Minimum wage requirements when there's no work, perhaps?
Posted By: Guessing on 2009-04-20
In Reply to: just tossing this out, but maybe - catsxoxo
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.
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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.
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?
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
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.
Minimum Wage, as I read this tears began to well in my eyes ...
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.
I don't work for them but I think they can get away with paying less than min wage
becuase you are an IC and not an employee.
If you're an employee then, yes, I'd say you'd have a leg to stand on but if they have min line/production requirements then more than likely those min requirements would equal out to at least min wage so it would still fall back on you. These MTSOs are usually pretty savvy about getting around legal issues.
Their pay is way low and you work like a dog to make minimum lines.
x
I work long hours and keep distractions to a minimum sm
and very, very luckily was assigned an account that was an excellent fit. I'm pretty sure you all won't believe me anyway and I'm not sure why I bothered to respond  but my "secret" is just hard work and dumb luck. Plus I do Radiology and for me that is a big part of the equation.
Used to work at a place that measured productivity by minutes. Minimum requirement was 90 min. SM
in an 8.5 hour day or 7.5 productive hours (minus 30 minutes for lunch and two 15 min. breaks). Don't know if that helps. Also I've heard that it will take the average productive MT twice as long to type as to dictate, i.e. a 5 minute job will take an MT 10 minutes to type without interruptions. So figure 90 minutes of dictation is going to take at least three hours to type and probably a little longer if you figure in interruptions like phone calls, kids, etc.
For me, I would probably say 120-130 minutes would equal an 8 hour day.
Don't know if I've helped, but I hope so. 
For most companies how many hours may part time employees work. What is the minimum and maximum
usually.
I also want a living wage for MTs. Don't mind hard work and longer hours, just want to be paid
:+
I work for an agency, type for a major hospital - no hourly wage - just production. nm
x
mq requirements
Part timers are supposed to do 4,000 lines/per week, 8,000/two weeks..Full timers 6,000/week, 12,000/per two weeks.
mq requirements
I was told by my TC, 8,000/pay period for part time.
me too with the requirements sm
of 20 years experience at least 45 years old and over! (Acute care of course with all the junk that goes with it)
There are no age requirements for teachers
You are never too old to further your education. I know seniors who take college courses for self-improvement. My daughter will graduate in 9 months to be a teacher and she is 37. Teachers are high in demand. There is such a shortage, but don't go into it just for the money. If you do, you will be a crappy teacher.
different accounts, different requirements, but...
some things you probably should have available are MS Word, a wav player and foot pedal, and WinZip in case you need to unzip or zip files.
Line Requirements
Could those of you who are paid twice a month tell me what your line requirements are per pay period? I am wondering if 15,000 lines per pay period is around the average amount. TIA!
Not exactly right. If you WANT THE JOB, you'll fulfill their requirements. nm
x
Watch for HIPAA requirements!
I've just begun investigating this a bit myself. Files must be encrypted in specific manner, and/or a housed on a secure FTP server set up in order to be in compliance with HIPAA regulations.
Something to be aware of beyond just creation of the files.
if i make production requirements only
which is 1200 lines a day...it is about 2100 from the national, and then the local i pull about 500 to 1000 a month depending,
suffice it to say, however, that i have been withthe national for a month, and have not managed to get my lines in yet...though i had a bad run with mono int he middle of that.
I have been at this for 7 years, and can on a good day do upwards of 300 lines an hour, on a slow day..heh..you get the idea...
right now i am averaging about 2200 a month between the two jobs
Have 3 years to meet all the CE requirements.
QA stems from regulatory requirements
All hospitals are required to meet quality standards in order to maintain their accreditation status. There are QA reviews for the hospital as a whole, for each department, and for each function. It filters down level by level.
In the case of MTSOs, they have to meet the quality standards of their clients in order to stay in business.
It's not anything intended to harass employees, but to improve patient care.
And, yes, doctors are QA'd, but they're QA'd on the basis of their patient care. The quality of their medical record documentation does feed into that, but on a higher level than spelling and punctuation.
Poll on editing line requirements
I would like to know your line requirements per shift. Please indicate whether this is production based on hourly or based on cpl. Thanks!
check state certification requirements
Make sure you check not only how much a program may cost you, but what your state requirements are. I'm in Utah and we are required to pass a state exam to be licensed to practice. There is also a national exam that is supposedly good if you take it, but is get pricey. I took the course locally with a program that included an internship. I personally found the career boring and it didn't pay well enough for me to pursue it, but every state has different pay scales so check into it.
You should have a leg up because you do have to learn and memorize a lot of drug names and what they are for. Also, make sure your basic math skills are good. Mine stunk, so make sure you can remember how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and decimals. Good luck!!!
It all depends on what state you live in and what their laws and requirements are. Check with your
x
Don't know if you can get 400 lpd. Minimum at
s
LOL no it's not, it's because of the alernative minimum tax
x
I keep my IMing to a minimum while sm
I'm working. I have in the past had the neediest people constantly pestering me with questions, I would say 40 or 50 questions a day from a few of them. No more of that.
Legally they cannot pay below minimum
wage. Anyone making below that should check with their state government and make sure that if they do not make minimum wage that this is rectified. Even at the Q, they have to make up the difference to minimum wage.
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.
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