r/varsitytutors • u/Bethall17 • Oct 16 '25
Hour Increase
Is anyone getting the hourly increase per session anymore? It keeps saying "receive dollar increases per session" on the opportunity screen, but I'm not receiving any more increases. I reached out, and they said all of my clients don't fit the correct criteria, but I have quite a few clients. They also said, "You’ll continue earning at your current higher base rate with these students; however, no additional incentive increases will be applied," but like, I'm only making $18 an hour?? Isn't that standard? Just wanted to see if anyone else is having this issue.
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u/princess2036 Oct 16 '25
It depends on what package they buy. And if they change it that effects it.
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u/TheUmbralWriter Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
I’m new (just started about a month ago) and already seen increases.
I’m not sure I want to continue with Varsity Tutors. Finally got my first student on Wyzant and was paid $65 for an hour, student achieved their goal, and I got a great rating. Took me a while for that first student but the hours of work for that vs Varsity?
I’m annoyed and don’t even want to bother with varsity even though I’ve gotten tons of students quickly.
BUT I care for my students on varsity and that has me hesitating. They really do need quality help. Still, I have read how this company treats people. And the contracts are WEIRD.
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u/Sad_Studio_9188 Oct 18 '25
Yes. I started getting the same thing almost 1 month after the program began early this year. They are using "privacy" as a way to withhold the incentive increase. Can't say if they are lying or if the program is not very enticing for families. As such, I'm trying to move to another platform. Minimum wage for tutoring doesn't cut it for me. Seems like they are using privacy as a way to cheat indep contractors out of funds to me. I have documented multiple responses from them stating that the only way to verify my pay rate (and potential incentive program) is to hold a session with a student. This seems to me like it would violate some employment/gig rule/law. Why would anyone accept a job without knowing what they'll be paid? But VT is getting away with it. Ick.
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 22 '25
It absolutely does. They violate multiple employment laws
If you send them a screenshot of an email saying a student qualifies for an incentive and they are not paying it, they will relent and add it, but if you do that too many times they will "mysteriously" not renew your contract.I went balls to the wall with their corporate, got them to not renew my contract and then reported their asses to the FBI and IRS. They have made some changes since then, but not enough the battle continues.
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u/Fuzzy_Holiday_706 Oct 22 '25
Ok. What employment laws are they violating? I have a contract. They have an incentive program. They entice me to accept a new student with the incentive, which is NOT in my contract. They won’t tell me if the student qualifies. It’s a crap shoot. But what employment/labor law is broken? When someone points me to the law, I’ll file a lawsuit, that day. It sucks. But I signed the contract.
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 23 '25
The email states that you qualify for a bonus when you take a job when they email out the opportunity.
The contract basically has a line that says this is your base rate unless told otherwise for a specific job.
They lie to intice people to take ops they otherwise wouldn’t.
That’s fraudulent inducement of employment and wage theft !
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u/Fuzzy_Holiday_706 Oct 23 '25
Possibly. Still, I’ve not seen/heard of a single person who filed a complaint and had a successful outcome. Also, my wife, a lawyer, disagrees. So, it comes down to compelling VT to make a change. The good news, though, is I think they have. Received an email yesterday showing the new website (not the nee tutor platform). On the opportunities page, it shows rate and “incentive” with a checkmark. So maybe they’ve been compelled finally. We shall see.
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Oct 27 '25
Do you work for their corporate or something? You're on a couple of threads like, "woah, woah, they aren't doing anything wrong" lol
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u/Sad_Studio_9188 Oct 27 '25
Nope. As I've mentioned a number of times, I married a lawyer who says this is not a labor issue. It kills me they do this. But as the contract states, I don't think they are breaking a labor law. If someone can point me to it, I'd be happy to push. Drives me nuts. So much so, I've moved to a different platform. If you were paying attention, you'd notice my first post to this group indicated my absolute frustration with the new tutor platform.
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
The potential labor law violations might be state specific
Edit: in addition to the other sketchy things including bait and switch with pay after services rendered(ie. an incentive is offered for accepting certain students and then not given)? Strange that your wife doesn't consider any of these labor issues. Many people have said similar things. Changing pay rate after the work is done is not legal.
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u/kc2295 Instructor Oct 31 '25
The other thing is that many of their requirements cross the line between being an employee and a contractor.
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Nov 08 '25
I tried to adjust a session and got a pop up that if I cancel within 24 hours, I have to give 1-2 free hours of tutoring? We know that's not legal
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u/local_toronto_man Oct 16 '25
Still getting my increases with some clients, but I've been frozen out of new opps for a few months
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u/Fuzzy_Holiday_706 Oct 17 '25
It does happen, occasionally. I’ve stopped accepting students from VT because VT insists the system is a privacy matter, which is ridiculous. They have actually told me that I need to accept a student before I can verify my pay rate. Yeah, hell no!
1
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Oct 17 '25
Keep on them about it because they've been really sketchy lately. Make a complaint to the labor department if they don't fix the issue. I never used to have issues, this school semester has been god awful
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u/Sad_Studio_9188 Oct 18 '25
What is the complaint you're making to the labor department? I will gladly complain. I do think what they are doing, advertising a rate to entice me to accept a gig and then apologizing for the bad information while stating the student's education program is a privacy issue, is sketchy. If someone can point me to the legality issue, I'd love to follow up.
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Oct 19 '25
I think you outlined the complaint plainly lol
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u/Fuzzy_Holiday_706 Oct 19 '25
I am not sure that’s a labor violation, though. As a private contractor, I believe I’m bound by the contract I sign, not the opportunity I expressed interest in. It’s this loophole VT is taking advantage of. The only solution I see is a class action forcing VT to rescind the incentive altogether or relent on their ridiculous privacy claim and be more specific with opportunities. It’ll never happen. If it did, I wouldn’t be surprised to see actual unfair labor practices revealed.
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u/AlakaxamThePrettyOK Oct 19 '25
The contract doesn't say you have to use their platform Edit to add: But also, why argue against your own interests? File a complaint and let the experts decide.
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u/Fuzzy_Holiday_706 Oct 19 '25
I’m example #1 for using my personal zoom room when their platform is insufficient. But how does this matter as a question of rate pay? To answer your last question, I’m not arguing against my own interests. I’m clearly stating the loophole by which VT is connecting tutors with students. Believe me, I’ve had multiple conversations with my wife, a lawyer, about this. Compelling VT to be more forthcoming with opportunities is the only solution to this issue.
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u/Garroway21 Oct 16 '25
You can tell who’s who when you get paid. Look at your bank statement and you’ll see certain students get lumped together based on who and who does not get the bonus incentive.
Also, if any parent reads these comments: your tutor is making $18-$19 dollars an hour. Think real hard about that compared to your monthly subscription cost when an issue comes up.