Pay with Dict8

[juju1507]

I have been working s/e with Dict8 for 3 years now and my payment by cheques are arriving later and later. My last cheque arrived 8 days after it was issued and I noticed they are now sending cheques second class. Does anyone else work for Dict8 on here and, if so, are you finding that your cheque is arriving much later than it used to? I have direct debits set up deliberately for the middle of the month in order that my cheque would have cleared in time but now I am worrying that even by 15th of each month the cheque will not have cleared. Sorry for the ramble but just curious if others have noticed this.

Fatima07 - I never had to pay any fee for access to their server. I wonder if it is the same company as you mention 50$ but DICT8 does not operate outside of the UK - I had a problem with the router my broadband company sent me as it was recycled or had some sort of re-used address from USA or something and I was denied log in at one point as it thought I was not in the UK. Part of their selling point to hospitals is that they use UK-based medical secretaries. I have never heard of any other transcription companies charging fees to join, only that you have to buy your own equipment and (foot pedal/headphones) sometimes software.

I work for respiratory medicine only and only get a handful of tasks coming in, when I question this I am assured that there are loads of work on the system. But on my login there only appears to be 4 or 5 tasks coming in at at time, and by the time I have typed one the rest have gone and I have to wait sometimes all day for the odd few to appear again.
Does this happen to anyone else?? The odd day I have had up to 60 + tasks appear (but this has only happened twice in the last six months)
I assume the reason for this is because I only type for one speciality

That does not sound right you should be getting more than that. It does depend on the time of day, may be you should add another speciality.

Not about pay, but it does affect it. Has anyone else been getting dictators asking you to copy and past diagnoses from previous letters (which we obviously cannot do), then asking for them to be modified, or dictators asking for templates to be used (which we obviously do not have access to)? I have noticed this is becoming quite frequent lately, meaning that we have to type reams in the 'add notes' box, which as you all know we are not paid for, and the 8 pence a line for the other lines doesn't compensate for it, and it can be quite time consuming. I'm not sure how this problem could be solved in remote transcription, but it is quite frustrating.

Whoops correction - paste

Whitestar yes I've had both. If you look at the 'Help' section there is a bit about copying previous diagnoses - essentially you are supposed to add a note to the secretary to copy the diagnoses from the last clinic letter and if they are adding another line you type it in the main text. So it would say Note to secretary: Copy diagnosis from last clinic letter and add as typed below.

With the tables I once made the mistake of painstakingly doing a table in Word and then attempting to paste it into the letter which obviously didn't work! So I typed out the table contents as headed paragraphs and put a note on to say that a table function wasn't available to me. I didn't get any negative feedback but to be honest it put me off so I will now ditch a task if the doctor asks for a table as the hassle lowers my average hourly rate so much.

PS Also re the template thing - again I just add a note to sec to say please use template.

Hi MymbleClement, thanks, but I'm well aware of the protocol of the 'Note to:' box, however I was making a point about the amount of text that often has to be typed in it. I do think the whole transcription business is a shambles and that the companies and the clients need to communicate with each other about it as the dictators are obviously unaware that they are dictating to remote transcriptionists with no access to medical records and I wouldn't like to be the secretary at the receiving end trying to piece it all together either. It seems such an inefficient, time consuming and costly way of working, with the lowest paid being of course we the transcriptionists and the secretaries/typists (more and more frequently being re-graded down to a '2' (look at the NHS jobs website). It may work for the transcription companies, but I don't think it works very well for anyone else, especially, ultimately, the patients.

I agree and have been doing just that, it is simply not worth, struggling with very poor dictation for such a low return. This way, too, if the poor dictators are not getting their work returned so fast there may be an incentive to improve the dictation. However, I still feel very strongly that .08p per line is far too little.

Sorry my last reply was for Wirethorn on the previous page.

Do you all work full time for DICT8 or do you have other jobs? I'm getting fed up of the low pay, which means there is none to put aside for holidays, sickness, pension etc, not to mention the cost of living.

I have had some odd feedback too some of it quite vicious. I did question a few things but met with aggressive behaviour and like others, have decided (although totally against my better judgement), will be typing exactly what is being dictated most of which makes no sense at all so then it's down to them if they want to send these letters on to their customers. I have worked on the site for years and I think the proof reading staff need addressing - there are ways and means of kindly advising people - are we not all working together? Not sure what has changed but so glad I found this site as it seems I am not alone and whilst they have made me feel my judgement is off it clearly is not! I also agree that proof reading the monthly letter for spelling mistakes would be an idea as yes - have spotted quite a few spelling errors as well. See fellow transcribers no one is perfect !!!!

Nice to know I'm not the only one receiving harsh criticism from this company. They border on being downright rude and I'll certainly be taking the advice of other mums on here by typing exactly what I hear. If my boss in the NHS was so offensive they'd be on their way to HR! I've also found that if you email back regarding an apparent mistake they will then absolutely rip your work to shreds. I've been working for them for quite some time and stick to the rules on their ever changing help sheet yet after replying in my defence I've now been subjected to petty and frankly nasty emails regarding my work. I'm more than happy to hold up my hands and apologise if I've made a mistake but the rubbish they are sending at the moment borders on a very personal and unjustified attack on my work. Currently trying to earn a bit of extra cash to fund my eldest through university so I'm now looking for work elsewhere. Quite frankly I'm quite appalled by their behaviour towards good staff who are working on below minimum wage.

Recently DICT8's newsletter has been advising that we take note of its contents in order to work more profitably - I'm sorry DICT8, but profitably for who? No pay increase from 8 pence a line for years (in fact probably never). Can you explain how, when we are expected to take care, proof read, double check, listen again, research, use the 'notes' box (more and more lately), no EPR for reference, random dictations from many medical staff we do not know? With the self employed status we have to try to cover for sick and holiday pay, tax and insurance etc and this is almost impossible. This work is very intense. You specify that transcriptionists should be experienced, grade 4 standard, medical secretaries, but expect us to perform for what equates to bottom of grade 2 when everything is factored in - just not worth trying to do as a full time job.

I completely agree with Whitestar5 regarding the past DICT8 newsletters. However, I notice they’ve changed the format. The October one starts ‘Welcome to the new long, super slimmed down, newsletter’. [So it’s ‘super slimmed down’ but still ‘long’???]

Did you all know that tasks are not allocated to transcribers purely according to speciality. A page on DICT8’s website giving clients instructions on how to use the service says that while there is no obligation to provide feedback on transcriptions done, feedback is useful because it helps DICT8 allocate work to the most appropriate transcribers. So this could mean that if you spend a lot of time correcting atrocious dictation and send back perfect letters, that client will be pleased, give your work an excellent rating … and thus ensure that you are given more of the same rubbish.

So it seems that all transcribers for any given speciality do not have access to all the tasks sent in for that specialty. Someone (or more than one person) at DICT8 is responsible for deciding what the different transcribers in any speciality see on their task list. Could it be that the longer you are with DICT8 and the more experienced you are and the better your work is, the more likely it will be that rubbish will be sent your way, as they know you'll be able to sort it out - still at the same rate of pay, though?

And just a thought .... Is there any favouritism? Transcribers known personally to those in charge of the allocation of tasks getting the easier (and therefore more lucrative) jobs? Or might the list you see contain a large percentage of rubbish because you’ve annoyed whoever is doing the sorting, who might also be a proofreader? Perhaps Alfiebenji1 and p1318 could comment on this – do you get a lot of dreadful tasks on your lists?

(p1318 and Alfiebenji1 posted a comment on 18 Aug 2016 and 24 Aug 3016 on this thread)

PS: I’ve only just realised that once a good number of messages have been posted on a thread (like this one) you have to click on ‘Show 100 messages’ right at the bottom to see the full list. URL then gets the ‘messages=100&pg=1’ bit added to it.

There’s another thread re DICT8:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/freelancers/2451623-Dict8-explosive-transcription

In a post in April this year I said ‘DICT8 is under no legal obligation whatsoever to give us a pay rise, as we work on a self-employed basis’. This could change.

On 28 Oct 2016 it was announced that a London employment tribunal had ruled that Uber cab drivers had the right to classify themselves as workers rather than as ‘self-employed’, thereby giving them the right to the national minimum wage. Uber has said it will appeal against the ruling
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386

Quoting from the info for potential drivers posted on Uber’s website www.uber.com/en-GB/drive/

“Work for yourself”
“Drive when you want”
“Make the money you want
“Set your own schedule”

Don’t DICT8 transcribers work in exactly the same way?

From www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-37730365
An Uber driver has argued
“ How can I be self-employed when I am not controlling the transaction with the customer? I am not getting the money from them, I do not know their pick up and destination, which the app prescribes.
I open the app and Uber controls the app. They dictate to me how to go, where to go and also the rating system. How could I be self-employed if things are not at my discretion and it is controlled by them?"

In the same way, DICT8’s transcribers

• do not control the transaction with the customer
• do not get money from the customer
• are not given the origin of the tasks
• have to type the tasks EXACTLY as DICT8 demands (we are not even allowed to type date of birth and hospital number in the order dictated – we have to always put DOB first in strict compliance with the template, which slows down our typing – and we are paid per line typed, not time taken.

Finally, the fact that Uber drivers use their own cars (just as DICT8 transcribers use their own computers etc) did not prevent the tribunal ruling that they are ‘employees’ of the company.

So it looks as though DICT8 TRANSCRIBERS have a good case for demanding the national MINIMUM WAGE, which must be way above the pittance we are paid at present for transcribing dictation that’s getting steadily worse. (A rate per line would have to be agreed as the official 'minimum rate'.)

Wirethorn -I heard that and wondered. Also recently read along much the same lines that the tax people were looking into things from their side, starting I thought with delivery people. It was recently announced that the average weekly wage for a self-employed person was £240, or £48 a day, not a lot if you work as I do from 8 am to 6 pm and sometimes longer, plus the weekend work at odd times.

What has always annoyed me is when at Christmas time and they are obviously getting ready to pay their tax by 31 January DICT8 say they have some money left over - any suggestions for a charity to give it to? I always think - that is our money that we have earned, it should go to the typists!

Gally123 - Glad to hear that the Inland Revenue is investigating the 'self-employed' matter.

As for DICT8's donations to charities, for those of you who, like me, had forgotten about this, here's an extract from their November 2014 newsletter (which begins 'I am thrilled to be writing to you at the end of a good month for DICT8' - more like 'thrilled to be trousering so much money') -

'Last year we initiated a program of social responsibility within the UK communities that our transcribers live within. We wish to help local, small scale charities that benefit your local community, with a modest contribution'

I didn't save the Nov 2015 newsletter but from what Gally123 says, they must have done the same thing then.

'Social responsibility' ! What about the social responsibility of paying their transcribers (who are looking increasingly like 'employees') something more than a pittance?

These 'modest' (I bet!) contributions must be made simply to make those who do not know how they operate think they are a generous, caring, company. LOL.

Contributions to charity are tax deductible when working out your annual self-assessment tax form, so DICT8 (and anyone else) pay less tax, which would otherwise eat into their profits.

Has anyone started on the new system yet? Any thoughts? Is it better or are there teething problems?

I personally think the new layout is worse! Apart from changing the layout (why?) The dictation seems more hazy and though some of the doctors can be difficult to understand its making them more difficult, as its seems to be distorting their voices even more. I am aware new docs will join the hospitals and they have to learn how to use the software but docs I have typed for long term are equally as distorted. There is no benefit whatsoever in the new layout. Also my workload is none to existent! I type respiratory and gastro. I never get respiratory tasks coming in anymore, and a few gastro tasks if im lucky. Im sick of questioning this only to be told you just have to keep login on. I sat 6/7 hours deliberately doing just that for 3 days to see if im missing something but typed a handful of tasks equating to £10! My feedback has always been excellent or high so its nothing to do with the standard of work im producing. Has anyone else experienced the lack of task. Ive also recently had an email saying respiratory clients are complaining of atrocious work being submitted! I haven't had any for four months! So who is typing it??

I am not happy with the new layout having to scroll down to fill in the number box it takes more time and in fact it took several days before I noticed the DOB and clinic date box below that. Also having the dictation progress "line" across the top when pressing rewind I once pressed submit by mistake as the buttons are so close together.

I had noticed some sound distortion where it sounds like they are recording underwater but it has seemed better recently. I am still in Internet explorer as I do not have Chrome on my laptop but have been told that should not make any difference.

The level of work is rather hit and miss - Monday afternoon I earned £3 from about 1 pm to 4.40 pm - so much for the national minimum wage etc due to increase soon, would like to earn somewhere near it.

Keep looking to see if there are alternative organisations to type for but so far no joy.

Yes, I have recently typed a letter yesterday as though the doc had dictated in a swimming pool!.. and yes the layout takes longer, god knows why they have altered it to be more awkward! The only thing that has changed for the better is the 'save' button as it seems to save work a bit quicker and the volume seems to be a bit louder. Accuro is another organisation, and are very nice to work for, but again not good money. You could try them as well as. They are on the net. I have both Chrome and explorer and it doesn't make any difference in the quality. I think they must have bought a cheaper package!.

Carosel2 - I did apply to Accuro last year but decided against it for a couple of reasons - they offered me a contract immediately - without taking up references, only wanted to check my self-employed status and I had a nagging doubt when the woman mentioned working one to one with a consultant that they had someone who they were having trouble setting up a secretary/typist with (ie poor dictator etc) and also she wanted me to buy software plus footswitch from them which she claimed was a good deal and in fact was £20 more expensive than Amazon. I already have a footswitch but not compatible with their system and theirs would not be compatible with DICT8 system and as keep changing footswitches around would be fiddly with my (ancient)computer I decided to leave it. Someone else suggested Dictate.it but I am not sure that they still exist as last update on their website was in 2015.

Aw that's a shame, as I know they didn't ask me for a reference either, not sure if it was because I said I already worked for DICT8, but I have never had a problem with them. I had to submit proof of being registered self-empIoyed with HMRC and they then downloaded a Data Protection Act Form for me to sign plus terms and conditions. I already had Express Scribe on my system, so I didn't need to purchase anything, my foot pedal is compatible with the software (Olympus). They offered me to buy theirs, but I said no. When I set my computer up with their software, I didn't need to buy anything else as it configured it straight away. I type for any speciality that comes in. They are much easier to understand too. The updated version of Express Scribe is only roughly about £20 to buy online. They have been going a while, and I know of others who work for DICT8 also work for them. As for Dictate, I applied there last year and didn't hear a thing! Good luck.