Realtor/Independent Contractor beware. "Working" for VKP is an exercise in social, ethical and labor law boundary experiments. I mean, if you care about that sort of thing.
The second thing I will share is that I'm a domestic violence survivor via a marriage that ended last year where my ex was the primary breadwinner. I shared this with my manager, Ashley. It is relevant because I'm in a financial situation that is the kind where I'm struggling to feed myself. My abuser drained my resources taking me to court.
VKP or at least Ashley the daughter/granddaughter of the owner was aware of my financial position.
My "training" was to last 6 weeks, unpaid of course. Except that I had to spend the $280 payable only in cash for my cards and flyers and the endless tanks of gas and the new laptop and office supplies I purchased to be able to do my job efficiently. So the investment of money and time will be substantial, but the return on investment will come...maybe if you make it through the "training"/initiation?
I made it to week 4 of unpaid "training". I expressed to my manager, the aforementioned daughter/granddaughter of brokerage how desperate my financial situation had become. She listened, but questioned if I was giving 100% to VKP. It was an irrelevant question because I wasn't getting paid out no matter how many (30+hours per weeks) I had put in the last month.
She in the moment appeared to listen to my financial concerns, but that was clearly not the case. I was called 2 hours later to be told/yelled into the phone:
"If you're already strapped for cash at 30 days in, VKP is not the place for you. Our grace period is 90 days."
Then I was told my desk contents would be cleared out and available to retrieve at a different location, the admin office. This seems like a practice when a person has been disgruntled or violated a law. At VKP its when you have an opinion and you share it, apparently.
The contract I signed stated that I was an Independent Contractor, per most brokerage hiring practices. It also indicated that I could work real hard, at 30-40 hours a week, for zero compensation, and that there was a possibility I would not make money for 30-90 days. Any entrepreneur or realtor understands that when you have your own business, yes, it is possible to work long hours months and not receive compensation for days, weeks or months. The difference here is that VKP will deliberately withhold the "draw" that gets you to sign their contract. They tell you that you will have access to their walk in customers, they don't tell you that access to their customers is withheld until they "decide" your unpaid training is complete.
"Working" for VPK as an Independent Contractor is not even close to the legal definition of Independent Contractor in that I was told where to be, where to go, questioned about the amount of hours, time, duration I spent working (for free) and yet with no accountability to the brokerage to reciprocate my labor for compensation.
I did end up brining in a few customers to the brokerage on my own and those deals closed. Now I'm told that I won't get paid for 90 days. My much needed compensation that I earned is being withheld out of spite. There is no other reason to withhold my check. A moral company would simply pay me and be done with me.
Don't forget to ask for a copy of your contract. I didn't get one.
Update:
I went to retrieve my belongings and I was told that I would be paid in 120 days. Someone took the time to go through my belongings removing personal paperwork and business cards. Its pitiful.
If dumping on people who are struggling and being a bully makes you feel tall or makes you feel powerful Princess Ashley, good on you. I know that if you treat others this way you are miserable. read more
