traveling is great but there are few travel agencies/recruiters that will deduct
money from your last paycheck for costs that they are responsible for such ad rent and utilities. They take advantage since you are from out of state and can not hang around to file a complaint with the labor commission.
Clinical One and On Assignment have done that.
Also beware of Trustaff. They offer bonuses and extra money and it is a constant struggle to get the money promised you and they also will have their way with your final paychecks anyway they see fit and will come up with any and all "justifications" as to why this and that has been deducted. Recruiters are unreliable and will tell you whatever you want to hear. Be careful and good luck.:(
Beware of Emerald Health also!!! They set me up in a "condo" that I found old food and garbage under the beds. When I called to complain- they said that it was MY responsibility to clean and that they were "doing me a favor" because it was a 2 bedroom (even though they had said that the 2 bedroom was the only one they had available.) I figured the difference in my pay for having them find my housing instead of just receiving the housing stipend was almost $3,100 a month!!
on assignment took out for the rest of the month insurance on my last paycheck, even though I had signed with another company who offered day one benefits. I was asked by the insurance rep"what did you want me to do? Call and ask you if you wanted to keep the insurance for the rest of the month?" I said, yes, if you are going to deduct that amount out of my check, you should at least make me aware! I had multiple issues with money with On Assignment.
They are becoming crooks. They charged me insurance to the beginning of the month, even if my assinment started in the middle. They did that twice and once they charged me till the end of the month even if it ended in the middle. They are stealing our money, because we did not authorize the deducted and were not informed if that is their policy. But how can you benefit for coverage two wks ago,
when you weren't even working yet. They are thieves.
tell me what else on assignment has done, I am filing a claim with the labor commission now, my hearing is in two wks. I want to show them how many people they are scamming money from.
Part of it is doing your homework on forums like this...how else will you know what you are getting into unless someone else has been through it. STAY AWAY FROM THESE COMPANIES : On Assignment, RN Network, American Mobile--oh, and how can I forget Trustaff and Cross Country...I am adding new ones all the time, unfortunately!!
A few hints I have learned over the years traveling: ALWAYS take the housing stipend if you can find your own accomodations and ALWAYS counter offer for double (ie. if they are offering you $900 say you want $1,800--nine times out of ten you will get it); when it comes to travel money, if they don't make your airline arrangements for you, make sure you get all your travel money up front (do not agree to 'beg and end travel') and once again, negotiate up for more money (ex. my first travel assignment they only offered me $450 to go across the country...I don't take less than $1,000 now).
Get your own health care coverage if you can and negotiate a $2-4/hr more pay increase if you deny benefits. It is always cheaper if you do your own and you will make more hourly.
Remember: YOU MAKE THE RULES. We are working our butts off to make those companies rich--we deserve a bigger piece of the pie and you will get it if you fight for it!
Hey truth tell us what was the outcome?? We're dying to know. I have traveled with on assignment in the past but I guess they are changing...getting too big eh?? (greedy) I wonder who I should go with next??
Whoa here. As an employee benefits/HR person in another life, I gotta say that a lot of times your medical insurance automatically goes to the end of the month. Like, if you quit on the 2nd, your medical insurance goes to the 31st, even if you're no longer working. It's helped a lot of people out of a bind to have those extra days to get new eyeglasses, get prescriptions filled, etc. Also, what's probably happening is that the agency is being charged for your medical coverage until the end of the month, so they charge you for the benefit. I think it would be spelled out in a benefit summary booklet (i.e. 'your medical insurance is effective until the end of the month in which your employment ends' or something like that).
I'm no fan of agencies - but I think in this case it's not something the agency can do much about (unless they are self-insured).
Emerald bent me over as well....
I was in California for 4 WEEKS before I got paid for the first time. The manager DAN decided to terminate my relationship and my contract after I called him to demand that I be paid. They tried to blame it on a bank error with my direct deposit, even though i had repeated conversations with my bank, all of which resulted in them saying that there were no problems. The hospital actually kept me on perdiem and paid for me to stay in a hotel for the remainder of my contract which was 9 weeks.
My two friends, who are engaged and both nurses, traveled with Emerald for 3 assignments. When they got home Emerald called them and demanded $600 dollars for silverware from the apartment that they were accused of stealing. TRAVEL NURSES that can afford thier own NICE silverware.
Emerald bites.
Every company has shady employees. I have worked for a few different companies in the last couple years and all of them have done something stupid at one time or another. I would be suprised if I ever have a perfect agency to work for.
If it was stated in the contract that INS. Was charged to the end of the month, ok, but it wasn't. Charging retroactively, I'm sure no industry does that. Every agency does something stupid? Do they ever do something stupid where our pay is more and they lose money? Never! That is why we have the labor commission on our side. I laughed when I read about the $600 for silverware, please. Most silverware I've had is maybe $50 worth.
anyone who did not get paid, was charged for something, they were not reponsible for,etc, cal file a complaint with the labor commission.
truth, I don't see any response on your results with the labor commission. Can you share that with us?
Does anyone know anything about MSN/Intellistaff?
I have been traveling for quite some time, I know the bigger companies are not always good at getting back to you at least that is my experience. I have recently been talking to a recruiter at RTG Medical and they have great locations across the US and are great with getting back to me on questions I have. I would be more then happy to give you her information, just email me and I can get that to you !!
I travel with amn and I can say I am not pleased with them. I always write down repeat to the recruiter what is being offered and initial off. being called a liar was the last straw. I am a blunt lady when comes to my pay and my recruiter started back tracking but too late. I am looking for new company for my next assign. If any one has suggestions on a company that is worth talking to please let me know. I would love to hear from you all. this site is a blessing. It is nice to know I am not the only one out there who has experienced the say one thing then do another bull crap.
Please also post your complaints or reviews with specifics in the Travel Nursing Company Reviews section of Ultimate Nurse to benefit other future Travelers.
sereneintexas wrote:truth, I don't see any response on your results with the labor commission. Can you share that with us?
Does anyone know anything about MSN/Intellistaff?
I did a contract with InteliStaf in San Antonio over the summer & things were fine. The only problem I have with the travel part of the company is that if your utilities go over $75 you have to pay the difference & in Texas in the summer that wasn't to hard to do. Now I'm in Cali & the PerDiem part doesn't pay as well as others but I have yet to have any pay problems except trying to view my paystubs online.
TruStaff: Ok so I took a contract with them in Ca & had everything done before I left my previous assignment. I took a week of in between & when I got out here & did the orientation at Nursefinders for Kaiser they told me that my paperwork wasn't ok & that I wouldn't be starting on my date but on my 2nd week. Ok I thought I contacted TruStaff & after a long period I started to corret what I thought was the problem. well finally by the end of the 2nd week I was able to start on my 3rd week. That wasn't so bad but I've been fighting with getting to talk to the upper bosses about still getting my first 2 weeks pay because of my contract & gauranteed hours. Well as of today I'm 7 weeks into my contract & still have not heard form the companyheads nor have I gotten my pay. Also the "Tax advantage plan" is not what it seems. They still give you the housing stipend but take it out of your pay to pay for housing so it'll show up in your paystub for tax purposes which I didn't want. Needless to say I'm most unhappy.
Sounds like you won't get paid. But that is not your fault, the company should have had Kaiser/ nursfinder call you to make sure everything was done before you started the job.
Some of these companies are really lousy. Find a new company after this.
I keep hearing terrible thinga about American Mobile. My wife is a nurse and we are on our first assihnment in Los Angeles. We have yet to encounter any problems with them. Just an Fyi. Also, I guess we have lots to learn with this being our first time. We still have plenty to learn. Look at my blog just for the heck of it. Thanks. TRAVEL NURSE BLOG Traveling Carruth's
truth wrote:tell me what else on assignment has done, I am filing a claim with the labor commission now, my hearing is in two wks. I want to show them how many people they are scamming money from.
I am working for On Assignment now and have worked for RN Network, Cirrus, TNS and have never had any trouble with money deducted from my last paycheck. The housing has always been adequate, and if not ok, they fixed it for me.
Add Travel Nurse Across America to the list of jokes. They could never get my deductions correct on my paycheck. Some paychecks would have a deduction and some wouldn't. By the time they figured everything out, they tried to lump it all on my last check. Also, their "tax advantage" program is worthless. I was told that I was eligible only to find out that someone else disqualified me. This was one reason I took the job with them in the first place only to find out later. Think again before going with these guys.
I am new to this site and I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone for all of the advice. My plans are to travel in March if I can find an assignment that meets what I am looking for. NoleNurse your advice is awesome!!! Hopefully I will be able to find a good agency for my first assignment. There is sooo much to learn about these agencies and it is extremely sad to know it's nothing for them to take advantage of you without thinking twice about it.
You've had problems with rn network? Ive worked with them for the majority of my travel assignments and have never had a problem with them. In fact they have always gone above and beyond to make me happy.
