Workers fail to meet standard

by MARIA BRADSHAW

THE MAJORITY of Barbadian workers who underwent one year of Government-sponsored training in the medical transcription field, were put on the breadline because they were performing below the required standard of work.

So said Robert Harvey, director of the United States based company TRSi, which trained the workers and set up a local company here.

A year after the company set up business here, 60 of the less than 100 workers have either left the company, or were dismissed.

Harvey, who spoke to the DAILY NATION in a telephone interview from the United States yesterday, said the company had changed the workers' contracts after it was determined they were not performing up to scratch.

"The medical transcriptionist is a very tough business to get in. There are two products we sell - turn around time and quality. You have to have a 99 per cent accurate medical record - this is important and I make no apologies for that," he said, adding that he did not intend "to pay someone to sit on their hands and not meet the minimum standards required".

He said the workers were given 90 days to meet the minimum standard and this was even extended further.

"We had a meeting with them and we told them that some of them were getting paid and were not meeting the requirement and they would have to do the minimum to remain employed.

"We changed the pay plan. The message we delivered did not go over very well," he said.

He said some of the employees had left the job, but denied that the company had responded negatively when some of them decided to join the union.

"I have no idea who is in the union. We have no problem working with the union," Harvey said, adding that the Barbados Workers Union had sent correspondence to the company.

He said TRSi intended to expand its operations in Barbados despite this setback.