ETS enjoys all the prestige and benefits of non-profit status yet they operate without any of the accountability or responsibility, ruthlessly extracting maximum benefits from their online workforce but offering nothing in return, not even the barest minimum of decency or fairness. It is a perfect model of exploitation, and it is getting worse. On every measure that counts, this company has shown through its actions, not just its words, that we don’t matter, that they don’t value our work, that we are merely drones, dispensable and disposable. This is true for every one of us, longstanding and newly hired, high and low performers.
This is a serious charge, but consider the following:
They offer no cost of living increases, no merit increases, no bonuses for productivity, and no flexibility in terms of scheduling; partial or no reimbursement for shifts they cancel (a frequent occurrence, which results in lost wages for us and also no way to replace the lost hours since the notice we get is often last-minute - lately, an email 12 hours before the shift starts); an ever-changing set of rules concerning reimbursement for those lost wages; no autonomy or control over the work we do or the projects we score (including our ability to choose the highest paying project); no reimbursement for and no way to recoup hours lost if the project they switched us to suddenly finishes early (another frequent occurrence, and this is true even if we were originally confirmed by them for a project we chose and that didn’t finish early - in some cases, this could mean losing upwards of 40 hours); no reimbursement for required and expensive out of pocket expenses (fast internet connection, phone, computer, headphones); no health benefits, no sick leave, no vacation pay, no holiday pay or even overtime pay for working holidays, despite the fact that we work year-round and are considered employees (we get W2s).
Even if these pernicious practices are legal, no one in good conscience could ever argue they are fair. And now, to add insult to injury, ETS has just announced that they are reducing our pay to $15/hour. This is a 19-25% pay cut, coming at a time when the minimum wage is being raised everywhere in the country, including NJ, the state that is ETS headquarters. The minimum wage was already grossly out of date, so the fact that ETS has chosen to enact pay cuts now, is not only incredibly shortsighted and meanspirited, but also a kind of wage theft and/or wage suppression, since ETS is itself the company that set the standard years ago. They want to fix our rate well below the standard they themselves set in an industry they dominate. They are the only ones who administer the GRE and TOEFL exams. Online raters who score these exams are not 'free' to quit: where would they go?
ETS is essentially interfering with our ability to compete for a better wage, and in some cases, our ability to work at all. We are also worth less in the marketplace now. This pay cut will affect our future earnings, and our ability to negotiate for better terms at a new job, at a salary that more accurately reflects our true worth, but also, adding insult to injury, if/when we need to go on unemployment, that rate will also be substantially lower now, exacerbating our already alarming financial situation.
Seen in this light, this is no ordinary pay cut. Even though online raters do the same work as our onsite counterparts, and we are considered employees, we have none of the benefits or protections or even the visibility of other workers. It is the worst of all possible worlds.
