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Seemingly every job advertised in Italy is with this company, yet when you look at the blacklist sites, they are frequently mentioned.
Does anyone have any knowledge of them? I don't want to fall into a pit!
Thank you!

Same as you. There are lots of them and lots of negative stuff about them online.

I've heard a lot of bad things about them too and out of pure curiosity, I went for an interview with one of them. I didn't like the school, (more like the owner's flat than an actual school) and I didn't get a good vibe from the two teachers that seemed to be working there. The owner only offered freelance contracts and the pay was very low.

I've also heard rumours that they never pay on time, either.

Obviously, I walked out of that interview and never returned!

I've worked for a British Institutes school. Actually, I worked for of them. I didn't have any problems. As it's essentially a franchise, each school is as good as its management.

As has already been said, British Institutes is a franchise operation. Some are good and some are not. It is a little unfair - no, it's very unfair - to therefore simply refer to British Institutes and not say which branch you refer to .

BI are no different to most schools over here. Yes, some pay late, or find ways not to pay. Most offer contracts which are semi-legal at best, blatantly illegal in many cases. Some demand you have a Partita IVA (VAT Number) which means that you are declaring you are self-employed but actually work for a single school...which means you are actually breaking the law. The Italians are currently clamping down on such 'false' IVA's.

Look carefully at your contract. It'll almost certainly be a 'contratto progetto' which means a project contract. These are dished out like sweets because they relieve the school of the obligation to guarantee work, to provide sick or holiday pay and which are nonetheless illegal. A project contract, for example, cannot state that your project is 'teaching'.

Brian
www.milanoinglese.it