Watch out for Trustaff's "highest Pay"

I am currently with Trustaff. They advertise the highest pay and on the surface it looks that way. However, you pay your rent and expenses out of the rate. I called my recruiter Tim Lewis and immediately he argued about an offer I had from another company stateing they were lying. I have worked for the other company and was paid accurately. Everyone was nice until the money talk. It is simple math, so have your calculator handy and don't let Trustaff influence what you know.

Axis tried that with me and kept touting thier 45 an hour pay in monterey, but "you're only being taxed on 5.45 an hour' . after fast calculating in my head it did not add up without making less than 25 an hour. housing in ca is expensive. especially monterey. run nurselily run!!!!

That's the gawd-awful truth!!!!!!!!

OK have not worked for this company but will say the following Watch the rate you are given verbaly by any Company. On a recent contarct I was told I would get $31 per hour and when I got the contract it had $26 an hour. When I questioned this I was told because I was working 12 hours shifts, I would get paid time and half for the last 4 hours and the total paid for the shift divided by 12 would work out to $31 per hour.

Actualy this is correct only if you work the full 12 hours so in the event you only work 8 hours you end up with getting paid the lower rate. Most honest employers offering 12 hours shifts will give an hourly rate of say $31 and then inform you that those shifts worked in access of 8 hours are paid @ 85% of the hourly rate for the 1st 8 hours and then time and half on 85% of the rate on the last 4 hours. So if you work only 8 hours you get 100% of the hourly rate.

If you value your financial stability at all you will STAY AWAY FROM TRUSTAFF!!!!!!:frustrated: :firedup:

Nurselily wrote:I am currently with Trustaff. They advertise the highest pay and on the surface it looks that way. However, you pay your rent and expenses out of the rate. I called my recruiter Tim Lewis and immediately he argued about an offer I had from another company stateing they were lying. I have worked for the other company and was paid accurately. Everyone was nice until the money talk. It is simple math, so have your calculator handy and don't let Trustaff influence what you know.

Better yet don't even bother to waste your time talking to TruStaff.

:endof: Same here. I worked for Trustaff in the Virgin Islands. The pay was so attractive at the beginning. By the time I got down there and started the contract and they deducted the housing, etc. It was $200 less per week than originally quoted on take home pay. Needless to say they screwed me out of money on housing and kept my housing deposit to themselves because I threatened to give them a bad NAME! Well, we were forced to stay in temporary housing for 10 days and then move into new housing for the remainder of the contract. They charged us $ 1000 for 10 days of housing. We were told this condo rented for $700 per month so why we were charged $1000. They said it was the weekly VACATION RENTAL rate! Well sorry, I was not on vacation. Also, we then moved into our cottage for the remainder 80 days of the contract at $1800 per month. They again charged us for full three months, 90 days. Meaning another $480 was deducted that was no suppose to be. We had to pay for the place for another 10 days after our contract was done. On top of that, they never told us this so we flew home when we had a gorgeous cottage with ocean veiws rented for another 10 days. It just made me sick. After weeks and weeks and weeks of being ignored and lied to and no response to emails or calls. I called in and said I was another traveler that i knew worked for the company, well IMMEDIATELY my recruiter answered the call. To their suprise IT WAS ME. They admitted to being wrong on the charges and said they would make it up to me on the next assignment. But, why in the world would I travel with them again!!! NEVER AGAIN. They are a joke and there pay sucks. :firedup:

Just wondering if anyone out there has had a GOOD experience with Trustaff? I'm currently talking to them about a position but am skeptical after reading some of the posts. Any good opinions about other companies? Cross Country, The Right Solutions? Thanks

I have worked for Medical Express, S & J Healthcare Staffing, and Trustaff. All of them were typical pay, about $ 1000-1100 per week take home, after housing, etc. I decided to search for better pay and found it. ON ASSIGNMENT!! I have a wonderful recruiter named Angela Rotuno call her at 1-888-245-8185. She has been great and the pay is more like $ 1500- per week take home. They have this thing called rapid response contracts, they pay more money. Plus, she is great at recruiting new contracts also, if you have a specific hospital you want to work at. Give her a try. Let her know Lindsey refered you. You will be happy! :houra:

Ya,
I just freturned from a partial travel assignment with Trustaff, and got screwed out of my last paycheck! They don't return phone calls if they owe you money. I say partial assignment because I left it was soooo bad. I know at least half a dozen travel nurses that came down to the VI for the summer and quit within the first few weeks.

My advice for anyone even thinking of going to the Virgin Islands is "Don't!!!!" and definately DON'T work in ICU!!!!! Why?
1) You're not gonna make any money in the VI. The average hourly pay is $24hr. Trustaff said they would get me over $1000 per week take home. Most of the travel nurses made $900-800 wk for 40 hrs. Plus, food is hella expensive!!! Worse than hawaii. Oh yeah, they don't provide car rental reimbursement either. Plan on an extra $550 min to $700 per month to rent a crummy "island" car.
2) Scheduling sux in ICU. As long as Miss P. and Miss G. are still running the ICU nothing will ever change. You will work 40hr/wk. Days/Nights/Whatever they tell you to, which leaves no time to enjoy paradise.
3) You will get floated to wherever they need you. Qualified or not. A nurse is a nurse.
4) Locals including hospital permanant staff are rude. It is not the happy friendly island that recruiters and travel agents paint it to be. Violent crime is very high - Gang shootings, Machete fights. I met a travel nurse who's husband was stabbed in a bar. I'm just happy to have gotten off the island alive.

The Plus Side:

The hospital itself isn't too bad. It's surprising what they do have like flat screen tv's in the icu rooms, but you can't find a tournaqet to save a life. FYI - there is no hot water. Someone told me they turn it on only when JAICO is there.

It is paradise. St. Thomas beaches are some of the most beautiful in the world. The island itself is kinda trashy though. My advice is go there for vacation. In a 7-10 day trip you can see and do everything there is to do there. Oh, and stay on St. John or go to the BVI. All the cruise ships doc in St. Thomas which makes it very busy and crowded most of the time.

Stay on the Main-land for work. If you want the beach, work in Cali, Texas, or Florida.

Hope this helps someone!

Finishing up my 2nd assignment with TruStaff. I had a bad experience with them the 1st time but thought I would give it another try. I WILL NOT go with them again. My recruiter has only returned 1 of my calls the in the last several months. They are pretty deceitful about money. I did the tax advantage program and made a good amount of money for the 1st 36 hours I worked. But my unit was short a few times so for 3 weeks in a row I stayed for 16 hours one time per week to help them out, and to get paid. I ended up only bringing home $6 per hour for those 4 hours. Sean, my recruiter, said it was a mistake and a reimbursement check was in the mail. Wrong! He told me that for 3 weeks then just quit taking and returning my calls. The retainment manager got me this assgnmt now but I am not having any more luck. They take $350 per week out of my check for housing but they didn't receive my fax giving permission to do this and didn't tell me until I was into my second week, so the next week they took out $700 without warning me. That is a big chunk of money.
I didn't think I was going to gripe that much, but, pick another company!

Why are they taking $$ out of your pay for housing? I am under the impression that housing is FREE! Please assure me that I am not being misled here!

I do the tax advantage program b/c usually i find my own and make my own travel arrangement. They helped me find this particular place and have a deal with them so they just took it out of my check each week.

TruStaff - at my current travel location in the last three weeks there have been apprx 4 TruStaff travel RN leave the job without notice.

I have never seen the occur while traveling before as RN. I am curious if it is the agency that promised and follow up or if they recruit anyone and do not check skill sets etc.

I am puzzled by this occurrence and am wondering if others have experienced the same from TruStaff travel RN.

THanks

askmeh wrote:TruStaff - at my current travel location in the last three weeks there have been apprx 4 TruStaff travel RN leave the job without notice.

I have never seen the occur while traveling before as RN. I am curious if it is the agency that promised and follow up or if they recruit anyone and do not check skill sets etc.

I am puzzled by this occurrence and am wondering if others have experienced the same from TruStaff travel RN.

THanks

Ha. I warned people here about Tru(lies)staff a couple of years ago. I had a heated discussion with STEVE, here, about their practices. I believe it was one of the times I was banned from this site.

This is after all a commercial site. Remember that...

All recruiters want to get nurses started so they can collect their pay,(company portion). I refuse to travel with any company who dosent pay 2 weeks housing in advance and gas allowance up front.If something goes wrong for any reason you could and will be out of expenses that you have spent.I have had muliply problems getting my scheduled pay from Intelistaff,they always say they didnt recieve my faxed time sheet,despite multiply transmission from different locations.I am currently having to sue in court to obtain earned income along with the damages incurred.I look forward to my appeareance in court with them.I have been promised payment is on the way for 3 weeks.Too late now.

i just wanted to say THANKS for the heads up on trustaff..i was actually seriously considering them..but after reading the posts here i won't be going that route..

:angry_smile::angry_smile:For the record...I have traveled with Trustaff on a strike and they left me high and dry on my last paycheck. The check should have been around $1500. My advice, STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!

disholicious wrote:I do the tax advantage program b/c usually i find my own and make my own travel arrangement. They helped me find this particular place and have a deal with them so they just took it out of my check each week.

Hey, where are you at in Iowa. That's where I live when I'm not traveling.

wakemup3 wrote::angry_smile::angry_smile:For the record...I have traveled with Trustaff on a strike and they left me high and dry on my last paycheck. The check should have been around $1500. My advice, STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!

I live in Alabama. Who do you travel with?

There are a number of companies that do that and some travelers mostly independent subcontractors prefer that.

It should be an option rather than the standard.

I and I think most Travelers prefer the housing and everything is in the company's name and they pay for it.

You can even search other housing options and present it to your recruiter to see if they will pay for it. This is where selling comes in.

I've doneit a a few times with great success. I was happy and so was the company because it was a total package deal that came with everything and they had to only sign the lease and send a check. Win/Win

CJ www.TravelNurseTooolbox.com

Thanks for the heads up! Im having issues with AMA over money now. Last thing I want to do is jump from the fire into more HELL!!

Totally agree.Stay away from trustaff.They offered me a job and i moved from Fl to TX leaving my best paying job behind,rented and prepaid an apartment for 4 months all out of my pocket and when i went for the orientation as scheduled i realized that there was no job for me.In fact not a single position was open at that time.Of course there was no explanation from their side and they offered me another job somewhere else told me that, thats a favour they r doing!!Anyways after i denied taking that job and asked for a compensation they stopped answering my calls!!Now i am here in a new city without job regretting every moment i trusted them.So please do not ever trust them.STAY AWAY from them.

I usually say that for any company it depends on your recruiter but TruStaff recruiters are trained in how to use a sales pitch of "highest pay" and tell you what other companies do wrong. After negotiating a contract with trustaff for 2 weeks I wrote them off in 2 minutes. They would not put any of the terms we talked about in writing. They said "we use a basic contract." Do not believe anything they tell you until it is in a WRITTEN contract and signed by both parties. I have chose to stay away from them completely.

Im new to travelling. Planning to start my 1st trip in a couple of weeks. You guys have got me kinda freaked out. I really want to go to the vi. Ive worked in "bad areas" before so that doesnt scare me. But i really need the $$$ ive read all the fine print for trustaff. I get that my housing is coming out of my pay. Isnt that part of the reason the rate is higher? Is it really that expensive there? If we just hang out at "home"? Ive looked at the sapphire resort online it looks nice. I dont get the complaints. The hosp also doesnt look bad online. Ive worked in worse more remote circumstances. Has anyone taken thier kids? Is there anything to do at the resort? How about the tax advantage plan, is it a good thing? Does trustaff do it any different than other agencies. Im leaning towards them because they do return my calls right away and have found jobs when other companies said there is nothing out there. Ive got 6years er/hs/ms on me and im pretty flexible about where i go. I just cant believe its that hard to find positions. So i think im gonna be courageous and go for it. I figure even at its worst i can suck it up for 13weeks. Any advise????

nrskel78 wrote:I usually say that for any company it depends on your recruiter but TruStaff recruiters are trained in how to use a sales pitch of "highest pay" and tell you what other companies do wrong. After negotiating a contract with trustaff for 2 weeks I wrote them off in 2 minutes. They would not put any of the terms we talked about in writing. They said "we use a basic contract." Do not believe anything they tell you until it is in a WRITTEN contract and signed by both parties. I have chose to stay away from them completely.

Thanks for the warning. When they won't put it into the contract, they won't honor it, and that makes them suspect up front.

I agree that whatever is promised to you NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR CONTRACT! As long as they're giving it to you in writing, go for it. I think one of my biggest problems was that I started so quickly that I didn't have all of my paperwork stuff worked out before taking my first assignment. I only did one travel assignment and might start back after my son graduates from high school next year.

ANNAMYRAE wrote:Im new to travelling. Planning to start my 1st trip in a couple of weeks. You guys have got me kinda freaked out. I really want to go to the vi. Ive worked in "bad areas" before so that doesnt scare me. But i really need the $$$ ive read all the fine print for trustaff. I get that my housing is coming out of my pay. Isnt that part of the reason the rate is higher? Is it really that expensive there? If we just hang out at "home"? Ive looked at the sapphire resort online it looks nice. I dont get the complaints. The hosp also doesnt look bad online. Ive worked in worse more remote circumstances. Has anyone taken thier kids? Is there anything to do at the resort? How about the tax advantage plan, is it a good thing? Does trustaff do it any different than other agencies. Im leaning towards them because they do return my calls right away and have found jobs when other companies said there is nothing out there. Ive got 6years er/hs/ms on me and im pretty flexible about where i go. I just cant believe its that hard to find positions. So i think im gonna be courageous and go for it. I figure even at its worst i can suck it up for 13weeks. Any advise????

---I have been with trustaff for 7 weeks and so far everything has went well. I have a great recruiter, Sondra. They took care of my housing, travel expenses and I still bring home around $1218.00 per week. I have talked to other travelers, and they tell me that trustaff had some bad recruiters in the past, but are doing much better now. So far, I have been very happy with them! By the way, I am in Guam for a 13 week assignment, it is beautiful here, but far away from home. I would like to go to the VI next assignment- closer to home. How are things going in the VI'S. Good Luck!

I will never work for Trustaff again. They do not give you what is promisd. By the time they take rent, utilities, furniture rental your paycheck is small. They do not cover travel, they did not pay for my NRP renewal. I had 4 different recruiters in a 6 month period. The reason I was with them for 6 months?..my first travel assignment and I loved the hospital. I would not reccomend trustaff.

I just completed a four week contract with Trustaff and feel like I survived a nightmare assignment. I agreed too fast to take an assignment and then didn't get to read or sign the contract until after my first day on the job. You all know the rest of the story........the facility needs you right away so get your documents faxed in to us today.......... The pay stub was available on line through adp. I have never, not even one time been able to log in to the point of viewing or printing my earnings. I still don.t believe Trustaff ever paid me for housing or travel. I had to borrow money from friends just to be able to secure my own housing to start this job. The facility and Trustaff together rewrote the contract to state that the facility could change my scheduled hours anytime they wanted to and no OT paid until I worked atleast forty hours in a week. I ended up working one day from 0630 until 0130 the following day with not a dime of OT all hours were the regular rate. The facility made sure I never got up to forty hours by only guaranteeing me thirtytwo hours a week........I meant it when I said nightmare folks. I am still waiting on my last paycheck....and not holding my breath either.

maggiedanurse wrote:Axis tried that with me and kept touting thier 45 an hour pay in monterey, but "you're only being taxed on 5.45 an hour' . after fast calculating in my head it did not add up without making less than 25 an hour. housing in ca is expensive. especially monterey. run nurselily run!!!!

It's unfortunate to hear that... by law, the lowest taxable rate a travel nurse can receive is $17.00 an hour. If I come across the documentation that can support this, I will provide it for y'alls reference.