Min wage in WA is 7.63 but they are proposing a $1 increase. nm
Posted By: Washington dweller on 2006-01-01
In Reply to: Minimum wage in NY now $6.75 hr - sm - Darlene
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You have really seen an increase?
I am not on ASR, just curious - maybe I should ask to be.
ASR increase
I've been on ASR a year and have seen no increase. I practically have to type the entire report over and start from scratch. IN fact I think they take me longer since you really have to read them very closely because of the dumb words and grammar the computer puts in. I want everyone on ASR who got the "letter" to write back Ms. Barbato and give her your 2 cents on the matter. I'm not taking this lying down, have been kicked around enough by these jerks.
no increase - again!
Hi Ladies,
I work as an IC MT and I have to say I am getting pretty discouraged. I have not had an increase in my cpl in two years. I did ask recently for an increase but to no avail. The answer was simply "no, we can't give you an increase at this time." Wow - where do you go with that? I feel I work very hard and I am a good transcriptionist. I love my work but right now I'm down in the dumps about this line of work. Unfortunately, it is all I know. Just needed to vent a bit.
Thanks for listening.
Let us know if you got the increase.
.
not EVERYONE can increase their pay
Don't take for granted that you have the opportunity. When my doctors don't dictate, there is nothing I can do... lets be serious.
I know this is a slow period so I will just wait it out, but don't assume that we are "lucky" to be able to increase our pay, some of you may be, but that is not always true for others.
Good luck to everyone though especially now during the Holidays
Help with rate increase, please
Good morning, everyone. May I have a little advice on a rate increase I am thinking about, please? I have been transcribing for a clinic here in South Florida for 4 years. I started out at 0.06/line and have never raised my rate for this client. However, I would like to raise my line rate to 0.08. Is this unreasonable? I work from home and feel very isolated when it comes to knowing if I am way too low on my rate. Any advice you can give me would be most appreciated. Thanks!
ASR production increase?!?!
Anyone want to know how MQ came up with the figures to say we have a PRODUCTION increase because of ASR? It will surprise you!
IC Rate Increase
I would say work with them a little. I would say try and increase to $2.50 per page in the hopes you get an increase of $2.00. I had a physician do this where I wanted $2.50 from $1.50 (6 years ago), and he offered me $2.00. I took it.
I am now, same physician, looking for a way to increase as I get paid per page $2.00 (typing from handwritten forms/not dictation), but I think he may go for it. I, however, am looking at whether I am making more with him per page as opposed to per line and with him it seems I do better per page. I also make deliveries. If I were you, I would not go 4 times a week if they are not willing to compensate you a little more for that time. Production is production, but the time spent making the deliveries needs to be worked in.
Is this a client that could possibly go digital? You may want to stroll that avenue. Just a thought. E-mail me if you'd like and have more questions. I am having the same dilemma. No one wants to go digital, but they are flexible with pick-up/delivery.
I read an article on www.mtworld.com about transcriptionists not making what they should because they do not want to "rock the boat", well my boat is sinking somewhat as everything has gone up but my income!!! HAHAHAHAHA
Rate increase...
I just this done several months ago and what I did was put a little "blurb" at the bottom on the current invoice that said "Effective xx/xx/xx line rate will be $x.xx", with the effective date starting the next month. I never heard anything back so have been billing at increased rate ever since. I did make it large enough (same font size as rest of invoice) and put a couple of ******next to it. When you get a bill from your water, electric, gas or whatever company, they don't even tell you,they just raise it, although sometimes the cable company will tell you in advance that rates have changed. Anyway, that's what I did, didn't feel I needed to justify it, especially if your rates have been the same for a long time, like mine!! Good luck.
Increase speed
Crank up the speed of the dictator as high as you can while still understanding it. Learn all the keyboard shortcuts and don't touch the mouse. If you hover your mouse over the buttons, you'll see the shortcut.
How to increase productivity
The more targeted your glossaries are, the faster you get to your words and phrases. Are you using doctor- or specialty-specific glossaries combined with your own base glossary?
Are you concentrating on phrases rather than on words? The big keystroke savings kick in when you concentrate on the phrases your doctors say all the time.
More about productivity at the link below. I hope it will give you some quick tips.
Marianne
Where do you work where you can increase
I wanted to work all hours this week and make a good check for the holidays. I am actually getting half, because there is no work at any time of day. I am working 12-15 hours sitting and waiting for work. If you can share any where that has an abundance of work to get incentives it would be very appreciated. Glad you can make up for your loss, but I am sorry you are going through this.
Sorry. Got cut off. Nothing I do can increase the font size.
x
To the person asking whether to increase her rate sm
check this website out. These are the vendors and what they are charging for New Jersey Medical Center.
http://www.umdnj.edu/purchweb/employees/employ16_transcribing.htm
To all of those MQ MTs, check it out, they are charging up to $0.20 per 65 character line.
Hope this helps.
My plan to increase my income
Real estate. I just took a new MT job during second shift hours. I'm going to real estate school (doesn't take long). My plan is to do the real estate thing during the day.
They even have a program that is certified (Georgia) that I can take online. I know it will take time to start getting listings and closings once I get my license, but at least it's a ray of hope.
my plan to increase income
Hi - Unfortunately, you will have to have some money in your savings to pay your bills until you become established. I went to real estate school with "the dream of more money", almost easy money. I didn't survive long enough to make any money. It is another one of those "lure you in with lies" profession. Sorry - but no better than MT
my plan to increase income
Unless you are making major bucks at being an MT, you would still be better served saving your money. Real estate is a difficult business to "break into" and there are many hidden costs. As another poster stated, "you are on call always" while working in real estate. Good luck to you though!
I have noticed an significant increase
in the cost of living. I do not know whether to attribute this to the cost of gas rising or Hurricane Katrina and the gulf ports out of commission but items on the shelf seem about 15% higher in general than just 1-2 years ago save for paper products.
I do not know how a family can do it and not go into severe debt and I really do believe that is how many are making it, using their charge cards to pay day to day expenses.
But that's CMT. Nobody has made mention of a pay increase for RMT. nm
xxxx
No, not take over. Increase international labor use? Yes.
owning a US company but using international labor.
Shortcuts to increase production
Can anyone tell me what types of shortcuts, software, etc. I can use to increase my production? I am looking for ways to cut time/increase production. I have some macros, but what else? Someone suggested I use the speech recognition software and I could repeat what was being dictated, as it may type faster? Has anyone tried this? I was thinking I would then have to spend my time cleaning up mistakes, but they said it was 99% accurate. Sounds strange, but maybe it would work. Any ideas would be appreciated!
well, the more you do ops, the more you'll increase productivity
nm
Does anyone know how to increase the pedal backspace on a DVI? sm
I am having a problem that when I lift my foot off the pedal, it pauses but does not back up at all. It is hard to work like that and I cannot figure for the life of me what to do to fix it!
It wouldn't increase the speed of someone who
is using a steno machine for sure. However, I am at least 30% faster on ASR. And I'm not a slow typist - I can do 90 to 100 words per minute. I am a fast reader, though, and I think that helps with ASR.
I'm curious though...I don't understand how you use a steno machine to type onto a computer screen. I thought it was a machine that just typed codes out on paper that court reporters later transcribed. I'm fascinated by this...that is a nice increase in production.
Do you think it's worth it for someone with no steno experience to learn how to use a steno machine?
When you use the steno machine, do you hook it up as if it were your keyboard? Does it type out full words? Any advice/info you could give would be very appreciated. :)
If we all refuse to do VR at low rates, we may see an increase in pay.
The OP said text not font, but it does increase
all that is on the page, most of which includes the font size.
Like I said, I found this out by accident. Glad it helped you, too. I know I like it.
MQ ROCKS??? Because a poster SAYS she was hired on for increase?
What about those of us who have been with MQ for YEARS and have seen revolving doors of bonused crooked CEOs come and go and have not been given an increase in pay for FIVE years? MQ ROCKS or MQ is on the ROCKS? If this is what it takes to please you, an anonymous poster and empty promises from the lastest CEO what lowered expectations from a company you must have. As for me, I expect more and will MQ Rock when it affects the MAJORITY of the hardworking MQMTs.
What is the best short-cut program to use to increase you speed?
I just had to laugh - after 3+ years of no rate increase SM
I gave my MTSO 4 weeks notice of going up to 12.5 cents (IC) - they do no QA on my work (returned directly to clients) - only have to pay for call-in system. Accuracy rate is pretty near 100% according to my docs (and my own proofing) MTSO said my proposed rate was OUTRAGEOUSLY high and I was living in a dream world compared to area ICs (Chicago land area). Now I read I am not so far off after all. And MTSOs wonder why their ICs tend to believe what they are told with a big salt shaker! BTW, I got my line rate increase - my MTSO leaves me alone, my doctors love their accuracy, and I am happily typing while the kiddos are at school. Win-win for everyone! Just my thoughts FWIW. Nice to see I am still in the ballpark for ICs!
Platform wants to monitor us to increase production
according to them. This is VR and there is nothing paywise in for the MTs, nothing else except we are supposed to use certain keys instead of mouse. I hit over 500 the other day for an hour If the VR is good, no straight typing, I can bump up the audio to fast and can make it yo-yo. Anyone else being monitored??
IC, do you write your own rate increase letters?
I'm working as IC with one physician, and I need to increase the rate. I'm working too much typing, printing,and driving 4 days a week at $1.50 per report (mostly one page). I average 25 reports per day. PE is a given, but the rest of the document has to be typed. He is ESL and a good one.
Can you share info on what and how to include in a rate increase letter? What would be my effective date, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days?
I thought I'd increase to $2 per report. What do you think?
Way to increase/decrease voice file.
x
Speed increase on digital dictation
I am switching over from tapes to digital. I am using Express Scribe to play my files. I am used to playing my tapes at a faster speed. I find that on the digital dictations, some of the clarity is lost when I increase the speed. Does anyone else have this problem and do you have any suggestions/solutions? Thanks in advance!
Low wage
that seems awfully low. For instance if you were making even 9 cpl you would be working for 11.25/hr. Who can exist on this? My current supervisor tells me it takes about 30 or more charts to equal 1000 lines. That would take an entire 8 hours and then some maybe. This is very discouraging. I don't like this platform so far.
WAGE
Of course it is lousy. Illegal aliens in my city make more than that flipping burgers. What an insult to us that someone would offer that amount.
Wage vs Need/Wants
At first glance, yes, $12.00 seems low. However, I live in the northeast and I know I cannot survive on that rate of pay. Maybe in other parts of the country $12.00/hr is very survivable. It all depends on your needs/wants.
At $12/hr you are grossing $480/week, $960 bimonthly. Around here, health insurance coverage for one ROUGHLY averages $50/week. Now you are netting $430/week before taxes. Dental plan? Deduct another $10 or so per week. Down to $420/week before taxes. Figure out your monthly expenses and don't forget that ever present anvil-over-your-head factor for unexpected bills. Also, don't forget you need to save some $$ too - after you buy food and pay the monthly bills! Hmmmm...I am getting this image of a rat on a treadmill.
The question you ask is not simple. You have to figure out if $12/hour is good for YOU. It is just not a survivable wage in this part of the country, especially if you have dependents that eat like horses, go to colleges far away, and you live in a state that taxes you up the wazoopie and only has two seasons: winter and 4th of July.
wage
Oh yeah and the wages being offered are even insulting for a newbie. Can I say how disgraceful this is for "trained professionals" to be offered this. The newbie wages run around 8 cpl...but why at 5, 10 or 15+ years is it fair to still be offered that?? Employers please show us some respect and pay us what we are worth. Remember everything in life is "you get what you pay for." These companies wonder why they have such a HIGH turnover rate, HELLO pay us decent wages!!!! Just think if you broke a typist wage, proofreader wage, English major wage, and everything else we are considered and added it all up it is WAY MORE than we get!
min. wage
Oh yeah it is possible to make minimum wage on some accounts especially when you are a newbie. Start out as a newbie and have one of those hard learning hospitals with a lot of ESLs who you hardly ever type the same one twice and add in many residents. Also add in more than just the basic 4 work types on that account such as psych. discharge summ., echo labs, holter monitor reports, treadmills, etc. that you only do every once in a while and aren't familiar with. With all those factors which I have on one of my accounts it is possible to make min. wage. But I have gotten better it seems. I know some people will say why do an account that is so difficult for you? If I can conquer this I can say I have done something I think. It is just a job and as a newbie I can't pick and choose without much exp. so I put on my big girl pants and do it. Just explaining how you could make min. wage with the right factors.
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If you can increase your work load with current company
that would be better than getting a second job. It will take you a while to learn new dictators and/or new platform so you won't be making that much money initially for the time you are putting into a new job. If you are able to pay bills with the debt currently I would just go on a strict budget and cut out any extras. If you can get a home equity loan to consolidate bills. Debt will still be there, but instead of several bills to keep up with, you can focus on one and pay debt off sooner.
The owners of the companies I work for certainly could increase my cpl rate. nm
:}
I didn't increase my line rate for over 10 years!
I am an IC and have one office of three physicians as well as work for a smaller MTSO and have to totally agree with what MTSO said. You have to take into consideration so many things. Do we deserve a raise, you betcha - I think most of us do. However, if you are making good money, love the accounts, and things are working well for both sides, are you willing to jeopardize them shopping elsewhere? I haven't been, but due to the increase in gas prices which are now going to be reflected in many other ways in our cost of living, I find I really need to increase my rate and I did. I sent a memo and simply stated that in 30 days the billing would reflect a 1 cent/line rate increase. Yes, I held my breath waiting for the phone to ring or the OM asking to speak to me in her office but so far I have not heard anything. I am not sure if this is good or bad but I think they have had a great deal for 10 years and I deserve a raise and I need to increase my rate just due to cost of living.
Sorry - do not know what happened to my above post. I press 2 for decrease, 3 for increase. nm
x
minimum wage is Fed
I know some cities/counties and I guess states have their minimum wage requirement to allow a business to operate. I know some cities in NJ (where I live now) won't allow a business to operate unless they pay minimum around $9/hour. But minimum wage is a Federal standard and is set at $6.XX an hour - that is for all 52 states.
And it is illegal for anyone to pay less. Actually, I found out that if you are working for someone on a production basis and it comes out to less than Fed. min. wage, you can actually file a complaint and recoup wages.
Minimum wage in NY now $6.75 hr - sm
Working at Burger King is looking better all the time!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/nyregion/01minimum.html
We do get hourly wage
during down-time and the only approved down-time is meetings and computer malfunction. Lack of work was not approved so if there is lots of work available we have no worries, if not then we will be scrounging around for work. I don't have time for that. 
I will have to ask my supe if that is how it is because that is how I understand it. If so, I maybe putting in my 2 weeks notice.
At least minimum wage
I worked inhouse for a company. We did not have to be there at any certain time, but we did clock in and out to show how many hours we were there. This was, as the other poster said, to make sure we made at least minimum wage. Also, they figured this by the pay period, not by the day.
Not around here you can't. Minimum wage. sm
I live in the midwest in a rural community. Wages are lower.
IC and minimum wage
I have read on the forum where an IC should make minimum wage. Is this no matter what her line count pay equals? I am new to being an IC and have just accepted a position with a service. Is this true with every service? Do they have to pay you minimum wage? Also, if the service is not in the state where you live does this make a difference? I just figured you were paid for what you produced.
minimum wage
7.00 an hour would only require you to type about 90 lines an hour. Let's say minimum wage is $10 an hour, that would only be 130 lines an hour - I do that in 15 minutes even with my ESL doctors... I say if you are only making minimum wage, this is probably not the field for you to be in.
Less than minimum wage
AND a bad platform, and you are staying? There are jobs out there for way better pay, but you have to start looking! With your four years experience, definitely do not settle for 7 cpl!
I have months when I clear $1500 and I have months when I clear $2000....the difference is ME. Over the past 8 years I have learned to work smarter, more efficiently, and that it is a necessity to have the tools to work with. What good is it if I become an expert swimmer but I'm stuck in a bathtub? If my company's platform would not let me do better, then I'd be testing for other jobs. You are the only one who can do a thing about your income situation.
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