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Going rate per line as employee

Posted By: Lori on 2008-09-16
In Reply to:

Can anyone tell me the going rate per line for employee status?  I am currently IC, but looking for employment.  Any help appreciated. - Newbie!




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Line rate
I believe that means 7 cents per line for a 65-character line. If it does, that is not a good rate, especially if you have experience. Also, you need to find out whether that is 65 characters with spaces or without spaces. If without spaces, that is really a bad rate! Good luck to you!
line rate
I have never heard of someone asking a rate based this way. Find out what the margins and font (etc) are before you sell yourself to short. Then I would calculate any document based on those responses and see what the would equal up to so you get a decent rate.
Need advice on line rate

I have someone asking me what line rate I would be willing to work at on a 13 words per line basis, and I have no idea what to answer. Can someone please give me some advice on this?


Thank you!


Average is 1/2 the line rate for straight transcription.
Companies say that you should be able to edit twice as fast as you can transcribe, but most VR editors I have talked to say that is rarely the case. So the 1/2 line rate hardly seems fair.
Gross line means anything on a line is a line, even if just one word
it is counted as a line.  Not sure what exactly you are asking, but if you are comparing gross line to the usual 65 characters plus spaces gross line is better.  If you make 7.5 cpl per gross line that equals approximately 9.5 cpl based on 65 characters. 
Are you getting your line count from your program or can you use the line counting software to do
s
IC vs. Employee

When I was hired by the national I am working for I was given a choice, IC or employee.  I was hired by this company right out of school.  In order to be an employee with them they required 12,000 lines per pay period (2 weeks).  Being an independent contractor had no minimum line count.  Since I was fresh out of school I knew that there was no way I could commit to 12,000 line per pay period, so I chose to be an IC.  Once I got my production up to speed, I was able to switch to employee status.  I am not sure how other companies work, but I do believe that most will give you the option to be IC or employee.  I just don't know if you can switch mid-stream or not.


Hope this helps you some!


Heartland employee

Hello, I am not a Heartland employee, but I did take their test and passed with a 92. They said at the time that their training class was full  and as soon as they had an opening for training, that they would get in touch with me. I have not heard from them and that has been two months. I am a CareerStep grad. Wanda 


if you are hired by co, usually employee...sm

If you are *hired by a company* then usually you are an employee...it is when you score your own accounts that you can become an IC....but I'd brush up on typing skills, no offense.....it's truly detail- oriented work and you misspelled pursue and independent...and again, no offense....


IC versus employee has nothing to do with either
IC is just a tax status.

There are plenty of MTs who get paid hourly.

It won't make any difference if you are an IC or an employee...you can get paid whatever method you are successful at negotiating with your client or employer.

Employee Position

Hi Lori,


Check with someone at Career Step.  They should offer you a listing of employers who will test their graduates.  I am an M-Tec grad, and there are many job opportunities available for graduates.  I would think that Career Step would offer the same thing.  Since you have some experience under your belt, I am sure you would have no trouble finding a job!


Good luck!


its employee status only -disregard my ? NM
nm
You didn't say if you are an MTSO or IC or employee or what. (nm)
nm
So I'm still not sure ... but the MT is a hospital employee, sometimes they will "weight" m
dictators so you get a little extra credit for unusually bad dictators. But that may not be a common practice everywhere.

If you are an IC, or at least once you are experienced, you might be able to negotiate a better rate for a particular MD if nobody else can or will do his dictation.

But have faith - some dictators who sound just horrible the first few times will suddenly be a breeze once you "crack the code." You will probably do that much more quickly if you have an experienced MT helping you out, listening to the difficult spots.


5.5 as an employee is good to start! sm
I started my first job at 5cpl as an IC, no benefits.  If you are offered 5.5 cpl plus benefits to start take it.  You will get more later on but you need the experience.  I've been working 7 months now and just took a new job at 7cpl.  You have to start somewhere and cannot expect to come into the industry making what experienced people are being paid/offered.  Yes, many companies post ads and say they offer 7-9cpl, but you'll also notice most of them are also asking for the MT to have 3-5 years experience.  Taking a lower wage when you are new is not belittling, it is reality.  You can always work your way up.  Also you can continue to job hunt while working and if you find better, great then switch companies.  You have to start at the bottom, but you would be surprised how quickly you can move up if you are good at what you do.  Good luck!
contracting versus employee
Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of contracting versus employee?  I have plenty of time throughout the day, but my husband works from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  This is a large chunk in the middle of shifts.  Is contracting setting the amount you will do for the day?  Like I would be able to work 6 hours but at split times throughout the day?  Any help on this would be appreciated.
If you are an MT employee or MT employer pls EMAIL ME!
I need all the help i can get.  I'm submitting my package to get into the MT program by the end of June 2009 and the only thing I haven't completed is the informational interview.  I have to ask 3 MT employees and 3 MT employers a few questions about this line of work and I'll be able to get my package processed and hopefully get into the program right away.  I am on maternity leave and it's difficulty for me to leave the house and search for people.  Please help me out so I can get into this program and finally make something of myself that I can be proud of.  Thanks everyone who has taken the time to read this.  My email is carpio_cat@hotmail.com
IC or employee? There's no way you're working for a national
and making more than 8 cpl in your second year of MT. 6 is an OK rate for a newbie who's still wet behind the ears. You've never seen her resume or school transcripts. How can you tell her she's worth as much or nearly as much as experienced MTs? I won't nitpick, but newbies need serious feedback.
cpl rate for new mts?

I am thinking about going to one of the top 2 schools.  If I graduate and am hired as a FT employee by one of the nationals, what do you think would be a reasonable/average rate of pay per line? 


I am trying to get an image of what my finances might look like in the year following graduation. I need to sell this idea to my husband as it is a considerable financial outlay and I need to assure him it will be worth it.  I assume I will have a minimum line count per pay period (say 10-12,000 every 2 weeks).  Is it reasonable to think that after a month or two on the job FT a newbie from a good school could possibly make 120-150lph production?


Thanks for any feedback.


 


Pay rate???
Okay, I just got an offer for $40 per dicated hour by the doctor with a 48 hour Turn Around Time per hour's dictation. It is in allergy/immunology. Is this a bad pay rate? I've always seen line count before.
That is still a low rate,
I get 0.01 cpw and a word is counted as every 5 characters. So hepatosplenomegaly would be counted as 3.5 words. But if you have had problems finding a job, I would take it, get some experience, and then start searching for something better. Good luck to you in your new position!
Pay rate?

I'm a student MT who will graduate in May. Right now at my current job I make $15/hour. I decided to become a MT for a career change. I'm worried after reading the post below that new MTs can start out between $5 to $9 an hour? I just don't understand why anyone would take that as acceptable pay as an MT when it is a obviously an important job. Don't we deserve more than that, even as a new MT? Minimum wage in my state is $8.07/hour, why would anyone accept less? 


Going rate
for an IC is around .09 to .11 cents per line. I would first determine how difficult the specialty and dictators are then quote them a price.  I'm sure there are others on here who can be of better help than myself, but that's what I've seen on the forums. 
average rate
what is the average rate per line or cpl?  I am just finishing school and getting ready to start out.
I rate the VLC very high

I just could not let this pass unanswered.


What you forgot to mention Dianne is that you also paid for the online course and some great Instructors.  I should know, I graduated earier this year and I had two job offers within two weeks.  They really know how to teach MT!


One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.


 


Brenda


 


Rate of project Bid
I am wanting to bid on a project, since I'm really quite new at this I'm not sure what to bid. The project is a 4.5 hour audio. They don't have it set up to bid on the price per line, just a amount. I was trying to calculate it per word but I can see from this board that most places pay per line. Any ideas?
...with a VERY low starting rate, way low, but they do take
s
Determining pay rate
I received an e-mail from a company that states their rate is 83 cents per 1,000 bytes (characters and spaces). I'm new to production pay & am confused by this rate. How do I determine what the cents per line rate is?

Thank you.
What is the average rate for VR?
nm
pay rate considerations

I respect what each of you have written.  Many benefits that this job gives us ARE truly priceless.  But that is beside the fact. 


If the companies keep seeing people posting here saying that they essentially are willing to trade decent pay for these benefits, then that pulls EVERYONE down to a lower level of pay -- which includes people such as myself who have this as their only income.  There is no incentive to companies to even CONSIDER paying us more if we basically tell them give us our candy and we'll be good little kids and then let them walk all over us.  We can't demand higher pay and say we're satisfied with what we have at the same time. 


For some of you the pay may be just fine.  You have husbands or savings or family, etc.  There are others who MUST make a living at this for one reason or another and MUST make as much as they can.  Some of us are caregivers, some have disabilities, some are trying to attend school, etc.  It hurts us when people make compromises and send that message to the MTSOs. 


I've said it before and I will keep saying it -- anyone who works from home can have the benefits you mentioned but they also deserve a decent salary for their work.  They are two completely different things.  No home accountant, dentist, car repairman, electician, physician with office in their home, lawyer with office in their home -- you think they lower their rates because they have the above-mentioned benefits?  Think again.  I use quite a few of them and they charge no less than anyone else. 


Working from home = good for the employee/IC.


Working from home with decent pay = good for the employee/IC and just as well. (as in "justice.")


Working from home for less pay just to get to work from home = a compromise that affects more than just a few and overall not a sound decision because you are not fighting for what you are worth (whether you feel you need it or not).   You are letting emotions override reason.  Yes, there are savings in gas, etc. but we still deserve more money. 


People who take public transportation to a job outside their home save money in gas too but they are not paid a lower wage because they take the bus or ride the metro!  People who wear uniforms are not paid a lower wage because they don't have to get dressed up!  People who are allowed to bring their kids to work (I worked for such a firm) are not paid a lower wage because they can bring their kids to work.  So what makes that acceptable for us?


Same goes for the question of benefits.  You may not need them.  Others do.  It matters very much what a company's benefits are.  Good for those who don't have to worry about it.  They can decline.  But all of us should be offered the best so that those of us who do need them can afford them.   


And if you reply, well, if you don't like a company you can change jobs, it's not about that either.  It's about the salary range overall for the transcription profession period.  Benefits come second and are an entirely different category.  The standard of pay affects each and every one of us from the most experienced to the newest newbie.  Benefits affect some of us but they ARE important and are also worth fighting for.  If you don't need them, there are enough who do.  


Companies watch one another.  They watch this board to see what we want.  They watch this board to see how little they can give us and still retain us.  Right now we have people saying "unionize!" and others saying "It's okay.  I get to stay home which is something I'm willing to take less pay for."  You honestly think the MTSOs are taking us seriously??? 


Look, I'm not trying to come down on you -- good for you for what you are able to have.  I'm glad for you.  Just please look at the overall picture, look at us as a group of professionals who deserve what any professional deserves working from home or not.  Why should we be treated any differently?  Why should we make compromises?  You are deserving of a decent, living wage and all the benefits a company can give period.  Anything else is icing on the cake.  At least, it is in other professions.  Let's NOT be "specialists" in compromising.


Are we a team or not?  We're giving the MTSOs mixed messages here folks!  Let's look out for one another. 


how can you rate a "car" you haven't taken out on the "highway" yet?
x
&that rate is experienced MT. Figure you making
x
100% placement rate is like guaranteeing you a job when you finish.
NO reputable school would do that.

They are also frowned upon because they use/used their students to spam all over the internet about their school. WAHM message board actually deleted the MT area because of them.
I'm sure you'd be first in line for it, right?

The VLC has had numerous complaints against them and people demanding refunds.  I was in a position to KNOW that people that couldn't get jobs because they couldn't pass MT employment tests after the VLC course.  How is that being immature?  Evidently, you're one of the VLC reps lurking on the boards so you can jump in and refer your school.  Otherwise, you wouldn't be taking it so personally.


$ per line?
As a recent graduate and new MT, could someone tell me what a fair salary is, per line of transcription? Thanks so much.
How much per line?
I also do voice recognition as well as straight transcription. I have been an MT for about 2 years now and started off doing voice recognition and I love it. I now do about 1800 to 2100 lines per day (voice recognition). I started off with a company doing vr and was only making 2.5 to 3 cents per line and I stayed with them for about 18 months and after the raises I was making 4.25 cents per line. However, that was an IC position and I wanted benefits so I started taking as many online tests as possible with companies that offer employee status and not IC. I wanted to get benefits. So, eventually I passed the tests for about 6 different companies and I got to pick which one I wanted to go with instead of begging for someone to hire me.

I would take some tests online on the days that you are not working perhaps on the weekends or evenings and see if you pass the tests. It can't hurt at all. I am now working with a new company and I am currently making 6 cents per line and this is for voice recognition, which is pretty darn good doing about 1800 lines per day. You will not know until you try. E-mail me if you have any other questions.
Maybe not out of line...
but not a very good *cooperative* attitude.
line count

Can someone please help me with the whole line count, WPM, total dollars concept. I'm trying to figure out my potential income doing MT. I know there are a range of answers but there must be some averages. I would be brand new at MT. What's your best guess of amount of work in say a 6 hour/day schedule? After 6 months experience? Thanks in advance for your help!


best on-line courses?

Hi all,


I'd like to take an on-line MT course; can anyone recommend one over any others? I plan on doing an internship for experience when I'm done for a while so I can get an actual paid position. How hard will it be to start working from home as I have a 20 month old that I want to stay at home with.


Thanks!


How is line counting done?
I know it is based on a 65 character line, often including spaces, but how do you line count your work and get an accurate number?
Gross line

Hi! I got offer of 7.5 cents per gross line. No idea is it better than 7.5 cents per line including spaces? Please advise!


7 cents a line
I graduated in Aug - my first job finally came in Sept/Oct they started me out at 7 cents doing orthro clinics.
HELP--On-line course information..??
I have been an MT for 13 years and have a friend who is trying to enter this profession via an on-line course.  She asked me if I know of any.  Can anyone tell me about an on-line program that includes training in Expander programs that is a legitimate program and recognized and accepted by employers?  Thanks in advance for your assistance.
It is .06 per line. That is good to know.
Thanks

line counts
as a new grad is 90-100 lc/hr fair or should i get a job flipping burgers
compaired to .065/line more.....
So many newbies I've seen post on here are paid .065/line when they are first starting out. Many say that is very average newbie pay.
All you can go on to compare is the $7.43/hour that you made. Divide that by .065 and you have 114 lines/hour. If your not actually typing that many lines/hour, than your making MORE than average newbie pay.
I hope this helps.
It's the only way to compare the standard way (cpl) newbies are paid.
Christy
What do you mean by the contract seemed way out of line?
You don't give an example of what you are talking about, but I doubt anyone here would knowingly sign a contract that was detrimental to them or way outside industry norms.

I love my ESLs. Even though I do acute care, they tend to be fairly repetitive in their phrasing, and you get used to them after a few reports. In many cases, I would much rather have an ESL than a doc who drops entire syllables from words and words from sentences because he is in such a rush to be done with his dictation. Or spellers. I hate spellers.
Line counting
I would like to know who out there started off with a low line count and exceeded to the max of a 1000 lines or more. How many reports are that usually.?And the appropriate hours it takes to get it done.? Would you please share your story with me. that would be great!
Line counts
If you can create normals this will help tremendously with your line count. Also be sure to utilize any samples that you have available. If you are not using a word Expander already, that will definitely help your speed. The biggest factor in being fast and getting a good line count is to know your stuff and that just comes with experience. When you are first starting out there are a lot of things that you have to look up and that takes a lot of time. Once you get more experience you will find that you don't have to look up as many terms and your speed will pick up.

Good luck!
Cents per line...

Yes, at 6 or 7 cents a line, that is strictly training wages.  Don't settle for anything like that, especially if you have experience and you know you are good at what you do.  These companies make anywhere from 14.5 cents on up for the work they receive throughout outsourcing so, in essence, whatever you make, they make, except you are the one doing all of the work, paying for your phone line/internet, etc.


If they only want to pay 6 or 7 cents a line, let them get new grads or someone with no experience, that way they will get what they pay for.


Cents per line
This is a post of new graduates or soon-to-be graduates, who need to gain experience. !!!