Only work 8 hours a day?? (Anon)
Posted By: BurnedOutMT on 2006-07-09
In Reply to: What you are worth - anon
I honestly don't know how you do it. After 17 years of doing MT, my C-spine is a mess, i.e. DDD, bulging disk, bone spur, cord compression, disk dessication, etc. Four hours of transcribing IMHO, considering the intensity of the work (eyes on screen, hands on keyboard, foot on pedal, headphones on, glued to chair) is equivalent to the 8 to 9 hours I used to put in daily as a medical secretary with the breaks at the water cooler, and just having different tasks to break up the day. An MT can't even listen to a radio while working. Four hours is my limit. Friends and family will comment on how lucky I am to only work a 4 hour day. If they only knew how much work I do in those 4 hours...
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But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit
you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.
That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT. Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day. My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive. If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.
Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs. JMO, tho.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
IC sets their own hours. As long as the work is done by the deadline, you decide when to work.
What hours do you work?
I am having a hard time setting a schedule. I would like to work early mornings, but it is hard ot get motivated.
So how many hours a day do you work? nm
xx
So-you work 13 hours a day?(sm)
I can't even get 8 in without falling asleep, most of the time between the hours of 7-9 a.m. My first 3 hours, I can do almost 200 lines an hour. After that, it's downhill. I rarely hit 1,000 lines a day let alone what you do. Thick ESL account.
We are not allowed to work more than 8 hours a day. I use an expander, but I'm slow with it. Still have a lot of words that need to go in. The worse part of this is remembering that I have a short cut for the words!
Another problem I have is that I hate leaving blanks and I will take time to research and look things up. I know I could cut the time a bit, but . . .I can't stand to do that. I freak out with an ESL if I have to leave 2 blanks.
It's the falling asleep I can't handle. Yet, we have to work our scheduled hours or suffer the consequences, so I'm stuck. I guess I'll be out the door soon.
I'm getting so-o-o depressed because of it. I left a job earning $1400 for 15 days for 1/3rd that I am getting now. Can't afford the health insurance, can't afford to save money. Heck, can't afford to pay my bills anymore.
I work about 5-1/2 hours a day, five...sm
days a week as an IC and make about $27,000/year contracting with a national at 0.0975/line. I feel like I represent the norm, but I could be wrong. Sounds like a lot of people on this board are doing a lot better, although I don't know of any personally.
I work 24 hours
and make around $22-24,000. And I am NOT glued to my computer (because of small children). I could make $30-32,000 if I really tried.
How many hours do yo work a day
to get these lines? I would think it would take you more than eight. I would hate to spend more than eight hours working, but that is me.
I only work 35 hours and anything/ sm
over 35 hours is OT. If I work before or after my scheduled shift on any day, I get OT pay. This is before I have reached my 35 hours too. Whenever I work when it is not my normally scheduled time, it is considered OT.
No & if you work the same hours SM
and same production year after year, you will actually see a DEcrease in your income over time. Isn't that nice? The only way you can maintain or increase your income in this biz is to work longer and faster.
and work more than 40 hours/week you are due
compensation. If your company requires you to work 7 days a week I'd find a new job. They may ASK you to work extra as workload dictates but by no means should you be required too. Many companies require 1 weekend/month or every other weekend, but there are off days during the week, unless you WANT to work.
If you are an IC you work what you commit to. If a company can get you to work as an IC by holding over your head you dictate the hours you work, versus working a set schedule, why not. With having to compete with companies offshoring they have to cut expenses where they can and cutting benefits, etc. is where they do it. I don't like it, but in order to stay in business they have to, but they also can't require you to work 7 days/week either.
Looking to pick up some prn work, about 10 hours per
week. I have Word 2000 and Transnet or can use FTP. Acute care or clinic. Email me for details if interested.
where do you work that you just do lines, not hours?- nm
nm
I take a 5-10 min break every 2 hours I work ...
barring that, I try to have as close as possible productive hours during my shift.
A little over 1100 - 5 hours work. nm
x
sorry, but some ICs have specific hours to work (nm)
x
I work 8 hours a day and average anywhere
between 1700 and 2000 with 65 character line, spaces included.
I'm with you! So I work the hours people don't want
to work. Much too stressful to fight for work. Life is too short for me to take the money I already earn to spend on a physician prescribing nerve pills.
I work 40 hours a week and more
if there is work and I don't slack off and barely take a break. I do acute care and seldom leave a blank. According to my Expander stats, I am saving myself 23 hours of work and do 22% of the total in expanders. My pay has actually gone down especially this year and I am using more Expanders every day. That's my story.
I currently work 70 hours a week and three jobs...
so it is physically possible to work that many hours. I am going down to 50 hours a week in two weeks, but you do what you have to do.
No one could pay me a big enough salary to work 80 hours per week
Also, if you can switch the hours you work, get up earlier,
and work after he goes to bed. Make the time for him while he's young. In about 3-5 years he'll be less worried about you working and wanting to spend time with you, so enjoy him while he's young cuz it doesn't last long. :)
Her point is that IF she gets her work (quota) done in 6 hours - sm
does she still have to work the full 8 hours she is scheduled for. She is not "stealing" unless she is paid hourly and is being paid for 8 hours but only working 6. As for knocking off early, it depends on the company, some don't care as long as you do your daily minimum, others want the full 8 hours regardless of how many lines over you go from the daily minimum (as long as you achieve it)--this means more $$ of course. I work for PT for 2 companies with no line minimums, which I love, and no set schedule to boot. This is hard to find though. I have a very wacky schedule and need this though, very hard for me to commit to a firm schedule due too many external factors here, every week is different, some crazy, some calm. So if you have a pretty set routine you should be able to handle a schedule....just find out beforehand if it is carved in stone or not (get it in writing). Good luck.
With regular dictation it would be at least 12.5 hours of work- sm
as I do not do radiology I don't know what that would mean in those terms. What is the average time for the radiology reports you do now? Take that # and divide it into 250 minutes and that will give you a ballpark idea on how many reports.
not stretching. I work about 12 hours a day and make--sm
on average of 3500 gross lines a day. disbelieve if you want, but my money is in the bank. It is possible if you want to do it badly enough. ppfffttt.
Disagree. I work 48 hours a week for $65K.
If you can't make a living, it probably isn't the job for you.
Not everyone can do this work successfully.
Of cours. I only work 48 hours a week. ?
I work 5 days a week. Have plenty of time in the evenings and all weekend with my family, my friends and to go out of town, etc.
What kind of quesiton is that?! LOL
I'm no Olympiad but I do workout. Do YOU? LOL
I work on my days off, but mainly because I haven't gotten 40 hours in for the
week and if I feel like working I am able to do so. Not working extra or anything, just have not gotten in a full week.
Split shift MTs---what hours do you work? sm
I'm trying to revamp my schedule around transporting kids. Would be interested to know what works for you. Thanks! 
Any companies out there that allow you to work 5-10 hours a week?
I posted this on the company board, but didn't get any responses, so I'm hoping there will be some help here. work full time outside the home and I am looking for something for just 5-8 hours a week to supplement my income. I worked for MQ for 6 years, but certain things led me to quit. Is there a good company out there where I can work 5-8 hours? Back at the Q I think now you have to commit to 24 hours and I just can't swing that. Is there such an option out there anywhere? Any input would be very much appreciated.
I have a 10-hour window to work 8 hours
and that works fine for me.
All MTs are asked to work a couple of hours
if they can to keep the clients covered. No one is "assigned" holidays. Normally, this takes care of everything.
I beg to differ. I work 35-40 hours a week
FT and have an IC job I work maybe 3 evenings a week for 3-4 hours. I easily make over 50K a year. There are good jobs out there that pay wages one can live on.
They can't "tell you when" to work, but if they need someone to cover certain hours ...
such as noon to 8 pm it's up to you whether to accept the work or not, you are still an IC. I had a job doing radiology where I "had" to be online between certain hours and work had a 4-hour TAT. I was an IC, I only had to work those hours because I AGREED to it. So in effect I did "choose" to work those hours, I could have turned down the job if I didn't want to work those hours.
I guess that depends on how many hours you work. sm
Do you save yourself 2 hours because of your Expander and then quit for the day? Or do you work more hours because your expansions allow you to = more on the paycheck?
I've found you have to work more than 8 hours a day to
If I had to stick to an 8-hour time period, I couldn't afford to continue.
This is the way I look at it. I could work 4-5 hours and meet the 1890 they required for FT, but th
When they did that, it just made me care a whole lot less, so I try to get my 945 as a part-time person in my 4 hours. I know some of the reports I get are just horrible, but I can deal with them.
Bullfeathers. Americans work the longest hours.
We average 1960+ hours worked per year. Google "Americans work the longest hours". Nobody else can touch us. Provide us with a link proving your theory that Americans don't want to work. Young people want to work as well. Every young person I know of is working on top of going to school fulltime. Maybe it's just the people you know who don't want to work, because I can tell you that everyone in my family has a good work ethic. Google "American youth don't want to work". Oopsy, no hits. Guess that blows your theory.
I work for a small MTSO about 25-30 hours a week
nm
No kids, husband gone 12 hours, you work at home? SM
Priceless! That sounds like the perfect arrangement to me. I'm not kidding, either.
And then consider when you work 9 hours a day 7 days a week...that adds up to way TOO much!
yes, and how does one meet their required quota with no work for hours on end?
One can only "make up" so much downtime!!
Which companies allow you to work under 40 hours and still qualify for benefits?
Thanks for any and all help. 
I work 2 jobs and have my hours set pretty good. First
job is Sun through Wed 6 am to 2:30 pm, since we only need 32 hours for benefits. Second job is 8-11 pm Sun through Wed. I work both jobs at home so on Thurs. and Fri. I volunteer at the middle school so I get a chance to get out of the house and deal with other people. I got lucky because both jobs pay every other week but on different weeks so it worked out that I get paid every week.
I beg your pardon. Some of us who work as IC put in more hours daily than employees!!
Heck, most of us take pride in our work and can run circles around your QA with accuracy! Please, you are way off base.
I agree there are some "fly by night" ICs who just don't care about QA or TAT, but that is not the majority. You can not make a generalized statement for all of us IC MTs. I am respected and paid very well by my Hospital for my accuracy and speed and knowledge!
Well, some companies want to categorize you as an IC, but dictate what hours you work. sm
That is illegal. If you are an IC, companies can not tell you what hours to work; however, they can tell you we need these hours covered on such and such day. You can either agree or disagree.
Personally, I will not commit to any set hours. I am an IC solely for that reason. I will give you 2000 lines a day in a 12 or 14 hour period or whatever period you need it in, but I will not tell them I will sit at my keyboard from 9-5.
Companies want you as an IC but they want employee schedules. Most companies are trying to do that nowadays. It is up to you, the individual MT, to accept or decline. Everyone's needs, including companies and MTs, are different.
Quite frankly, you really do need to ask the company what they expect from you, the IC MT, to really make informed decisions and choices.
I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck!
At least 1 whole POT OF COFFEE daily if not 2. Work long hours. nm
x
Do you work outside your scheduled hours to get extra lines?
Or do you stick to your schedules and just roll with however many lines you make during that time?
can you not work 6 hours a day and still qualify for full time? sm
i know most places it is usually 30 or 32 hours constitute full time. if it is 30 hours, then you could do 6 hour days 5 days a week and get in 30. is there a possibility you could do a split shift and that would allow your feet and you rest time between shifts? guess no possibility of working from home, LOL. i definitely understand your frustrations. sometimes the good employees get the short end of the stick cuz they need you the most.
there is no way you can work 8 hours for 2 companies at the same time. My current
job requires 8 hours a day period, not a specific line count. Granted if you are working a job that does not require 8 hours, but only a minimum line count then fine, but not if you are REQUIRED 8 hours a day.
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