Great atmosphere but demanding schedules - Anonymous employee Patel Conservatory Employee Review

It was the first and best summer apprenticeship I have ever had.

None of known, they were honestly amazing to work with.

Working with kids in the arts is awesome, but this aspect is expected to justify low pay, expected unpaid labor, difficulty taking time off, and toxic management.

At this job it was normal for a paycheck to just... not show up on payday. It happened at least 3x per year. When this happened, it was as though I was inconveniencing staff by asking to be paid. Contractors and hourly employees are sold on "$40 per hour" (and experience the resentment of lower-hourly-rate salary employees in fine arts ed), but after factoring in all of the unpaid time it was less than minimum wage. Mandatory unpaid hours violate labor laws for employees and contractors. Moving equipment to sites: unpaid. Rehearsals for student concerts: unpaid. Attending, performing, and working the big student concert that parents pay to get into: unpaid. Patel Conservatory's Facebook page advertised work that we were doing at a site over an hour away, without mentioning that the work would not be possible without the personal contributions of employees who funded gas and car use that outweighed the pay for that class. Salary workers were not even allowed to use their paid vacation because of the hectic schedule. The expectation was that 60-hour + weeks were normal. Watercooler conversations between multiple salaried employees mentioned balancing the resentment with the importance of the work. Anyone who has risen up in this company has done so through absolutely inhuman, unpaid-hours, conditions. So, unsure if this culture will change. The objective of serving students who need arts ed is awesome. However, funds are distributed in a top-heavy manner, so the teachers on the ground who make this happen, and the administrators closest to the teachers on the ground, aren't paid enough for their efforts, and are expected to volunteer beyond their position, even when it is not in the best interest of their health and family life. Then, the typical nonprofit guilting to get your free labor. Its absolutely for a worthy cause. But maybe we could organize the labor and pay differently to better accomplish this.