What is the amount of payment?
In FuturePath, employers contribute $700.20 (plus applicable taxes and fees) for each student they accept. The program provides matching funds, so that each student receives a $1400.40 stipend per 60-hour project.
Payment is calculated on an hourly basis at a rate of $23.34/hr (50% provided by the company, 50% by the portal), but projects cannot exceed 60 hours and will rarely be less, so the $1400.40 amount is a consistent expectation.
You may choose to accept multiple students, but bear in mind that your payment is per student, so you agree to pay $700.20 plus fees and taxes for every student you accept.
How much are fees and taxes?
Fees are 10% ($70.02 per learner project, for the employer paid portion). Sales tax is calculated based on the billing address of your company, and will vary by province.
When is payment information required?
You can sign up, create a project, and request to match without providing credit card details. This allows you to ask questions about the program and determine your project scope first.
In order to accept the match request with the program, you must provide a company or personal credit card, and the associated billing address. Throughout the duration of the project you are required to keep a valid credit card on file.
This step will be seen on the match request page following clicking the “Accept” option.
When do I agree to pay? Am I committed to pay before I’ve seen student applications?
You are not obligated to pay until you accept a student’s application. Once your project has successfully matched with a FuturePath cohort, it will be available for students to submit applications.
If you accept a student’s application, a modal will prompt you to confirm your understanding that you agree and understand you will be paying that student $700.20 for completion of the project. At this point you have committed to paying that student, providing they complete the requirements of the FuturePath program.
If you accept multiple students, you are committing to paying each student that amount.
When is payment actually taken?
Payment is based on hours worked and is paid at the 30 and 60-hour mark. Once the learner logs 30 hours of work, an invoice will be generated for approval by you and the FuturePath administrators.
At the 30-hour invoice mark, a $700.20 invoice is generated and a $350.10 payment (plus applicable taxes and fees) will be charged to your card on file on invoice approval, while an equal payment is made from FuturePath to the learner.
At the conclusion of the project, the learner has logged an additional 30 hours of work and is also required to upload a final deliverable that is representative of their work. At this point, another $700.20 invoice is generated and $350.10 paid by both company and FuturePath.
Payment is taken at the midpoint in order to ensure any issues are identified earlier, and to give both parties a chance to course correct if need be.
How do I review and approve an invoice?
When the first invoice is generated at 30 hours, you will receive an email notification alerting you of the invoice. You can view all invoices both in the Team page’s “Invoices” tab or in the Invoices tab of your Company’s Billing page.
You will be able to review the learner’s work log, which is a list of the time they spent on the project and their completed tasks. Your approval of the invoice should be based on the accuracy of this worklog, and informed by your interactions with the learner to date.
Invoices must be reviewed in a timely manner; if you don’t approve or dispute the invoice within # days, your approval is automatic.
Learners are encouraged to log work throughout the project and you’re notified by email as they do this. Make sure to leave a comment if you identify an issue in the work log well before the first invoice is initiated.
When the final invoice is generated, the review process is the same. In addition to the work log, you will also be able to review the learner’s final deliverable at this point.
What do I do if I disagree with an invoice?
Issues of communication and work quality should be identified and addressed directly with the student as early as possible to avoid the need for a dispute. Set up a weekly recurring meeting to keep the project on track, communicate regularly through messages, and as you’re notified of the student’s work log updates, add a comment if you feel an entry is off.
If you feel the learner’s work log is not an accurate representation of their work on the project, you can initiate a dispute by clicking on the ellipsis menu and selecting “Dispute invoice.” You’ll be asked to summarize the issue and provide your desired resolution. Include as much information as possible.
Riipen’s dispute resolution team will review your dispute and the student’s response, and adjust the student’s invoice or approve it depending on the facts available.
If the student is found to have made a good faith effort then the dispute will be resolved in their favour even if the work quality is not to your expectations.
How do I cancel a project with a student I’ve accepted?
Make sure to communicate with the student prior to taking this action, so they are aware the project is ending and will stop any additional work.
From the team page, select the “Settings” tab and click “Cancel team.” This option will be available only if no work has yet been logged.
Otherwise, select “Incomplete team.” This will generate an invoice for any completed work by the student, and will immediately end the project.