Hanging out at Flight School for free?
 

Hey guys question for you. I'm at a new flight school.. Well new to me. And they only pay me when I'm with a student.

But they want me to hang out at the school all day and be there on a set scheule even if no one is scheduled. Answer phones, show people airplanes, take out the garbage!? Wth?

And I don't get paid for this? Number one I think its illegal. Number two I think its ridiculous. You want me there you have to pay me. Am I missing something?

Is this a common accepted practice?

It is of course illegal to not pay people for work, the question becomes, do you have a lawyer that will take the case for free or do you have money to pay them?

Another big problem is you have little protection many times as a "contract employee" or an employee in a "right to work" state. In these situations they can essentially fire you at will for little or no cause.

And lastly, a loophole in labor laws allows you to be considered an "exempt employee", of which the intent is $100K+ earners on salary that may be required to work odd hours, it's considered at that level of earning that you put in the time as necessary, like doctors, university professors, and other professionals. Professional teachers are also considered exempt, which is where they put flight instructors to get around having to pay overtime and normal work hours.

The simple is that many flight instruction places abuse their employees to a great extent. Not all of the places are like this and some are much better than others, but this is common to varying degrees in the flight instruction world unfortunately.

I would take a stand against being made to work for free, but man that ****es off management like you wouldn't believe. If they don't fire you, they'll make it seem like you just loaded up an airplane with puppies, babies and dynamite and took off from a taxiway into a thunderstorm. If you are creative and diplomatic, you might be able to get it worked out without having to take a hard stand like that, but their reaction is a pretty good indicator of whether you should be working there. Remember that a place that doesn't value their employees will sell you out in an instant when the **** hit's the fan. No amount of hours is worth that.

Hanging out at Flight School for free?
 

Agreed.

Sounds like a sh!thole to work for. They're being manipulative and taking advantage of you. I wouldn't be surprised if they did try to give you a bad rep for not being a good instructor, lazy, not a company man, or even worse being unsafe. Don't put anything past them. If I had some money I'd take them to court just to prove my point and stick it to them; if it's an option. Employers know people usually fear them because we all need a job so they get away with a lot. Get the other CFI's on your side and have a meeting, unite!

Perhaps explain to management that if business is slow you cannot afford to hang around because you could hold a second job elsewhere (not necessarily another school). Opportunity cost might be something to talk about. Maybe make a compromise where you MIGHT consider spending one day of the week there, to satisfy their request but reserve the right to not show up when you don't have a student. Maybe even flat out ask for some wages while picking up trash or whatever else they want.

The only advantage to hangin around the school is that you might pick up a walk-in student or most of them. I didn't hang around my schools often and sure enough I wouldn't get as many of the walk-ins because the students got to meet the others first. It's a price I paid but I kept two jobs, paid bills every month and kept busy.

They're too cheap to staff the place properly and want you guys to pick up the slack! I'm always up for helping my company and being a good employee but this is just robbery.

I agree being on a set schedule for no pay is no good. But, a lot of small flight schools expect their CFIs to hang out and answer phones in order to get students. I did the same thing for my first CFI job. Did I like driving an hour each way to sit there and hang out for free most of the day? Heck no. Did I get some amazing contacts because of it? You know it. You may just have to suck it up and pay your dues. If you don't think part 61 instruction is a good fit you should try a part 141 pilot mill type place. Good luck

My school does this. there is a small, very small monthly retainer. however its doesnt do much to retain people.... turn ever rate is quite bad, even though the hourly pay is good for instructors. even if I work my ass off, I will make about the same first year regional and actually have days off. so why stay? Im gone when something better comes. and trust me it wont take much. haha They claim that the few hundred bucks I get a month is legal ground for them to require it. i have yet to see enforcement on the issue. If i have a 8am student until 11, ill stick around until 1 or 2 scheduling scenic tours or surfing the web. But no way in hell am I showing up at 8am to stay until 5ish for nothing. the monthly retainer would average less than 2$ an hour if I stayed on those days with no students due to bad weather or whatever.

This is why instructor turnover is so high. Depending on your area, there may be a better option around. I would use that time to work on your resume and be emailing it everywhere.

Dood, sorry to say it but you need to go somewhere else...if able. If I didn't have a scheduled flight, I was gone. There are plenty of places that are looking for CFI's that have students waiting, if your willing/able to move.

First of all:ROFLMAO that was funny!
The school where I received instruction had non-CFI employees that handled those secondary tasks. The CFI's were only there to provide instruction. You should find a school like this to be a CFI even if you have to move. There are schools out there practically begging CFI's to come. There's one in California that will even house you, pay you, and pay for your CFII and MEI (with a two year contract, of course).

Standard FBO SOP. Get out while you can and find another flight school, unless, of course you are flying a lot and will be moving on to bigger and better things (ATP Licence) in the immediate future.

In today's market there should be no reason to agree to terms like this. It's the flight instructor equivalent of sitting airport reserve. It's also a sign that the school really isn't attracting any students.

You're hoping that some guy walks thru the door, asks for a demo flight, and then agrees to commit to flight training and become your student.

9/10 of people who walk thru the door are there to just ask questions.

The 1/10 who actually does a demo flight, 9/10 of those will just do the 0.5 hour demo flight and that's it. Find a school that assigns you students.