt out, tired of my job, day in day. However, I do love transcription and make excellent money at it, have grossed over $50,000 per year the last 5 years. I decided to go back to nursing school and am very happy with my choice. However, over these 10 years of transcription I have had my ups and downs. My biggest issue with being at home working is lack of socialization, being home day in and day out with just the kids and the animals really gets to a person, sure hubby is home at night and thinks working from home is the easy life, thus the return to school and boy has my overall enjoyment of life changed once I realized I was the problem, not everyone else and I needed to find myself again.
Anyway, my biggest advice to you three-fold:
1. Get into counseling for yourself, find out who you are and what your needs are, whether or not you think you need to, I sense you are feeling overwhelmed and need someone other than your family to talk to that can be nonjudgmental to your feelings and needs.
2. If you're only making $100 after you pay preschool you can either keep doing it and be miserable, or quit because you are lucky enough to have a husband who can support the family without your income. (See how fast his mind changes just by losing the income you do have as to whether your job means anything.) Or look for a different company or office that you like more and are more productive if you really want to do transcription (lots of fish in the sea as far as companies).
3. Find a local "mom's" group where you can get out and socialize. MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) is an excellent one that is nationwide, they have a website. Also Mom2Mom is in a lot of areas. They provide a once a week time for moms with kids the same age to get together, socialize, (some offer spirtual guidance some don't) and each week a different mom takes a turn watching everyone else's children at the facility that hosts it so the other moms can talk about things they have in common. Every stay-at-home and work-from-home mom needs to socialize with adults, without their kids, or they will have a nervous breakdown eventually no matter how much they love their kids.
Sorry so long but it does get better but you have to take the first step at making yourself happy.
Legal or what? IC help.
OK, I need some IC help please? I just quit my IC position and was told after the fact that I would NOT be paid for my last 30 days of working because I did not give proper notice per contract. Well to make a long story short I didn't sign a contract. So what would you seasoned ICs do?
This is not legal
Sorry but this is not legal and if you get caught it can be insurance fraud with big consequences. Legally and morally you should not be on his insurance coverage, if you chose to stay on it, live with yourself and the fear of "getting caught". This is where our morals are going down the tube in this country. Lie and cheat to get what we want and something for nothing.
Med-Legal
if anyone does work for CMLS doing med-legal docs? If so, any feedback, good, bad, or indifferent would be appreciated. Thanks!
What I was doing is legal. sm
I was using a trial version to see if I liked it. I paid to have the complete 2003 version put on my new computer. I would not use a bootleg version software for work. That was my point. However, I hate to pay that much to put it on my son's computer just so he can take a single high school class. I may have to work it so he can use my computer to send his work in, because he needs Word format.
Regardless of whether it's legal or not, I think
At a time when hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been lost, with surely more to come this year, sending ANY job overseas that could be done by a better-qualified American is wrong.
Of course, they're not going to outlaw offshoring. But it needs to stop being such a cash cow for American businesses. Many of them know what they're doing is wrong, but do it anyway in order to make more money for themselves. Or they do it because they don't have the backbone to stand up to medical institution management who cuts MT expenditures because they basically know little to nothing about MT. To them it's just something they can easily cut without any guilt, because they don't have to face those workers every day in person.
The government needs it pointed out to them that there are at least 2 major benefits to taxing the offshoring of American work: (1) More money paid in taxes by big business, who can afford it. (2) Fewer Americans out of work, and once again paying taxes and contributing to the economy again, instead of having to RECEIVE money from the government in order to survive.
Regardless of whether it's legal or not, I think
At a time when hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been lost, with surely more to come this year, sending ANY job overseas that could be done by a better-qualified American is wrong.
Of course, they're not going to outlaw offshoring. But it needs to stop being such a cash cow for American businesses. Many of them know what they're doing is wrong, but do it anyway in order to make more money for themselves. Or they do it because they don't have the backbone to stand up to medical institution management who cuts MT expenditures because they basically know little to nothing about MT. To them it's just something they can easily cut without any guilt, because they don't have to face those workers every day in person.
The government needs it pointed out to them that there are at least 2 major benefits to taxing the offshoring of American work: (1) More money paid in taxes by big business, who can afford it. (2) Fewer Americans out of work, and once again paying taxes and contributing to the economy again, instead of having to RECEIVE money from the government in order to survive.
legal
Have you thought of doing legal transcription for a company? I don't know of any, but I wonder if there aren't some out there? Makes sense. Hope your travels are fun!
Of course it's legal - It's Your Job
Are you working for an MTSO? They may even decide to put you on a new account every other day! Yes, they can do that. Have had it done to me many times. Had to get used to it. You have not really given this a lot of time. With time comes experience and $$. You will become more knowledgable and faster at what you do. It does really matter whether they did it now or later, you would still be on a new account that you did not know. Besides, you said yourself you are struggling, what if you like the new account better!!!
The last of my brood will be legal age when I'm your age.
Originally, we had planned on retiring from our jobs and being done raising kids by 40 years old. It didn't work out that way! LOL There's something to be said for having kids later in life after your career is established and you've learned patience.
Legal transcription
Has anybody transcribed legal notes? If so, did you find easier or about the same as medical? Just curious.
Legal Transcription
It depends what type of law is involved. Patent/tax is dull and boring. I worked for years as a legal Transcriptionist for an auto company in product litigation. This was not boring. As far as difficulty, medical transcription has much more to learn.
Call Legal Aid and sue her
.
Legal action
First of all, my condolences to you and your wife. I feel for you. I lost an adult child 14 years ago. Among the many aspects of grief, the realities of your deceased child's legal affairs can be a nightmare. I am not a legal expert and I don't know if any legal changes have been made in the past years. At the time our son died he left behind a student loan for $13,000.00 and a personal loan for about $5,000.00. He was over the age of 21 when he signed for these loans. It was a nightmare for me and my husband. These creditors hounded us and threatened to get the money from us even though our son was 23 at the time of his death. One creditor even tainted our credit report because my son and his father had the same name. It was a complete nightmare for a couple of years. We sought legal advice, send copies of the death certificate to the creditors several times, and eventually things got straightened out. In your case you have an individual who claims money is owed to him. Did you daughter have a will? I assume she was still legally married. I would definitely seek legal advice. I doubt this individual can force you to pay on her debt if there indeed was one. However, you can stop the harassment by legal means. Seek legal counsel. The last thing you need is this aggravation. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
not a legal anything anymore
You really need to speak with an attorney about this. I see several issues: 1- she was not divorced, as I understand it, so her husband might have rights to the m/c; 2- Dependant on the existance (I spelled that wrong huh) of a will, who knows who actually owns the bike; but, 3- if the bike is in her name on the title, and there is no leinholder, odds are, the seller has no legal footing (unless there's a contract of sorts with receipts to verify his legal standing).... it boils down to, talk to an attorney in your state, laws vary so much state to state.
I'm so sorry for your loss, and so sorry this had to pop up to get in the way of your grieving and healing process.
Has anyone ever done legal transcription? sm
Just wondering what it is like, how you get into it. Thanks for any info! Have a great day.
Legal Transcription
Yes, I have done legal transcription before I became an MT. I absolutely loved it! It wasn't just depositions (which weren't that bad to me), but letters, all court documents, everything involved in a legal office. I had no problems with it. This was about 10 years ago. It was a temporary position, and I was later offered a permanent position with them which I would have taken in a heartbeat had I not been pregnant for my now-9-year-old son and in the process of moving. Actually, at the time I worked there, it was considered a legal "word processor" but most of the work was transcription from tapes. It was great!
No legal training, but...
I did have secretarial and word processing experience. I think my average wpm back then may have been about 80-90 wpm. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to type/transcribe and is good with the English language, grammar, and spelling!
It probably is legal but certainly not ethical.
,
Not exactly ethical, nor is it legal. nm
I was told that it's not legal.
You have to own the CD of the music you're downloading to your MP3 player. It's the same as burning copies of movies and CDs for people, which is not legal either.
legal proceedings sm
I was told by one MTSO that once they sign it, "they own it," but I never did aspire to that rule. I called each client individually before I changed a report to "save them" from making a mistake. I believe that most lawyers would go to any length to pin an error on anyone. I also did court transcripts for awhile and the lawyer asked the doctor on the stand how he dictated his reports, to whom and what the initials at the end of the report were. The report ended up being transcribed at a service I used to work for via their telephone system. I do not know the outcome of the case or any other involvement, as I only did part of the transcript, but believe me, you should worry. I don't want to lose everything I've built up in my life to greed. Be really careful, especially when someone else can edit what you did under your initials. This is why I am so against "editing" and worry about how much anything I transcribe could be altered. I always refused to give out "disks" accompanying my dictation, stating that I would not allow "altering" of my transcription. Think I'm being an old "fuddy duddy" I am sure, but I can sleep at night. Be aware that this is a sue-happy world. Would love to hear if anyone ever experienced going to court. Please come forward or was asked to alter a record that was going to court.
|