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[gitana2013]

I worked for the TEFL Institute last year and have never been paid.

I saw an ad to teach their ESL certification course, and I googled the name because I�d never heard of the company. Their website seemed legit, my contact and interviewer was professional, friendly, and knowledgeable about the field, and the course book and materials seemed to be based on best practices. I had no reason to suspect that the TEFL Institute was going to rip me off.

I finished teaching the course, submitted all of my paperwork, my students received their certificates, but I was never paid.

After countless emails, phone calls, and per a lawyer�s advice, a demand letter, I still haven�t been paid. The last time I talked to my contact at the company, she said that the CEO Tiron Gibbs was supposed to have contacted me. She refused to give me his contact information. When I did some research online while searching for his contact information, I found information about a class-action suit against the company on teflblacklist.blogspot.com, more information about the company and The Global Education Corporation on fraudwatchers.org, and found this recent review on glassdoor.com:

�Bounced paychecks are on the rise.
The company is in terrible shape financially.
The owner is incompetent. It is almost worth working here just to experience the level of incompetency. Truly amazing.
�As a student services rep, you'll get all the scut work. All the complaints will come to you. People will want refunds (this happens in any organization), but if you provide them a refund (which is their right), the owner may threaten to withhold your check or have the funds taken from your paycheck. I don't think this is legal. At the very least, it is poor form.
As an instructor, if you receive your paycheck at all, it will definitely not be on time. You can be certain of this.�


When I contacted the Department of Labor, I was initially told that they couldn�t help me because I told them that I was an independent contractor (since this was what my contract said) When I did some research on independent contractors� rights, I found this on jobsearchtech.com:

"Companies don't have to withhold federal, state and Social Security (FICA) taxes, or pay unemployment or workers' compensation insurance for independent contractors�giving dishonest companies lots of incentive to cheat independent contractors of their rights. The cheaters (and naive) misclassify workers as independent contractors, but still attempt to control them as employees."

When I looked into the IRS definitions of employee vs. independent contractor (http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-%28Self-Employed%29-or-Employee%3F) it was clear that I had been an employee of the TEFL Institute, not an independent contractor. When I spoke again to someone at The Department of Labor, they agreed.

In seeking legal advice, I also found out that Illinois passed the Illinois Wage Theft Enforcement Act, which helps victims of wage theft. Employees can �recover attorneys' fees and costs, as well as damages at a rate of 2% of the amount of any unpaid wages for each month that the wages remain unpaid�if the employer fails to comply with or file a timely appeal of a wage payment demand or order, the employer must pay a penalty of�an additional 1% of the amount owing per calendar day to the employee. �

I also found out that Chicago recently passed an ordinance to stop wage theft. The anti-wage theft ordinance will go into effect in July and can revoke the licenses of businesses engaging in wage theft.

I spoke to someone at Arise Chicago (arisechicago.org), the group that supported the new anti-wage theft ordinance, and they told me that anyone who has had a similar instance with wage theft in Chicago (especially bounced checks) should contact them and they will try to help.

I hope that by sharing my experience with the TEFL Institute, I can prevent this from happening to anyone else.

[Guy Courchesne]

[gitana2013]

Thanks for the support!

[gitana2013]

I've started a Facebook page about my experiences with TEFL Institute. I've found a lot of negative reviews scattered online, and some suspicious positive ones (like the 5 star Yahoo review posted by "Ti"-the company's owner is named MOD EDIT.) I'd like there to be a space where people can share their experiences and help prevent other people from being deceived by the company.

https://www.facebook.com/TheTruthAboutTeflInstitute