This company is by far the worst company to work for when it comes to getting paid on time!!! The excuses of not receiving time sheets when I have every confirmation for the past 3 months I have gotten paid on time once.. all I see is complaint after complaint why us nothing being done about this. People work and turn their rfime sheets in on time aren't getting paid on time this is un fair something needs to be done!!!!
I have started as a PCA back in December of 2021. Since then, I have had to fight many times in order to receive the wages on time. The excuses in the beginning was that sending timesheets via email was STRONGLY discouraged which often resulted in timesheets ending up coincidently lost. At that time, the surrogate had to make phone calls and perform resends of the timesheets, but still the uncertainty as to if and when you are going to receive your wages remained.
Fast forwards to now, we no longer use email to submit timesheets, as a matter of fact, it's no longer a provision from Tempus. One can either fax or do it online... Despite these changes, I have had to call Tempus on more than one occasion due to them losing my fax and had to have them LOOK for my fax in order to send it through for processing... BUUUT the latest revelation takes the cake...
They are refusing to pay me period due to a CONTRACT they need from Tri-Valley which per Tri-Valley is a contract that is only required from consumers in the PCA program (my current consumer is in the CDC program). If Tri-Valley did their job, they emailed Tempus regarding this, even I called / faxed them with this information and still there are no evidence in payroll that they are paying me my bi-weekly wages.
I have even contacted the Attorney General Fair Labor Division and they found the concept weird that Tempus is refusing to render me payment for the services I provided. As directed by AG FLD, I will be calling them today to file a claim against Tempus for unlawfully withholding my wages... I have even informed Tempus that I was directed to contact them Fair Labor Division if they fail to comply and well, it looks like Tempus DOES NOT care. As for Tri-Valley and email was sent to 3 people including the CEO so hopefully they will reach out to Tempus too.
My fear is that if this remains unresolved, how much longer do I want to provide services for my consumer if payment is going to be an issue? I get paid bi-weekly as it is... and now... I have no idea when I am going to get paid.
This company is seriously an awful company! No wonder PCA are hard to find because in all seriousness, who wants to fight for their paycheck every pay period?!
EVERYONE in my beloved Community of disabled persons in which are deserving of the BEST POSSIBLE SERVICES AND REPRESENTATIVES, I have YET to be able to post anything regarding TEMPUS UNL. f.i.s. That is Truly deserving of any Praise and is Noteworthy as a good positive experience from MY EXPERIENCE to date, Sincerely as well as Deplorable to be sure.EXCUSES are company policy it seems,and it's Not EVEN CONCERNED ABOUT THE DISABLED WITH WHON this company is in service to,I don't think OUR COMMUNITY AS DISABLED INDIVIDUALS ARE well served with TEMPUS,FACT... Example, a GOOD PCA IS NOT EASY TO GET and it's Not guaranteed to a disabled person within ones lifetime..ITS A REGULAR SITUATION THAT MY AND OTHERS WHOM I KNOW that have PCA and have TEMPUS UNL,.,Are PAID LATE ,and this AFFECT THE DISABLED CONSUMER DIRECTLY!! NO EXCUSES ARE OKAY and accepted only Solutions.and LOST PCA to a disabled Consumer is a Result from this I've seen too many times.. they are not getting paid enough so Reliable paychecks are a mandatory situation that is a must to keep the PCA with 1 of many of the jobs truly dedicated workers in the field, but TEMPUS UNL Cannot manage to even do that..fact
This company is the most unprofessional company. Since October of last year all my consumers PCAs have been paid late. Some PCAs even quit because they were not paid in a timely manner at no fault of consumer. The consumer and the PCAs have called several times to report payment issues to Tempus, requested supervisor callbacks, which never happen, left voicemails that go unanswered and have spoken to rude representatives, who act as if it is not their problem. Every single pay period it is the same issue, they say that they run eligibility on the consumer and that they come up inelegible. Then comes pay day the pca or consumer call and they say they have to send a message to the insurance (CCA) who send them the same Prior Authorization that they have, and then the process and the PCA is paid a week late. There is clearly something wrong with their reporting system that this continues, and they refuse to look further into it. Another issue is when new PCAs turn in their new hire packet, in their entirety, paperwork goes missing, they are not processed in a timely manner, and it can take weeks for pca's to be paid. This is persons livelihood, we have bills to pay, mouths to feed, and it is not right that this continues, especially when the disabled consumer depends on having a pca to care for them.
First of all, thank you Gov Baker for making this agency the ONLY ONE to cover Mass and PA.
Husband had stroke in 2020. Got on Mass Health that year and it took 6 months to get him signed up for Tempus in 2022. Customer service stinks. Zero kindness and they will fall over themselves to guilt you cause they gave us a measly 24 hours a week. Husband can't walk, shower, dress etc. on his own. Homebound and if I don't have help, I'm trapped in the house. We found an awesome PCA who knows Tempus well and how to navigate payroll. Husband got diagnosed with Parkinson's on top of the stroke. Letter from our PCA asking for extra hours was flatly rejected. Their attitude - pffffft, do the care yourself. My emotional health is awful because of his stroke, so I can't handle doing his care. We found another agency that handles everything but payroll. NOTE: TEMPUS IS THE ONLY ONE TO DO PAYROLL. Rather than transfer care, THEY CLOSED THE PCA'S ACCOUNT! I got a flat, one line, deal with another department response from Tempus. THEY. DO. NOT. CARE. I try to understand that they are on overload, but just show some kindness. It's hard enough to deal with a stroke patient, but to have to fight for help is not acceptable. I listened to our PCA get bounced from department to department because they didn't a clue what they were doing He was on the phone for HOURS. RUN FROM THIS AGENCY! My favorite quote about Tempus is "You have to sell y our soul to get an extra five minutes of added care."
They treat their workers like garbage, regularly mess up our pay, and don't even provide a living wage. I had to fight to get from 10.50 to the 15.75 the state said I was supposed to be making, and this morning I found out they didn't even give it to me, or even give me my whole paycheck. This isn't the first time this has happened. If it happens again I'll be quitting.
they have the worst communication in the history ... they take forever to process paperwork and then dont tell you your missing items or or call you so you have to keep calling them to follow up wait on the phone or get a call back hours later .. i faxed paperwork multiple times over a month with still not processed and still calling and they tell me im missing something again but only when i call do they tell me im missing something.. faxed paperwork atleast 7times -no kidding.. called atleast 7 times to rectify paperwork and still not paid a month later
so even when you think you have filled out paperwork correctly stay on top of them becasue they WONT communicate with you AT ALL!
I started working for Tempus (formerly Stavros in my area) in January. I feel this company has taken on too much by trying to handle every pca in the state. If you don't dot every "i" and cross every "t", you will not be paid. I understand that because the state is clamping down on fraud, but waiting for paychecks is difficult. I am now waiting for a paycheck for one of my consumers for six weeks of work.
Needless to say, I won't be accepting any new consumers in the future and going back to the agency I used to work for.
I am new to being a PCA but because the one that was assigned to both my mom and dad wasn't doing anything she was assigned to do. I stepped in as my moms PCA when my dad went to a nursing home. I love every minute of it ,knowing she's finally getting the care she deserves. However this company makes it very challenging to work with and virtually impossible to get paid on time or correctly. There's more excuses than actions. No calls , emails or letters just "take backs" for what ever reason. Trying to get thru to someone that is willing to listen to the issue at hand or understands English is also a challenge. No compassion what so ever, but if it was their pay that was being compromised I believe they'd handle things differently. Extremely frustrating
People often complains when a company follow rules an regulations, this company does not do what ever they want to do, as others, this company follow MH regulations, yes, they try to help the consumers, within the guidelines spectrum. I have been PCA for over more than 14 years, and i can barely remember when i had an issue, nor when it was Cerebral Palsy of Massachusetts neither now that is Tempus Unlimited. I have seen a lot of their Assessment Evaluations to consumers, some of the consumers considered Ineligibles (when i myself though about this consumers being so able and capable of doing stuff for themselves), this program mainly focus is someone with a long term or chronic disability, someone that needs assistant for at least 2 of the ADL's (Activity of Daily Living/Hands On/Direct Contact Care). They are very careful because there have been so many cases of fraud, some Doctors just write whatever their client request, when they don't really need services. That is why some of the PCA Companies has closed already because they didn't follow the regulations, they give a lot of hours for the consumers even without needing all of them, not doing the mandatory visits or follow ups... People think that they are to get the PCA for the consumers or doing the Criminal Back Ground, that is up to the consumer responsibilities... Also, is not Tempus who decided what to pay or not to pay to the PCA, there is a UNION for that, 1199SEIU, but most of the PCA does not participate from it, just want the money... SO this is a good company, is not 5 Stars because like we all, they can make mistakes, but they are very professional and knowledgeable of their work.
Thinking I joined the best becoming part of Tempus only to be set up for a big disssappontment. If you read their mission don't be misled. It's not all that they claim and if your disabled looking for an agency that will help you work towards retaining your independence helping you to move forward through personal care then this is Not where you want to look. When you feel you've become the victim of unprofessionalism, inappropriate actions and behavior, and incompetent decisions and have turned to everyone you thought you could trust to work with you and advocate for your rights you only reach a dead end. Their statements in their mission is untrue and not followed up on. You would expect after an evaluation they would look out for you and help provide you with the best to meet your needs and keep you independent and moving forward through the assistance you receive in the PCA program. Fact is they all stick together, tell stories and lie, watching each others back and not cating about your back. Especially nursing supervisor and staff and they have no regards for others and make up their own stories and rules as they go along and don't care if their right or wrong or how how it affects you in the end. Even after reaching out to the Executive Director who is whom your supposed to be able to rely on when it comes to complaints no one else is willing to help you with thinking she of all people would assist in working with me to help work towards a better resolution was a dead end. This is my experience and that of others I have spoken to as well and when your in a position to become a candidate to reach out to an organization like Tempus for help in providing continued assistance to assist you with remaining independent in all you do, their actions are irresponsible and unacceptable. And in the end due to their actions the only choice they offer you is to force you to move forward in search of another agency who is more professional, responsible, and competent in the services they offer.
And to think they were just awarded a new contract with Masshealth. If Masshealth only knew how they manipulated and treated their consumers maybe they would shed a different light. Maybe it's time to pull together and let MassHealth know exactly how unprofessional they really are!
So if your goal in life is to seek out an agency with people that will work with you to help provide a program that will give you assistance to become or remain independent in all you do given your disability then this is Not the agency you want. There are other more professional agencies out there that will strive to reach out and provide the assistance necessary to keep you moving forward to be more independent in moving towards a better lifestyle. A sad but true story.
Called today to ask for assistance for a client (I am their clinical social worker), regular staff not able to help due to "rules/policies" they have, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor was not sympathetic to issues of partially paralyzed, low income, person; insisted Tempus policy made sense. Supervisor then asked what right I have to call and advocate for my client, and hung up on me. I have never witnessed anyone so rude and uncaring in the delivery of social support services for people in the South Shore area. DO NOT WORK WITH THIS AGENCY. BEWARE!!
Review from Guidestar
I have been working for a client for going on two month and have not been paid for the 200+ hours I put in because she lost her hours 3 days after I started. Two month later still waiting on paperwork and a $3000 check but I refuse to leave her with no help because they can't handle paperwork right. So now I have no money for my son's christmas.
I have verified evidence of outright fraud going on at Cerebral Palsy of Massachusetts 43 Old Colny Ave Quincy Ma - a known drug addict was paid almost $5000 for alleged work she performed over a 3 month period April to June 2013 when she did absolute zero work - she conspired with the drug addicted parent of the young child to falsify time records and the 2 of them collected the money for drugs. When I called the agency and asked for a supervisor I was essentially blown off - told to write an anonymous letter if I had a complaint. This is a felony I wanted to report.
Rachel expressed my experiences exactly. My complaints to governors office and MassHealth went nowhere. Need to break their monopoly so we who need pca's can get our valuable helpers paid correctly and on time.
Fiscal intermediary program for processing payroll of Personal Care Attendants is disorganized, rude, inefficient and unfair to workers and disabled consumers. Many employees are rude and unhelpful when contacted to resolve issue. Supervisors "not available" when consumers attempt to escalate issues. Epidemic of PCAs not being paid on time, employment paperwork being processed improperly or not at all. This is the only agency many of their clients can use because of contracts with MassHealth. Consumer-clients very unhappy and some are calling for a state investigation. Consumers depend upong PCAs for most basic activities of daily living - bathing, eating, toileting to stay out of nursing home. Poor customer service is discriminatory to consumers and not fair to hard working PCA employees.