Spaces vs not
Posted By: Patti on 2006-03-09
In Reply to: Need feedback on getting paid for spaces vs not.... - Carly d
Take one of your old documents and figure it out both ways, even if you don't have a line counting program, do it in MS word and that will figure both ways and then you can see the difference and divide and see what percentage you are losing for no spaces. At least that will show you the difference between the two.
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
My line including spaces is 65 characters. I've heard that not counting spaces
takes away over 35% of your line count. I believe it too because you have at least 15 or so spaces on each line that you type. Use your first sentence up top as an example; you had 77 char and 21 spaces - in that line that would be a little less than 30% of your characters that you didn't get paid for. I don't think it's worth it and wouldn't want to work without getting credit for my spaces.
They used to not pay for spaces, but a poster here said they are getting spaces paid. Are there 2
s
Pay No Spaces, Type No Spaces nm
nm
without spaces compared to with spaces
10 cpl without spaces equals to how many cpl with spaces?
Spaces versus no spaces....
Can someone tell me how big of a difference it makes if a company pays for spaces versus no spaces. I have only every been paid without spaces. I have been offered a position that pays for spaces, but the cpl is less than I am making now. I am not sure if getting paid for spaces will make up for the pay cut. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
DQS no spaces? Are you sure?
Are you sure DQS does not count spaces? When I first started, I took a report and manually counted each and every character, space, return, etc, and found that the lines count I was given for the report matched (rounded up) my manual count. Even now, I copy and past every single report to Word Perfect (which does not count spaces on my version), and DQS always exceeds my Word Perfect character count by a bunch, so I figure I am not being cheated. Take a medium size report, print it, and try counting manually and see what you think.
I know they don't pay for spaces
So tell me why when one day I did 800 lines and then 3 days later it shows I did 670 lines when I actually did 800 lines. The 800 lines is without spaces, headers, footers. So did those lines magically disappear? This happens to me weekly.
spaces
LOL. I think we need to transcribe a few reports without spaces..heck, let those being paid hourly fill the spaces in.
spaces
LOL. You just made my whole day.
iwoudn'tmindtypingaletterwithnospacestoday.
BTW that is really hard to do.
spaces
anycompanypettyenoughtonotcountspacesisacompanytostayawayfrom. Who'spocketdoyouthinkthe$forthespacesislining? Quite frankly, I've been a med trans for nearly 30 years and I'm so damned tired of watching big business cut into our means of living. How did all this start anyways? Used to be in the old days that we were all just ICers looking to make a living, and we did in fact make a decent living. Then came the introduction of nationals and everyone ran to them thinking they'd be making BIG money.......Now the nationals are in place and their CEOs are making the bucks we thought we'd get a piece of. Wish there were a way of reversing this.
Spaces
She's lying. MQ does NOT PAY FOR SPACES. They treat their transcriptionists like crap. I found this out and left them. I found it out for a fact.... They do NOT PAY FOR SPACES. They have started this "trend" and other companies have begun to follow suit. They make me physically ill.
Spaces
Been there 2-1/2 months. Love it. Plenty of work.
Issue: Spaces. Recruiter said no spaces. Trainer said no spaces. 
On the line count screen, clicked on one of my reports, then had an option to look at payroll stuff on it, so I did. It added up not only every single character I typed but spaces AND carriage returns (I had 719 spaces and 56 carriage returns) and used that number divided by 65 for my line count. NO KIDDING. I am surprised.
Who knew?! I'm excited! 
spaces
Was this on DQS? And could you give more detail on how you did this (i.e., what exactly did you click on to get this info?). Thanks!
spaces
I was told years ago that I was not paid for spaces on the account that I was on, but some accounts were. It depended upon how it was set up when they won the account. I think that's why there are some who are and some who are not, thus the confusion. The only way to know is to manually count your lines and compare them to what the system counts.
10 cpl with spaces. nm
x
What about spaces?
x
no spaces
I kind of messed up my original post. I meant to say that spaces are not included. Thanks.
I think w/o spaces is 30% less than with spaces. nm
x
They do pay for spaces
At one time they did not pay for spaces but they do now. They are fine to work for- I have worked there 3 years and have never had a problem. They do not lie to us and they don't make anyone work 7 days. They are a stickler for quality.
Pay me for your spaces or else...
If they don't want to pay for them they must not feel they're important...just don't type them and then see what they say. : )
2 spaces
client probable couldn't care less.....but correct way is 2.
I would take 17 cpl with no spaces any day
Geez what do you people want?
spaces vs no spaces
Take a document and count with and without spaces and times it by your cpl rate to see what the difference is. Very easy to do. If you don't have a document, type a page or even a paragraph and even using microsoft word count, do the same. It shows you with and without spaces and you can see the difference.
Curious how do you make any money as it sounds like your doctor's office only pay 9 cpl (they are cheap and I can only charge 9 cpl) or did you mean you pay your IC 9 cpl and are not stating what you charge your accounts?
Pay with no spaces
Would some of the MTs who work with no spaces but do get headers mind sharing what their pay actually is? For me, I always break it down to what I am averaging an hour. After 15 years this just keeps going down , along with less benefits, and I am also starting to reevaluate my "career" choice.
Spaces vs. non - sm
When the company I worked for was going to IC status for everyone, and changing to not paying for spaces, I worked out the difference between several documents - it amounted to about a 28% difference - in other words, the line count was 28% less if they didn't pay for spaces. Pretty big chunk of change, so I left that company.
2 spaces
In WORD - tools, options, spelling and grammar - setting bottom right - change to 2 spaces after period - top right of the window that opens up
Spaces vs no spaces
What do you think of getting paid 12 cents a line/65 cpl, no hard returns or spaces?
Spaces vs no spaces
IC.
Spaces vs no spaces
Thanks for all the input! I will see when I get my first check. I will keep you posted!
I do 2 spaces
I have always done two spaces because that was the way I was taught, and I think it looks better and is easier on the eyes too. I do agree though that if you are not getting paid for spaces, then just do a single space.
Well, I use 2 spaces.....
...but that may be because I learned to type way back in the dark ages before computers were in wide use.
According to the AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription (2nd edition), page 66:
"When using a proportional-spaced font it is customary to mark the end of the sentence with a single space; however, double-spacing is still widely used, especially with non-proportional fonts, such as Courier. The choice is usually determined by departmental or company policy."
That would seem to indicate that the single space is now the preferred method; however, it depends on the company.
DQS does count spaces
DQS counts everything on your text page including spaces. However, it does not count anything imported into the ADT field. It does count anything the MT types into the ADT field.
My problem with your post is that your office actually reduced your line rate because they said you would be making more money? That is really messed up. Here's why: Even though many ADT fields are autopopulated, these are characters we would normally get paid for. We still have to listen through the dictator giving the information, information I was able to type in no time and get paid for it. Then there are the times we have to do searches and sometimes be very creative with the searches and sometimes have to sift through multiple admissions to be sure we have the right selection. Then there are the times the doctor keys in data for the wrong admission and we have to recognize and fix.
Therefore, this simple ADT field and the fact we do not get paid for it, IMO, takes away whatever production assets the program offers. I have been on DQS for a year and am lucky to produce the same as I was on my old platform. Since I know everything in the text field is counted, the only reason I can figure is the ADT field.
Any MT who was cut back in pay when put on DQS should absolutely be upset because I don't think anyone's production has really been increased that substantially.
DQS does count spaces, but you definitely deserve the 1/2 cent increase.
characters (with spaces) / 65
xx
You're getting spaces?????
..
Paid for spaces
Was told years ago that the account I was on did not pay for spaces even though the contract I signed as SE said I would be. Was told that we were compensated by being given the headers and footers in our line count (yeah, right). Was then told they didn't want to lose me so if I was totally unhappy to ask my manager for another account which did pay for spaces. I, of course, was told there was no other account available at that time. On some unscientific studying and counting, figured out was losing 13% to 17% of my counts by not getting spaces. This is one of the reasons MQ is being sued by the employees in the lawsuit. Don't believe anything management tells you. Just count them for yourself.
At 9.5 cpl what are you really getting paid without spaces.
:
i use MPCount but not sure about w/o spaces. nm
;
spaces do not matter
If there is 1 character on a line, it counts as a line.
If no spaces, it is more like 5.75 which stinks! - nm
x
Men are like parking spaces--
The good ones are always taken and the ones that are left are handicapped.
spaces are usually stated -- with or without
it's no trick at all
if they say just 65 characters, i would think spaces are not paid
yes, you could call them and that is what you should do
Always ask about spaces; in the meantime
though remember that spaces are not characters. They are Keystrokes but they are not characters. Unless spaces are specified, don't assume they are paid. Always ask.
I always type 2 spaces. It has always been... (sm)
correct, and a couple of ol' broads who decided to make up "da rules" can't change that. Among other things, it just makes a typewritten paragraph easier to read. Whenever I read a report with only 1 space between words, it is hard to read and amateurish-looking.
Well, I think spaces usually account for
about 18% to 20% of your total character-with-spaces figure. Sooooo....let's compare:
Character count: 25K characters including spaces
25K minus 20% (estimated spaces count) = 20K characters divided by 50 characters/line = 400 lines
versus
25K divided by 65 characters and spaces/line = 385 lines
?? Well, those are my figures...??
how big of a difference is with spaces and without...in pay?
dont know how big of a pay difference that will be for sure.
If they don't include spaces, don't do it.
You'll be making less money for more headache than you are now. I'd stick with what you've got and work on building your skills. Is there any way you could try both for a while to see which one you like better?
i agree - how do they think the spaces get there - nm
nm
Why spaces are not paid for... sm
I once worked with a Transcriptionist who would pad his reports with huge lines and lines of spaces that would go undetected. He (yes he) would be paid for these elaborate line counts (we had an incentive program). If you adjust the pay rate for characters only with no spaces according to an appropriate line rate, you are assuring yourself of not being cheated by some MT who thinks they can get away with padding spaces into their documents. True story.. now lets see the end of this endless discussion.
I have 2 jobs, 11 and 12 cpl inc spaces.
..
My company says they pay for spaces but I can't see that they do. sm
I copied a document from their platform and saved it as a text document in notepad. I opened it in Word. Calculated characters/65 - didn't add up. So I took out all things, like signature lines, still didn't add up. Then I took out the template headings. Didn't add up. Then I took the characters WITHOUT spaces and divided by 65. Bingo.
Asked supervisor for verification that they pay for spaces. She said yes. I didn't dare tell her I knew they didn't.
Guess I'm going to be looking again...and I really liked this place. I know if I make a stink and prove them wrong I'll get awful work, or get fired.
Gawd, are they all crooks?
My huband and I both have spaces...sm
We use is mostly to catch up with old classmates since sites like classmates.com charge you for anything more than their information. And that isn't a whole lot to go on. We don't have a "popularity contest" going on with our spaces...all the friends we have are actual friends and any of those that we don't know get denied.
|
