Hienullo.com

Farmhouse of the tech.

Medical Transcription: Production Pay and Overtime

Medical transcriptionists are often paid based on their output. In most cases, compensation is based on how many lines a person can transcribe, multiplied by their rate per line. Sounds pretty simple, right? Of course, that first assumes you understand how a line is defined. We’ve had that discussion here many times, so we won’t get into that again now.

A question that is often asked is when someone is paid for production, what happens to the overtime pay? First, let’s be very clear, overtime is only something that is given to those who work as employees of a company. Does not apply if you are an independent contractor. If you are classified, as some MTs have been, as a “statutory employee” then it applies to you. In the past, there has been a misconception that overtime laws do not apply to the category of statutory employees; This is incorrect.

So how does it work? If you are a paid production employee, are you entitled to overtime pay? In that same light, what other things might apply to compensation?

First, these issues are determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Requires that a non-exempt employee be paid at least the minimum wage AND be entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 in a week. It would seem simple, right?

You might wonder why I am also including the minimum wage in this discussion. When someone is just starting out in this profession, it’s not uncommon for them to be slower than they eventually will be. If you are paid for the production, that significantly decreases your income. However, at no time should your wages be less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. That means gone are the days when new hires were told to just “work until they hit their line quota.” That doesn’t work without being sure you paid at least minimum wage and paying if the person works more than 40 hours in a work week. Yes, that means you must keep a timesheet for yourself and your employer. Serves as verification of hours worked. Also remember that your state laws may have a higher minimum wage. If that is the case, that is the rate that should be used as the standard. For example, Oregon’s minimum wage is $8.40, so if you live in Oregon, that’s the number you use. This applies based on where the employee lives and works, not where the employer is located.

Now let’s talk about overtime. You all have been there. The workload suddenly increases and everyone is asked to do a little more to meet client deadlines. In that case, if you are an employee, you are entitled to be paid overtime pay at one and one-half times your regular hourly rate.

I just heard you say, “hourly rate? I get paid by production!” Yes, and you still have an hourly rate. The way to arrive at your hourly rate is to take the total lines, multiply your pay rate, and divide by the total hours worked. That will give you your average hourly rate. Using that rate, you can calculate what you are owed in overtime pay. Let’s make an example for that:

Total lines for the week: 8,500

Payout rate per line: $0.08 per line

Total payment (line time rate): $680.00

Total Hours Worked: 50 (You have 10 extra hours)

His average hourly rate: $13.60

Remember that while overtime is paid at one and a half times the hourly rate, your previous production pay already paid you for the hour, so you are missing “half” overtime pay. So, for each hour of overtime pay, you would receive an additional $6.80, for a total of $68.00 ($6.80 for the 10 hours of overtime).

Your Total Payment: $748.00

The law also says that it is not okay to “average” two weeks of hours, nor is it okay to use “compensated time” instead of overtime pay. It also specifically says that an agreement between the employer and the employee does not deny the employee’s right to overtime pay. Many times an employer will say that overtime is not allowed unless pre-approved. Even that does not negate the law. I’ve heard MTs talk about being the only person working a night shift where a stat report came in and having to do it, throwing that person into an overtime situation. What IS OK is for your employer to ask you to take that extra time off on another day, as long as it is in the same week. If it happened to be the last day of your work week, then overtime applies.

While it’s easy to say that employers are responsible here, I believe that medical transcriptionists have a responsibility to know and understand what their rights are. When interviewing for a position as an employee, this is definitely a topic to cover! It is part of fully understanding how you are compensated.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *