Minimum Wage, as I read this tears began to well in my eyes ...
Posted By: So Very Tired on 2007-10-08
In Reply to: The thing that really irks me about this whole situation - - Minumum Wage
You, like some of the other posters, reflect a clear understanding of the downward trend this industry has taken over the last few years and the mindset of those who caused it. You mention so many experiences that resonate with my own. Most notably, I like you, put all of my eggs into this one basket, foolishly believing that this wonderland profession that I had found would last forever. It was a perfect fit for my skills, abilities, and work preference. I was able to make an excellent living and felt that somehow I was making a meaningful contribution to the care of each patient whose chart came to life under my fingers.
It is amazing to me how each year the profession requires more and more knowledge from us, more skill, more ability, more dedication, more resources ... and in direct correlation to what is demanded from us our pay is cut more and more and without apology. I mentioned in another post that I remember when I first got into MT'g some 20+ years ago hearing the Powers That Be constantly resentfully complaining that we made too much money and were no more than glorified typists. Who could have known that one day they would finally all band together and make an industry-wide collective effort to correct what they felt was an unacceptable dynamic?
It seems that everyone directly and indirectly involved in the process of transcription is valued and compensated well for their contribution to the process -- everybody except us -- the ones who actually make the final work product a reality.
Thank you for your contribution to this thread.
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Wow! you brought tears to my eyes sm
I was all ready to be blasted and your post actually brought tears to my eyes. I know it isn't ME because the same ME was barely making $10 an hour average on the account I was assigned before I got the one I'm on now and have been on for the last 2 years. I thank my higher power every day for my luck and will never forget that awful account I had before this one.
This brought tears to my eyes. sm
I loved this. I love animals and this shows how loving an animal can be.
I loved it. Brought tears to my eyes nm
nm
Thank you all for your support... it brought tears to my eyes.
Seriously, I really appreciate all your supportive advice and thoughts! I have decided after being treated like this and putting up with it for too long, to look for another job or maybe even another career. I wish I could quit on them right on the spot without notice, but I have decided to show them what class or professionalism is, even in this bad situation. (Of course, if they do not pay me, then I will quit immediately.) I can only hope they treat their next MT with some courtesy and respect which we all deserve.
Hugs to you all ~
Oh, dear! Wiping tears from my eyes. I'll pass on
"touching Frank on a personal level". ROFL! Oh, geez! Yeah, yeah, mind in the gutter and all that. 
What a heart-warming story. It brings tears to my eyes.
I can't wait for chapter 2 of this soap opera.
Favorite love song that brings goosebumps and tears to the eyes?
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
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.
minimum wage
Walmart pays minimum wage with infinitesimal increases over time. Work schedules are constantly changed to keep the employees off balance. The work is extremely exhausting and at least in our local area, they have a very hard time attracting employees, so there are some real tough scary characters working there. Across the street at Target, it's a different story. Employees are well-groomed, happy, and eager to help the customers. The stores are always immaculate, and you never have to negotiate around towering stacks of boxed unshelved merchandise like at Walmart, which has turned into a filthy mess most of the time. Considering that Target's pay scale is not much more than minimum wage, we can assume that there are cultural differences in that company that provide a better quality of life for their employees. If you have a choice in your local area, go for Target.
How much is it? answer is less than minimum wage.
You don't wanna go there. Why would you take minimum wage to
work with the public all day at minimum wage or maybe a little more than minimum wage, leave your family for hours and hours at a time, and use basically none of the skills that you obviously have as an MT.
I find it a bit offensive that you would compare working at Burger King as being a better career than being an MT. I, for one, have worked long and hard on becoming an MT and am learning something new every single day.
Sounds like you need to work for a company who appreciates you and will pay you well. They are out there. You just need to look.
Minimum wage for down time? sm
Was wondering if anyone has any information about being compensated for downtime - specifically how the department of labor views the complete lack of compensation from these companies? How do they get away with expecting you to work a set schedule, logging in, and then just sitting there? I don't know of any other job - employee status - where this would be tolerated. And, this "flex" thing...how many of us can continually log in throughout the day, on a whim? Many of us work 2 jobs, have kids, other obligations, etc. Wondering what my fellow MTs have to say about fair compensation and what they have found out? I think running out of work weekly, if not daily, and then having to work crazy hours just to get some minimum lines in is not only nuts, it could be in violation of some laws here. I think we are at least owed minimum wage if there is no work. Any opinions? I am going to research this.
Not every state's minimum wage is the same.
Ohio's is $7.00 now and some states higher than that. I don't understand why a job that requires reasonable skills would need to be paying no better than "state minimum wage".
making minimum wage
I may just be crazy here, but I do not see how anybody could possibly just make minimum wage on this job. At 8 cents a line, that would be only typing less than 75 lines an hour, and even at 5 cents a line it would be less than 130 lines an hour.
Do people really and truly sit down and type for an hour and only make 5.85 an hour?
I am making more than minimum wage.
NJ is $7.15. I average between $13 and $15 an hour, sometimes more, but each hour I work yields a different line amount depending on the type of account I am on. I switch between 4 different accounts. As long as I can produce the same amount of lines everyday I am happy. Sounds like you are to, so not sure why you are concerned if people are making minimum wage in this field or not. Why do you care?
Can't enforce minimum wage for ICs.
based on my skillset, not the skillset of other MTs. That could actually lower my rate. I have never accepted any low rates and never will. I'll find another line of work before I'll accept 7 cpl rates. If that's what a place offers, they get no more of my time, period. Yes, I'm a very patient person and went through many bum interviews before finding the right fit, but it's worth it not to compromise.
Besides that issue, I agree with you 100% about AHDI being a crock. I don't care what other health care professionals they choose to represent as long as they take MTs off their list entirely.
making minimum wage..
Most of the time the company's minimum requirements for your shift would equal at least minimum wage, so if you don't meet your line count and therefore are making less than minimum wage and they have to pay you the difference, they probably are not going to keep you as an employee -- at least I would not think so.
If a state has a minimum wage, how can a company (not MT) pay
that companies have to at least pay minimum wage?
Minimum wage requirements when there's no work, perhaps?
Looks like the Q is having to pony up minimum wage to a lot of MTs when there is NJA and this, I believe, is the highest in CA. Interestingly, CA-based employees of the Q seem to get NJA less frequently than other regions.
CorTmedical - never heard of em, but they need to hear about the minimum wage ... - nm
I know waiters and waitresses make less than minimum wage
but when you add their tips it should come up to at least minimum. I know they figure it that way anyway. What other jobs don't pay minimum?
minimum wage laws cover employees only - nm
x
I work on Escription VR and if you cannot make minimum wage, then
something is really wrong with either you or your system. I make a very good salary on VR. It can be done even at 4 cpl and that is what I am paid. I have occasional straight but 90%+ is all VR. I do not understand people saying minimum wage- that is only 6 or 7 dollars an hour, ridiculous to work for that in this kind of profession.
Unskilled labor doesn't make much more than minimum wage anywhere.
How they can afford to work for minimum wage or purchase health insurance is a whole different issue. I don't want to subsidize unskilled workers benefits by paying higher prices at Walmart or anywhere else. And my dear poster, that's what it comes down to. If you force any company to pay "benefits" (health insurance is not an entitlement) the consumer will absorb the cost or the business will fail. Same with minimum wage going up or taxes. The prices go up to cover the business expenses. I go to Walmart for bargains. If I don't get bargains because the prices are high, I don't shop there. Walmart knows they need to keep prices low and they cannot afford to subsidize unskilled workers health insurance. My company doesn't and I understand the reason.
For me it began to go downhill when ...
the smaller companies grew larger and/or were swallowed up by larger companies. That was when I was forced to become more tied to the p.c. with "managers" looking over the shoulder.
I miss the days when the files were uploaded and downloaded and transcribed at my will within a 24 TAT. Now it seems, even as an IC, that logging in directly to the system ties me to the p.c., unable to stop in the middle of a report and return to it later, unable to do maybe 3 hours in the morning and 5 at night as long as reports are in before the 24 TAT the next morning. Now plagued with IMs and emails about everyone needs to get on and work b/c there are 175 reports on the system .... insane with account specifics being different for every doctor nevermind the templates, and tons of ESL doctors. I could do 2000 lines a day years ago before lunch and have the rest of my day to myself if I wanted. With the advancement in high-tech I'm lucky to get that many lines in 8+ hours b/c the company platform changes or "upgrades" as soon as I reach any speed on the "old" platform, and so far every platform I've worked on slows me down, lags, or you have to go through multiple screens to even begin typing. Some platforms do not have the ability to create macros (expanders), some expect you to jump through several screens looking up patient info, medications, etc., account numbers, etc. some do not allow custom dictionaries.
It all sort of reminds me of being an underpaid in-house employee but with none of the benefits, and with some of the "office politics."
Yes. One of my best friends -- she began seeing married men
which was intolerable to me. I tried to look the other way. She wouldn't even try to hide it from me...wanting to talk about it, wanting me to MEET them. I finally just told her that I loved her very much and enjoyed our friendship but that something had changed so drastically for her to believe it is okay to live like this and it was in direct conflict with everything in my life. I just could not support someone who was intentionally pursuing such a hateful, devastating lifestyle. These weren't mistakes. She saw men she wanted and it was a game to her.
It hurt me very much. Many people who didn't know the reasons behind it blamed me for being a horrible person for dumping my best friend.
It was hard not to discuss her lifestyle to defend my actions.
I feel for you.
This is true. Ever since I began transcribing rad..sm
I have had a significant increase in income (an understatement). I was typing ER and acute care before rad. It paid the bills, but I was looking to get out of transcription after years of doing that.
Well, I was hired to train on a VA rad account, and it changed my outlook on things. It's a fast-paced specialty and very repetitive (expanders = money$$$).
That VA account has since went to VR, but I will be forever greatful to have had the opportunity to learn rad terminology, etc. Now, I am working on another account with a very reliable company and making the most money I've made transcribing ever.
When I began 15 yrs ago, people were bitter. I
aa
Just began 2 days ago at Aero.
Took a month to get the paperwork in order and clearance but I finally began working the account (radiology). Let me know how you are doing.
Doh! My EYES, EYES opened, lol.
x
Have you thought of accepting a job in house? That is how most of us began.
xx
I was addicted to Chapstik/Bonne Bell lip stuff--began "using" went I was 10 -sm
Pretty funny thing to get addicted to right? I used BB or Chapstik or Blistex until I was 27.....so 17 years of it getting progressively worse, not kidding I would lube up every 5-10 minutes...at least it was a cheap addiction (don't smoke, etc). Went cold turkey when I was 27....I had 3 months of hell, my lips peeled and generally felt and looked horrible for 3 months until my lips regained their natural ability to take care of themselves. Even now I have to be very careful not to get "readdicted" as it would be very easy to do and have "slipped" now and then by using my Chapstik a bit too much. Now if your lips are doing this for no particular reason, yes, I'd get it checked out, can't hurt....
that would be Tears Again nm
nm
Can hardly see through the tears here...that was beyond beautiful!!!
Bless you and your wonderful family. What else can I say but...
Peace...out.
lol! well, laughing through my tears, actually.
nm
I'm in tears over Elliott
What a great, great guy. I'm sorry, but Kat sure came off poorly tonight, and her mother's little "take that" for the camera while Elliott was getting his goodbye was in very poor taste. I would have loved to have had Taylor and Elliott in the finals together. I would have been happy no matter who won then. I have a 19-year-old son, and I'd be so, so proud to have him carry himself with the dignity that Elliott did tonight. I'm am so sad for him, but I hope that something good comes for him out of this.
thanks, i need it. I'm in tears today
x
fractures, tears..yada
I broke my R hand about 15 years back. Had to work, was the only one bringing in the money as my ex boyfriend was laid off. So I wrapped my hand and went to work. I would transcribe until it hurt so much that I had to take a break. Went to the ladies room, put cold water on it and went back to work. In 2003, I sustained a R rotator cuff tear. No medical insurance and the only one, once again, bringing in the money. I put my R arm in a sling and worked. Had to pick up my R hand and place it on the keyboard and then was able to type. Took it one step at a time. You can do it..Over the years, when I have had trials and tribulations, I have realized when you need to make the money, you will do it..whether in physical or emotional pain.
OMG, I'm in tears I'm laughing so hard!
That is so funny!
OMG I can't see through the tears!!! Absolutely hilarious! Made my day...thanks!!!
This was good. There is no time for tears, arguments when you are
I'd throw him out, change the locks, he'll figure out what to do.
Don't look back.
I too am feeling the same.. almost in tears and really feel like quitting altogether!! So you are n
x
i gave blood, sweat, and tears as a QA person -
I tried for over a year with a very lame lady who supposedly graduated from one of the *top 3* schools and was a former nurse. She had a terrible ear, little to no comprehension, and was clueless on how to even use her reference books! She was hands down the worst MT out of dozens of people I worked with. The point is this - You can usually tell pretty early if someone is worth training or not. What does your gut say?
I'll say this again, tears are NOT necessary. Determination is. As well as a sound intellect. sm
You CAN do it! Good luck.
Leave it to the drug companies - how brilliant!! Tears Again, Teargen, Teardrops, Tear Drop
etc etc etc
no wonder I'm always skirting the edge of sanity...
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