Draconian Micro Management. Like being back at school. - Recensione dipendente - Teacher presso VIPX

2,0
24 mar 2019
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

None spring to mind. -I guess the platform for teaching is nice but it suffers from constant technical problems and they update it about twice a month which is incredibly irritating. -opportunities for promotion- but the team leaders seemed pretty unhappy with their 'promotions'.

Svantaggi

The main problems with this company are that they lied to teachers during the recruitment and on-boarding process. -We were promised the world and given the scraps. We were told that students would study with use every week and we would be paid for every single slot of the semester once a student books us. In reality, the students would often be allowed to cancel even 10 minutes before class- the teacher does not receive compensation except the $5 per hour standby fee which is pitiful once spread out across a 40 minute slot. -We were promised that any slots not filled by regular students would be open for parents to book trial classes. This was a complete lie- repeated and contradicted multiple times by admins and team leaders. In fact, should you lose any students due to scheduling conflict/ student dissatisfaction with the course, you will never have any opportunity to fill that slot. And you can't take your business elsewhere because you have gaps all over your schedule that aren't easy to fill with other companies. - the admins and team leaders will invest a bizarre amount of time searching for reasons to complain about you and make you feel undervalued, the minute you raise any complaint, concerns or simply ask too many difficult questions that expose blatant lies . To the extent of watching months of recorded classes in the hope of finding one slight error in appearance, lighting or not quite peppy enough in class (we all have those days). - minor mistakes in pay are ignored with convoluted excuses that always end with a 'we are right, you are wrong' attitude despite providing evidence. - they find ways to make the semester bonus confusing and contradictory by refusing to provide the names of the students for which the bonus has been paid. So we can't keep track of anything or query any discrepancy. - You are required to sign in 10 minutes before the start of shift but they are too cheap to pay for that time. Pro rata at $5 per hour is hardly a steep expense. And team leaders actually go out of their way to send memos informing us that we can not sign out even 30 seconds early. -compulsory monthly/twice monthly meetings so team leaders and admins who have no professional capacity to advise on teaching practice can instead lecture us about sales and share pointless statistics. -When recruited we were told that we would teach 4 levels of class which would give some variation to our working week. We were instead assigned two levels so you essentially teach the same two classes for a week, in a three week cycle that repeats the same story with different vocabulary/ different comprehension questions. Imagine teaching the same lesson for three weeks, minimum 15 hours a week and ask yourself if you can maintain your sanity and still be excited about the little seed that grows into a flower after your 25th class about it!!! -these are NOT ESL lessons, it is purely reading comprehension and poorly constructed reading comprehension with mistakes in every single class. - They actually go out of their way to make things more difficult for teachers. Instead of simply reading a memo they decided that we should have to log into a separate learning management system to complete a course about that memo. One which included a single inane question that could be answered with common sense. - they sent a memo informing females that they were required to tie their hair up in class because a single female was spotted twirling her hair in class. So the company blankets the entire female community of teachers as being unable to resist twirling their hair (I guess the long haired or bearded men folk don't suffer from this feminine inadequacy!). In fact this is a common theme with the company. A single teacher does something wrong but instead of communicating directly they send a passive aggressive memo that leaves you wondering if you were the offending teacher. Quite childish. - they have been known to fire people when they resign but they expect 30 days notice from you, so if you plan to leave you better line up that new job before telling them because the loyalty that you give them does not extend both ways. hmmm - worst pay in the industry- worse pay than teaching adults

avatar
Risposta di VIPX
7y
We deeply regret that you had such a negative experience with us. To address your concerns in sequence, we firstly apologize that there was a misunderstanding with the registration and pay structure. Students do book with you on a semester-long basis, which allows for a measure of pay guarantee, but if they cancel prior to the class, then that slot will not be paid at a teaching rate. Cancelled or empty slots do, however, have the opportunity to be filled. Experiencing Classes, students booking makeup classes, and volunteering to substitute are all ways to pick up extra hours (though of course they are subject to availability and seasonal demand). It is also unfortunate that you did not feel supported by your team leader and admin. We endeavour to cultivate a positive working environment, so rest assured that appropriate measures are always taken when we receive feedback that any disrespect or injustice towards an individual has taken place. The same applies to discrepancies in pay; your trust is important to us, and we always investigate concerns that are raised to ensure you receive the compensation you are due. We are sorry for any financial errors that were not corrected swiftly and professionally. For student renewal bonuses, it is our intention to offer a congratulatory bonus for your hard work and dedication. We will aim to make this communication clearer in future. As for signing into your team group 10 minutes before shift begins, we use this as an indication of your presence so that admin has as much time as possible to organize a substitute teacher should someone be absent. Although it goes unpaid, you are by no means required to work during this time. Consider it to be the same “buffer” time a worker would need at a company that requires them to walk to the staffroom, hang up their coat, and put their lunch in the fridge before using the punch clock that marks the beginning of their pay period. In terms of the semi-monthly meetings, we work towards these being informative team-building sessions so that you, our valued teachers, feel included and updated about the direction of our company. We will use your feedback to make these meetings more enjoyable and relevant in future. For the levels of your classes, we try to best match you to students whose level is most appropriate to your style, though of course there are fluctuations in demand that may dictate which levels dominate your bookings. We understand that repetition in materials can be frustrating, and as such greatly encourage all our teachers to personalize the lessons to each student’s interest, which should also help reduce monotony. Finally, we understand that our 30-day notice policy can be challenging to respect, but we require that time to redistribute students to other suitable instructors. In the unfortunate circumstance that we must let go one of our teachers, it is because they are deemed unfit for our students and it would be inappropriate for teachers to continue contact with them. We hope you understand that it is not an issue of reciprocal loyalty, but rather of putting our students first. All your concerns have been forwarded to the teaching department, and we strive to use your feedback to ensure no one experiences the same grievances as you in the future. If you have any further concerns, please contact us at support@vipx.com. Thank you for your thorough review, though we regret your experiences weren’t more positive, and we wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Esplora altre recensioni su VIPX

5,0
8 set 2025
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

good hours and very flexible

Svantaggi

company closed down and no longer running

1,0
8 set 2020
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

Good course ware and students.

Svantaggi

This is one of those companies with Draconian attendance policies. They expect "100% attendance" . I did not request any leave for an entire year, not one class. When I finally did due to a surgery I had to have they gave me a very hard time about it. I was shocked. I also needed to request missing one other class because my father was in the hospital and had no one to take him home..they denied my request. The absence that I had to take for my surgery caused my "attendance rate" to go below their ridiculous threshold that you need to get a raise so therefore I was not eligible-despite the fact that I had over a 90% student retention rate for a year! When they denied my request to help my father, that was enough and I quit. They also ask you to participate in a ton of extra work that is unpaid, like extremely comprehensive student reviews, contests etc They say that if you participate you will get more points toward a raise-like blackmail. I would not recommend this company because of this. There are many others that give more flexibilty. Don't waste your time getting stuck with a company that makes obtaining a raise so difficult.

avatar
Risposta di VIPX
5y
We’re alarmed to learn that you had such a negative experience at VIPX, particularly because it is company policy to prioritize time off for the types of leave you have described. This situation has been brought to the attention of administration and is currently under review ensure future teachers do not face similar conditions. If you would like to send us additional information about your experiences, please send an email to support@vipx.com. As for the extra workload that you described, though participation in company incentive programs does not go unnoticed, they are not the only path to raises or promotions. The occasional contests we host are entirely optional, meant only to inspire a sense of company culture and provide the opportunity to earn financial bonuses. We regret that they made you feel undue pressure to participate; we will adjust our announcements in future to make that clearer. Thank you for your honest review, and best of luck in your future endeavors.
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