New Horizons Sucks

Instructor's Corner

Are you one of the hundreds of New Horizons Instructors who are still slaving away at your job only because you signed a contract agreeing to pay an exorbitant amount for your training if your leave the company within two years? If so, or if you're thinking of signing on with New Horizons, you may find some of the information here interesting.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the drill:

An earnest lad or lass seeking employment stumbles into a New Horizons, which advertises that you can be an instructor, and you don't need any experience because "We'll train you!" All you have to do is sign a contract stating, among other things, that you will stay with the company for at least two years or pay a ridiculously high amount for the training that they'll provide.

Sounds reasonable to a lot of people. "Heck, it'd sure be great to get all this free training, and hanging around for two years teaching and getting paid for it doesn't sound bad either." But there are a couple of little problems with the system, namely:

Nowhere in the contract does it say that you WILL actually be trained on all of the software and hardware your recruiter mentions.

The amount you'd pay for leaving early specified by the contract is usually fixed, and is almost always very much higher than the fair market price for the training you are promised.

All of the training you do receive, if you receive any at all, is for the benefit of New Horizons, not you. If they teach you Novell, it's only because they expect you to teach it.

You will probably not be given any time off to attend the promised classes, you will have to use your own free time. And New Horizons instructors often have little free time to use. Don't even ask if you'll be paid for the time you sit in class learning whatever they want you to know.

Like most New Horizons contracts, there won't be any provision in your contract protecting your interests in the event of wrongdoing or failure on their part.

So how bad could it be, really?

Well, if you signed up thinking you could just stroll on into a class any time you wanted, don't forget that you don't write the class schedule, they do. If you had your heart set on obtaining your CCNA, don't be surprised if the classes you need never get scheduled. You'll get your CCNA when they need an instructor for it.

So they're working you 12 hours a day, and you have no time for classes? Tough. Your contract doesn't say New Horizons has to make your life easy, now does it?

There are a hundred more ways to get screwed by this "deal" that many New Horizons locations offer to its instructors, but if you don't want to think about all of them, think about this one:

Have you ever had a job where you end up working for a boss that seemed to thoroughly enjoy making your life miserable? Well, if you're only an average instructor, or your boss thinks you don't make enough money for him because you happen to teach a class where only half of the desks are full on average, or if he just decides you complain too much or he doesn't like the color of your socks, he has more than enough power to make your life a hellish nightmare the likes of which you have never imagined. And if you've signed a piece of paper that says "If I quit within two years, I'll pay you $25,000," what is his motivation for NOT trying very, very hard to make working for him so horrible that you give it up after 18 months?

Are you going to rely on his honor that you will not be worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, badgered at all times, until you finally can't take it anymore? Bad idea. Don't sign a contract that gives them that sort of power. If they want instructors, they will have to train instructors, or pay fully trained instructors a whole lot more than you'll be earning in your first couple of years.

Are all New Horizons playing this game? Probably not. Market conditions and the personalities of the owners and managers of individual centers will play a large role. Again, acknowledging that not all NH locations engage in this practice shouldn't make you lower your guard. It just means that you will be totally dependent on their sense of honor if you agree to these terms.

So what can be done if I'm already stuck?

As usual, I'll take a second here to remind you that I am NOT a lawyer, have no law license, no legal training, and take no responsibility for the accuracy of any information you find through any links below. I also remind you that the advice below is a matter of my personal opinion only. No guarantees of any sort, express or implied, are offered by me.

That oughta do it for the legalese. On with the show...

If the above scenario sounds like the situation you're already in, trapped in indentured servitude to New Horizons, there may be a couple avenues available to you. The first thing I'd recommend is to contact the Attorney General's Office in your state. A Master list of Attorneys General is available on the web. Why contact your AG? Because the contract clause that's holding you in chains may actually be illegal or unenforceable in your state. The applicable parts that may give you some leverage involve minimum wage and overtime laws (your state may not allow NH to work you like dogs for the salary offered, or may have to provide paid training if it is necessary for you to do your job.) Information about Federal regs on Overtime and Minimum wage laws is available at the Department Of Labor web site. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 may be of some use as well.

If none of the above is helpful to you personally, then you might consider contacting a lawyer for a consultation anyway. You may ask yourself if it's worth it, and you'll have to weigh that question against the amount of money you'd have to pay them, the amount of hair you're losing to stress, and the time you're putting in at a job you presumably hate with a fiery passion.