Company Policies

Background Check:

All applicants must clear a background check upon request and be able to provide three positive references, at least two of which must be from current or prior supervisors. If any information provided in the application is false, including credentials, the relationship with USA Tutors will be immediately severed for the safety of our clients and the reputation of the company.

Personal Presentation:

Whether meeting with a client online or in person, USA Tutors staff must be dressed in a professional manner and well groomed. They should avoid t-shirts, sweats, pajamas, jeans, and any overly revealing clothing. The only exception is wearing a USA Tutors t-shirt or sweatshirt provided by the company. (We recognize that “well groomed” has different applications in some cases based upon ethnicity and race and leave it to you to put your best foot forward in a culturally and racially appropriate context.)

Technology:

Staff who are working online are expected to have a functional laptop or desktop, internet access that is reliable, and a fully functional audio-video system so that you and the client can see and hear each other. If one or more of these elements is not available to you temporarily, it is your responsibility to immediately contact the owner or manager on duty to inform us and make alternative arrangements so the quality of the session is not reduced or impacted. If you do not receive an immediate response to a text message from the manager/owner, please call their cell phone until you reach someone so we can let the client know in advance that there will be a delay or cancelation.

Pencil Spaces:

While we recognize that Pencil Spaces has its advantages and disadvantages, it must be used during all client sessions unless otherwise authorized by Debbie Malewicki or the manager on duty. Using this program is part of our insurance agreement because neither the client nor the instructor have the ability to modify or shorten its contents, which means that it can be used to protect you and the company in the case of an allegation of impropriety.

On the rare occasion you may be directly authorized to use Zoom as an alternative, you are responsible for providing the taped session to HR@USA-Tutors.com the same day.

Propriety:

Our clients come from diverse backgrounds from young children to senior citizens, represent different genders and sexual identities, practice a range of religions or none, and are from a range of cultures, ethnicities, and political positions. Our job is to be respectful of everyone to the greatest extent possible including using requested forms of address, not yelling even when frustrated, and not using profanities and/or gestures that may be considered as profane in other cultures, e.g., a thumbs up gesture is the equivalent of holding up your middle finger in some cultures. (Should you need some training in this area, we are happy to provide it complimentary.)

Instructors who are found not to demonstrate sensitivity towards our clients will not continue with the company. Conversely, clients who do not demonstrate the same sensitivity to our instructors will be given a warning and then cease to work with the company if the behavior continues. Particularly severe behavior is automatic grounds for the immediate dismissal of a company representative and/or termination of service to a client.

Intellectual Property:

Our instructors bring to the table a range of personal and professional expertise. While we emphasize to our clients that any materials you provide are exclusively for their private use, we cannot guarantee it, so please plan accordingly. Any materials you provide from an external source should be appropriately credited.

Clients do not have permission to share video sessions of your time together with anyone else, and USA Tutors will not do so without your express, written permission as well as that of any clients involved. Please note that clients always have the right to purchase the videos of private sessions in which they participated for their exclusive, private use.

Materials that you develop for individual, private sessions and group sessions remain your intellectual property unless the client has agreed to provide compensation for them. In this case, the instructor and client will sign an intellectual property agreement covering all parties in advance.

Please note that instructors who work with USA Tutors preparing contracts and proposals will not be compensated for this time in most cases if the instructor will be hired for the eventual contract. Any exceptions must be approved in advance, in writing, with clearly articulated expectations, pay rates, and deadlines.

Professional Responsibilities:

Instructors are expected to stay current with the subjects/content they are supporting. If a condition of your employment arrangement with us is a particular certification then you are expected to maintain that certification at your expense or inform us ahead of time if you will no longer be certified in the area and as of what date. (All K to 12 instructors are to be actively certified in a state educational system or Montessori system as a condition of employment.)
Most tutoring sessions entail a certain amount of preparation. This preparation time is included in the payment for the session time unless otherwise agreed upon in writing with USA Tutors prior to the work being performed.
If the tutor cannot provide the appropriate support then it is their responsibility to let USA Tutors know as far in advance as possible, but no later than 48 hours before the start of the session, so we can alternatively provide other coverage or inform the client of where there may be problems.
The instructor is responsible for promptly notifying a company administrator of any issues attending the session from running late to cancelations to lack of availability for an agreed upon session in order to maintain the integrity of our company.
If the company needs to cancel or reschedule the session because the instructor cannot be in attendance for the entirety of it then we do not charge the client for the initial time and tutor will not be paid for it.
If the tutor can promptly reschedule to meet the client’s needs then the tutor will be paid their regular rate for the rescheduled time.
We find that it’s best to be flexible in return with clients experiencing emergencies and/or an outage in technology so that we receive the same consideration in return as needed..
If the instructor is ever uncomfortable working with a client because of insufficient working knowledge of the content or lack of respect from the client, it is the instructor’s responsibility to bring that concern to USA Tutors’ management as soon as it becomes problematic and with sufficient time for us to address the issue or potentially replace the tutor. Please note that being able to refer to the taped Pencil Spaces sessions is vital when there are allegations of disrespect or impropriety.

Non-Compete Clause:

USA Tutors invests the time, effort, and expense to market our services, attract and onboard our clients, and provide ongoing support for them and our instructors through technology, general business expenses, insurance, and administrative support. While working with us is an at-will arrangement, anyone who works for USA Tutors in any capacity acknowledges that our clients may not continue to work with you in the same or a similar capacity for a period of two years after you or they leave our company (viz., tutoring, ESL, college preparation support, or a topic-specific professional development). This arrangement applies even when both client and tutor depart simultaneously.

The instructor also agrees that, under no circumstance, will they direct the USA Tutors client to work with them through a competing service where the instructor is providing the same/similar service.

Exceptions:

If the instructor is employed by a formal educational institution, meaning a non-profit school, college, or university, and the client is placed in the class of that instructor by the school, there is no conflict.
This arrangement does not pertain to an instructor working for a private tutoring company other than USA Tutors who points a prospective client to that organization or makes them aware of an opportunity with this other service provider if the potential client in question never contracted with USA Tutors and the tutor/consultant was not introduced to the prospective client through our company. For example, tutors/consultants who speak with a neighbor about a service we provide are welcome to recommend a range of services with other companies/organizations in conversation as long as there is no preexisting relationship between that potential client and our company.

USA Tutors will not attempt to use our instructors to recruit the clients of competitors with whom you have a current or pending employment arrangement, and we insist that you not try to recruit our clients for anyone else including a private tutoring arrangement.

People who have worked with us are welcome to work as a tutor, instructor, or in other similar educational capacities for another company, public or private, including as an independent personal tutor, prior to, during, and following employment with USA Tutors. This non-compete agreement exclusively pertains to clients introduced to the tutor/instructor/counselor through our company or who have actively worked with us to protect our financial interests.

Payment:

USA Tutors uses PayPal for payments, which are made on the 1st and 15th of each month give or take a day for holidays or weekends.

USA Tutors staff are expected to provide upon joining us a personal PayPal account set up in their name.

USA Tutors is not responsible for payments the instructor does not receive if they provide a joint account or give someone else access to it.

1099s:

Since all USA Tutors tutors/consultants are freelance contractors, we issue 1099s when it’s applicable. Anyone who earns $599 or less with us in a given calendar year will not be issued a 1099 unless the individual requests it. (We will issue one upon request in this situation with no cost to the contractor.)

Anyone who earns $600 or more with USA Tutors annually will automatically receive a 1099 sent in the month of January.

We typically send 1099s electronically but reserve the right to send them by postal mail.

Reimbursements:

Occasionally a tutor or consultant may request a reimbursement from a client for a book they are purchasing to support the client, a website they may join to provide a higher quality of service, sample tests, etc.

Reimbursable items must be approved by both the client(s) for whom they are purchased and USA Tutors prior to the purchase to be guaranteed reimbursement.
If the client or the company pays for the item then they lay claim to their use for future clients on behalf of the company or other members of the household for personal instructional use.
Instructors who purchase materials without prior authorization may not see them approved for reimbursement.
Approved reimbursements will be billed to the client during their next invoice period, and the reimbursement will then be paid to the instructor during their next pay period. Example: A tutor receives approval for reimbursement of a textbook on April 18th. The client is sent the invoice on May 1st as part of their monthly bill. The client pays for the item on May 3rd. The tutor will be sent the payment to cover it on May 15th.

Traveling reimbursements are for instructors who agree to meet their clients at either a public locale or in the client’s home. These arrangements will not be booked without the instructor’s explicit agreement.

The instructor will be automatically paid an extra $15 for this meeting to cover some travel time and expenses including up to 15 miles of travel from your point of origin, which may be your regular workplace or your home, whichever is closest at the time of the session.
Sessions that occur more than 15 miles outside of the aforementioned point of origin will be compensated per mile using the perdiem.gov website.
Instructors who are required to pay for parking to meet the client need to make us aware of that cost ahead of time and provide receipts if approved. (Clients may choose to switch to an online session in this case, so they must receive advanced notice.)

Instructors who agree to meet with a client in the instructor's home or workplace will not receive the travel stipend or any type of travel reimbursement.

Communication:

USA Tutors staff can reach us in the following ways:

Debbie Malewicki’s cell phone – texts and calls if there isn’t a prompt response to texts
The office phone number – (203) 800-4100
Any of these email addresses: DMalewicki@USA-Tutors.com, HR@USA-Tutors.com, CollegePrep@USA-Tutors.com, or Tutoring@USA-Tutors.com

If you are actively working with us, you must provide a cell phone number or similar form of communication through which you can be reliably reached at and around the time of any scheduled session and through which there will be a same-day response for scheduling purposes.

An email address is a reasonable alternative as a secondary source of communication. The email address you supply will be used to send you Outlook calendar invitations to verify sessions you are scheduled to conduct. It is imperative that you accept and add these notifications to your calendar so you receive reminders for each session and have easy access to the URL.

Short of an emergency, we should always be able to reach you at the time of and just prior to a tutoring session and within a reasonable window (the same day or early the next day for a night outreach) so that we can book a client.

Tutors are always welcome to decline a requested session if they are otherwise obligated or don’t feel the content is a good fit, but it’s important to let us know promptly whether or not you can do it so we can explore other options for the client.

Late Arrivals/Tech. Problems:

If a client is not logged on within two to three minutes of their session time, please text or call the manager on duty to notify them so we can try to contact the client or a parent. Unless you're notified to the contrary, you should stay logged in for 15 minutes if the client is not present and you cannot reach a supervisor. At that time, you can log off and send an email documenting what happened. Any time a client does not attend a session and the tutor is waiting, the tutor is paid in full for the session. However, we need the opportunity to let the family know in case they forgot, especially for children.

If a client joins the session late, you should still end at the designated session time.

Similarly, if you and/or your client aren't able to log into the system or keep being bounced out, let us know immediately. In case of technology issues, provide the full session length purchased if the client needs it.

If you are running late to a session, it is important to provide the full session time purchased. If you're unable to do so because of a subsequent commitment, promise to make up the time in a subsequent session and report to the manager the discrepancy for our records.

Designated Session Lengths:

Our clients are paying for your time and ours. Therefore, it's important that you not regularly wrap up early or end late for standalone sessions. For ongoing clients, you should track the time and verbally note to the client that you'll add the ten minutes you're ending early today to a future session or go over by five minutes today but end earlier another week. If you find that you're regularly ending early, you should go into the session prepared with sample problems or topics to address to fill the time in a beneficial way.

Conversely, if you find that you are regularly going over your allocated session length because of last-minute questions and/or the client or a parent needing more time, please make the manager aware of it so we can bill them retroactively and encourage them to extend session lengths. You are always welcome and encouraged to promptly end on time noting another obligation.

Updates:

USA Tutors staff are responsible for reading in a timely and thorough fashion emails sent for informational purposes including updates on Pencil Spaces functions, updates to SAT/ACT presentations, and other materials that impact our clients and services.

This information isn’t sent frequently, but we expect that you’re aware of and integrating it appropriately in your sessions once you receive it.

USA Tutors reserves the right to update these policies as needed, so staff should check back periodically for any changes even if they are announced by email.

- Updated May 7, 2024