What would you do:

Let’s say you are working in a piano studio. Your boss newly assigns a new family to you. It is Monday from 5:00pm to 6:30pm for two siblings, 45 minutes each. You never teach on Monday in the past, this is the first Monday assignment that you receive.

You arrive at the studio around 4:50pm. You wait until 5:25pm, the new family is still not here. What would you do?

A) Go home at 5:25pm. They are so late, they probably will not be here at all
B) Call the boss and ask if the new family is coming or not then decide to continue to wait or just go home
C) Wait until 6:30pm, maybe they will show up at 6pm? Who’s know?

What would you do?

Thanks!

I would wait until 6:30 and demand a paycheck. I just got myslef 90 minutes of paid practice time.

The problem is between the boss and the parents of the students.

Thanks AZN.
I would do the same thing as you.
How about other piano teachers?

I hope that you'll put up with this highly speculative post.

Was this to be the family's first lesson at the studio? Could it be that they haven't paid for any January lessons yet?

You might have difficulty wrangling money from your 'boss' if the above scenarios are accurate. If they have not prepaid, and they do show up for the next week's lesson, he or she is going to have a hard time making a case for payment on a missed lesson.

Remember that these 'studios' are not really schools or academies or whatever the heck many of them may be called, but they are more like a retail business.

The difference is that you are being contracted not as an employee - meaning that you collect a paycheck whether business is phenomenal or slow - but rather as someone who collects a percentage of the monies that the business receives from the students who are assigned to you.

If they have prepaid, then you'll get your money, regardless.

From my experience working in these types of stores... 15 minutes, and I'm gone. It is not worth the potential harassment over 1.5 hours of your wasted time. I've worked for people who refused to pay and people who have paid. The people who refused to pay were also the same people who never went after student when they didn't pay (claimed it was my job), didn't pay me in full for my last pay period, and bounced two checks to me ("But it's been a long time since the last check bounced!" "Bob, 4 MONTHS IS NOT A LONG TIME, and it should not happen EVER!")

Edit: I should say that even if they've paid already, I'd go after half an hour or something. If you haven't had contact then it's a no-show and there's no point waiting around for 1.5 hours.

If a student hasn't shown up 10 minutes into lesson time, I call the parent and ask politely where they are.

I would call the boss to verify that they were starting that week and mention they aren't there yet. Ask the boss if he wants you to stay and wait to see if they show up for the 2nd lesson time, or to leave.

If there was no boss involved, I generally leave after 15 minutes if they don't show. Usually not coming on the first lesson means they're not signing up for lessons.

Just as most teachers have a written policy that spells out details of payment and performance, most bosses have a written policy called a contract that spells out details.

Whether you can enforce it or not is another matter. But it's worth digging out your contract and reading it.

If you don't have a contract, they don't owe you a thing.

Isn't it the boss's job to call the evening before to remind them, particularly after a holiday of several weeks?

A very good point. What does your contract say about this, if you have one?

No, I do not have any contract.

If I had waited until 6:30pm and the family has not shown up, I suppose, I should get paid for the whole assignment, right?

If I had not wait, I go home at 5:25pm and the family shows up at 5:30pm, I suppose I do not have the right to ask for a pay, right?

By the word "new," do you mean these kids have never had piano lessons before, or are they just transfer students having their first lesson with you? It seems odd to me that brand new students would sign up for 45-minute lessons.

If they are transfer students, you might want to consult with their previous teacher to see if this is an old problem. I've had transfer students whose previous teachers gave me the "handle them with care" warning.

Either way, you really should bug your boss about getting paid for the wasted time. It's not YOUR problem that the students didn't show up.

In my experience, had this happened to me I wouldn't have gotten paid either way, so after 15 minutes I would have left and spent my time doing something better.

I would assume that this would be something that should have been spelled out before you accepted the job. What do you do when your regular students who come at the end of your day don't show up? I would assume you would do the same as you would in that situation.

If you're required to be at the studio for the time you are scheduled, then you should be paid for your time. If you are allowed to leave early if people don't show up, then your boss should specify whether or not this is paid time (at other jobs, usually if you leave early you aren't paid). To be fair, you should be paid as these are your scheduled hours IMO, and you wouldn't have been able to make alternate plans for that portion of your time.

I remember the rule in college and graduate school that we had that if a teacher was more than 15 minutes late - we were gone. It just seemed to be an unspoken rule at both institutions. Sometimes we would stare at the clock hoping to get to 15 minutes. Sometimes we would, sometimes the professor would walk in at 14 minutes.

I have a terms & condtion letter that I forward by email/post before they start, and get them to sign saying if they don't give me 48 hours notice then a full fee will be incurred or they don't come again! As some people will just take advantage of your good nature so you have to stay firm and keep it the same for every pupil.

If they already paid the studio then you should be paid, period. I quit a program I was teaching for because the owner would not pay me if students did not come, even though they had already paid her and they knew there would be no refund for missed lessons. So I got stuck sitting there for the whole lesson and no pay, several times.

Personally, when I have students who don't show up, I call the parents at the lessons half way mark and ask them where they are, if they will be missing the entire lesson, I usually remind them of my policy on missed lessons.My policy states very clearly that tuition is due prior to the first lesson of that pay period and if the student misses a lesson with out at least 24 hours notification their lesson is forfeited, regardless of reason. My students/parents are required to sign the policy and return it to me prior to the first lesson of the term.

If the students had not paid yet, then it is highly probable they will not be returning.

If I were you I would try to get a contract from the studio addressing this situation before moving forward with them. Also, I would ask for the students contact info to contact student directly about the lesson before you leave.

I am sorry for the confusion. Anyway, in this particular case, the family arrive at 5:30pm and the teacher already gone. The family suppose to be there at 5pm and having lesson until 6:30pm. They are 30 minutes late. The teacher left at 5:25pm thinking that the family will not show up.
What should each party (family, boss, teacher) do in this case?

Thanks.

I think the family should notify the boss or teacher when they will be significantly late. It needs to be put in policy that this is expected. If the family does not call prior to half past the lesson start time, the teacher should call the family to follow-up.

I think the teacher should stay until he/she has verified that the family will not show up. At this juncture, I would offer the family an opportunity to make the entire 1.5-hour lesson up, since the teacher just assumed that they weren't showing up.

The boss should pay the teacher for the 25 minutes of waiting time, then credit 60 minutes of lesson time to the parents, and pocket the remaining 5 minutes.

It's a win-win-win situation!!