Quitting scribe early

[nwu]

Let me preface this post by saying it is not my intention to breach the scribe contract.

My question is this: When one applies for a scribe position, acceptances are given out on a rolling basis. So if I apply in May, I really will not have any idea when my start date will be. Say I get a offer in August and I accept the position. During my gap year as a scribe I apply for some medical schools. I get an acceptance and take it. However, that medical school's first week of classes is in August which will overlap with my scribe contract. How open are scribe employers in allowing someone to leave their position just shy of exactly 12 months? Because certainly many med schools have variable start dates and which school you end up getting accepted to and end up choosing cannot be predicted ahead of hand while signing your scribe contract.


I hope my question makes sense.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mimelim]

Contact your potential employers directly and ask them what their policies are. These things are highly individualized and you should not extrapolate based on others experiences in different cities and with different firms.

 

[ThatOneGuy1914]

Let me preface this post by saying it is not my intention to breach the scribe contract.

My question is this: When one applies for a scribe position, acceptances are given out on a rolling basis. So if I apply in May, I really will not have any idea when my start date will be. Say I get a offer in August and I accept the position. During my gap year as a scribe I apply for some medical schools. I get an acceptance and take it. However, that medical school's first week of classes is in August which will overlaps with my scribe contract. How open are scribe employers in allowing someone to leave their position just shy of exactly 12 months? Because certainly many med schools have variable start dates and which school you end up choosing cannot be predicted ahead of hand while signing your scribe contract.

I hope my question makes sense.

My company has it stated that if you are accepted to medical school, then you may end your employment earlier than your specified contractual commitment, but like the above poster said, it's an individualized thing with different companies. The contract will state your specifics, look at that.

 

[mehc012]

Let me preface this post by saying it is not my intention to breach the scribe contract.

My question is this: When one applies for a scribe position, acceptances are given out on a rolling basis. So if I apply in May, I really will not have any idea when my start date will be. Say I get a offer in August and I accept the position. During my gap year as a scribe I apply for some medical schools. I get an acceptance and take it. However, that medical school's first week of classes is in August which will overlaps with my scribe contract. How open are scribe employers in allowing someone to leave their position just shy of exactly 12 months? Because certainly many med schools have variable start dates and which school you end up getting accepted to and end up choosing cannot be predicted ahead of hand while signing your scribe contract.

I am just a bit perplexed about how scribes hire on a rolling basis. Certainly, most med schools start in August. Meaning,

I hope my question makes sense.

They can't really penalize you in any meaningful way for it, and at least where I am at, employers tend to plan for it. Most of my coworkers lasted less than a few months. That's the technical side.

Ethically, you're right that it is incredibly sketchy to take a job intending to break contract. I would suggest being up front with your employer as they are hiring that you will have to leave a touch early if accepted. Due to the above factors, I'd be surprised if it were an issue for them, but this way if it is, you warn them and avoid putting them in a pickle, and if it isn't, you've done it in the politest possible way, given plenty of notice, and done it ethically.

 

[Kuratz]

Just quit like any other job. Give them a fair notice, leave the company respectfully so you don't screw your co-workers and never turn back. You shouldn't feel bad about it at all. They are making PLENTY of money while you are getting paid squat. It's really not a big deal.

As far as your contract goes they cannot do anything. You dont sign a "year long" contract if you are an hourly employee, that's their semantic way of preventing high turnover. Even still everything is at-will and you can quit, and frankly should quit if you don't see any further value, without any reason to feel guilty.

 

[ThatOneGuy1914]

I can't speak for all scribe companies, but mine actually has a monetary penalty for breaking your contract early without a legitimate reason, after your probationary period. So I would definitely check into that.

 

[Aloft085]

Just check your contract to see what the penalty is for quitting early. You didn't swear a holy vow or anything, quit when you want!

 

[kevinsword91]

Agree with posts above. My only advice would be applying earlier than May due to many positions already filling up by then. Companies want a smooth transition and most of the ones I applied to were looking from February through May with most positions starting in May and June.

 

[Bea5T]

lol, you can quit whenever you want. Scribe companies have high turnover and most people don't finish their year. You get paid hourly my friend, no issues here.

 

[Catalystik]

Don't you get Vacation or Earned Time Off that you could invoke at the end of the contract period?

 

[mehc012]

Don't you get Vacation or Earned Time Off that you could invoke at the end of the contract period?

Not at all scribe places.
Mine didn't have any official vacation, and certainly NEVER any paid. I think unofficially the managers would allow a week with no shifts scheduled (timeline for this entirely at their discretion) and the most you could ask for is an amenable manager who you could convince to schedule all of week 1's shifts on the first few days, take week 2 off, and stack week 3's shifts at the end of the week, for a total of maybe 10-14d off if you are lucky and also only working part time.

Of course, my company also violated labor laws left and right...overtime laws, mandatory break laws, reporting time laws, uniform requirement laws, and they put in an illegal noncompete agreement in our contracts.

 

[nwu]

My company has it stated that if you are accepted to medical school, then you may end your employment earlier than your specified contractual commitment, but like the above poster said, it's an individualized thing with different companies. The contract will state your specifics, look at that.

Do you mind stating which company this is?

 

[HinduHammer]

Unlike many of the other posters, I say do what's best for you, screw the scribe company. These people are squeezing a temporary blip in the healthcare market. Most states are at-will anyway, meaning both the employer and employee can terminate their employment "at-will."

For your own mental health and psychology, I wouldn't join a company with the intention of deceiving them, that being said, I believe in freedom/self-determination. If you ever need to quit, try and give two weeks, if not, then just quit and enjoy the rest of your life. I think scribe companies are vampires who pay middle managers and bureaucrats way more than they actually pay scribes and its just a big shammy house of cards that I don't think will be around after the next 5-10 years (Physician groups and hospitals will find a way to cut out scribe companies)

 

[4-cyclohexene]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

 

[mehc012]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

Look up your state laws. Many times, companies don't pay attention to the local laws when making their national policy and such clauses are not valid where you live. For example, everyone working at my location in CA had to sign one of those, but they are nonbinding due to CA state law.

If they're legal in both states where you're working, I'd ask PhysAssist to give you the waiver now because you'll be going home for the summer soon. Do not mention your upcoming job. Just frame it as 'you will be giving me the waiver, it'd be easier to get it out of the way before I go'. If that doesn't work, ask SA to wait 2wks for hiring.

http://www.hrexaminer.com/is-your-non-compete-agreement-enforceable/
"The employer has the burden of showing that any restriction is reasonable and necessary to protect against unfair competition."
You're in a different state and if PA is not in your area, you're hardly competing with them. The 'trade knowledge' basically boils down to 'do what the doc tells you', which is hardly a secret. Don't share their training material/manual or try to start your own scribe company based on their material and you'll be fine.

SA probably cares about your PA noncompete agreement primarily because they're also going to twist your arm into an agreement of their own. It's bullcrap, and usually you can ignore it. In this case you can't because SA has already gotten worried about it (did you point it out to them? )

I had a sandwich shop once make me sign a noncompete agreement stating that I would not work in any other place that made sandwiches for 2yrs after my part-time summer job with them . That sandwich company eventually was sued for their policy and lost. 99% of the time, nobody cares enough or has the time to worry about these things unless you sell a business or disclose trade secrets.

 

[lookingforanswers1]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

How were you able to have PhysAssist waive your non-compete clause?