I have several friends of mine who are trying to collect their IDP units from previous employers, and meeting with unsuccessful results. Can the AIA or NCARB do anything about this?
I believe that the firm has the responsibility to give hours to its interns without any problems. Even now that it is online, it is even a simpler process and there really is no excuse.
Do you think legal action can be taken or SHOULD be taken?
I have had that problem... someone that said they would sponsor me have delayed and delayed everything associated with approving my hours. Not sure why, but it has been 1 1/2 years and I send reminders every once in a while.
I don't know what repercussions could be taken, possibly finding someone else to approve the hours?
ive had this problem.. im starting to think its cause they just dont like me and want to weed people out of the profession, despite all the favors i did for my retarded supervisor
It probably an issue of them seeing it as a hassle and expenditure of time that they don't see any benefit (to them) in dealing with. I'd try some tactic where they would have to think that ignoring you will take up more time or cause problems for them, than if they just bite the bullet and do the sign off.
Try sending them a "demand letter" via certified mail that states you will file a formal complaint for "professionally negligent practices that are restraining your right to earn a living" with the state Architecture licensing board, department of professional regulation, etc... (whatever would be the proper governmental authority in your state). This can be a better tacit than threatening to sue them or have a lawyer attack them because: a) it generally doesn't cost anything to file these type of complaints and thus you are more likely to follow thru (lawyers don't work for free and not many interns can afford $200+ an hour); b) it would be a permanent black mark on their publicly available record, which most people would exert a little bit of effort to avoid.
NCARB and AIA would be a waste of time on this issue. There is really nothing that they can do to hurt an employer that is slow or refuses to sign off on IDP.
If the issue though is that someone is asking for verification of IDP hours that are questionable, I can see how the firm would be reluctant to do the signoff. Likewise if you were trying to capture hours from a long time ago, I could see why they would not want to. I think if anything much older than a year or so is sought they would be rightfully reluctant in providing them (who at that point would remember?).
Before you send a "demand" letter ...I think you should be a nuisance to them ...forget emailing them ...just keep calling them and calling them ...start off calling every 2 weeks to check up on it ...then every week ...than everyday ...itll become such a problem theyll HAVE to do it ...if that still doesn't work talk to the other people in the office like the bosses executive assistant (if they have one) and bitch and complain ...after than go down to the office yourself ...showing up at someones office says "I mean Business" ..after all this is your career were talking about so don't be shy ...then if all of that fails send the "demand letter" as stated above.
People really need to stay on top of these things tho ...i think this is one of the reasons why they implemented the "6 month rule"
Unfortunately,
This 6 month rule along with the added bonus that its done online, will make it very easy for a boss that doesn't like you to postpone signing off on your hours, Which means only one thing you have to keep on them every 6 months.
I had some problems with a past employer giving me 1/3 of the points I had earned... it was the first time I turned in my credits and so I will say it was partially my fault, but when I realized the error and asked them to resubmit they never would do it! So annoying!
Other than that I have always taken the form in and had my boss sign it during my last week of work... that has always worked luckily.
I think the 6 month rule is a pain, however, your bosses won't ignore you if you ask them to do it and you are still working there. So it will definitely help this issue.
i think this is where the 6-month rule will actually be a good thing, as it forces everyone to keep up with submitting hours.
how far in the past are these employers? If it is a couple years worth of hours that you are trying to get signed off on, and you left the firm before doing so, I can see how that could fall to the bottom of the priority list for your former employer.
Best to keep up good relations as best you can to avoid this being a problem in the future.
If i were doing IDP now, i would submit hours monthly, just in case you lose your job suddenly, you dont lose too many hours. Plus it can get your boss in the habit of signing off on hours regularly, so they dont delay
How long does it take NCARB to give your record the "final evaluation"? My last set of hours to complete IDP were approved by my supervisor 7 weeks ago and it still says I have "provisional satisfied my hours." It's not that I am waiting to take exams or anything... I would just feel better knowing that it's 100% finished, not 99.5%.
Collecting IDP Hours
I have several friends of mine who are trying to collect their IDP units from previous employers, and meeting with unsuccessful results. Can the AIA or NCARB do anything about this?
I believe that the firm has the responsibility to give hours to its interns without any problems. Even now that it is online, it is even a simpler process and there really is no excuse.
Do you think legal action can be taken or SHOULD be taken?
I have had that problem... someone that said they would sponsor me have delayed and delayed everything associated with approving my hours. Not sure why, but it has been 1 1/2 years and I send reminders every once in a while.
I don't know what repercussions could be taken, possibly finding someone else to approve the hours?
i am not really sure how one could retro-actively enforce this....I think its more a matter of being on top of things.
I would just keep hounding them and remind them of the 6-month rule and all...
ive had this problem.. im starting to think its cause they just dont like me and want to weed people out of the profession, despite all the favors i did for my retarded supervisor
It probably an issue of them seeing it as a hassle and expenditure of time that they don't see any benefit (to them) in dealing with. I'd try some tactic where they would have to think that ignoring you will take up more time or cause problems for them, than if they just bite the bullet and do the sign off.
Try sending them a "demand letter" via certified mail that states you will file a formal complaint for "professionally negligent practices that are restraining your right to earn a living" with the state Architecture licensing board, department of professional regulation, etc... (whatever would be the proper governmental authority in your state). This can be a better tacit than threatening to sue them or have a lawyer attack them because: a) it generally doesn't cost anything to file these type of complaints and thus you are more likely to follow thru (lawyers don't work for free and not many interns can afford $200+ an hour); b) it would be a permanent black mark on their publicly available record, which most people would exert a little bit of effort to avoid.
NCARB and AIA would be a waste of time on this issue. There is really nothing that they can do to hurt an employer that is slow or refuses to sign off on IDP.
If the issue though is that someone is asking for verification of IDP hours that are questionable, I can see how the firm would be reluctant to do the signoff. Likewise if you were trying to capture hours from a long time ago, I could see why they would not want to. I think if anything much older than a year or so is sought they would be rightfully reluctant in providing them (who at that point would remember?).
Before you send a "demand" letter ...I think you should be a nuisance to them ...forget emailing them ...just keep calling them and calling them ...start off calling every 2 weeks to check up on it ...then every week ...than everyday ...itll become such a problem theyll HAVE to do it ...if that still doesn't work talk to the other people in the office like the bosses executive assistant (if they have one) and bitch and complain ...after than go down to the office yourself ...showing up at someones office says "I mean Business" ..after all this is your career were talking about so don't be shy ...then if all of that fails send the "demand letter" as stated above.
People really need to stay on top of these things tho ...i think this is one of the reasons why they implemented the "6 month rule"
squeaky wheel gets the grease...
most architects are assholes
Unfortunately,
This 6 month rule along with the added bonus that its done online, will make it very easy for a boss that doesn't like you to postpone signing off on your hours, Which means only one thing you have to keep on them every 6 months.
speaking of the 6 month rule ...they better get these hours in before July 1st ..otherwise the hours dont count
I had some problems with a past employer giving me 1/3 of the points I had earned... it was the first time I turned in my credits and so I will say it was partially my fault, but when I realized the error and asked them to resubmit they never would do it! So annoying!
Other than that I have always taken the form in and had my boss sign it during my last week of work... that has always worked luckily.
I think the 6 month rule is a pain, however, your bosses won't ignore you if you ask them to do it and you are still working there. So it will definitely help this issue.
i think this is where the 6-month rule will actually be a good thing, as it forces everyone to keep up with submitting hours.
how far in the past are these employers? If it is a couple years worth of hours that you are trying to get signed off on, and you left the firm before doing so, I can see how that could fall to the bottom of the priority list for your former employer.
Best to keep up good relations as best you can to avoid this being a problem in the future.
If i were doing IDP now, i would submit hours monthly, just in case you lose your job suddenly, you dont lose too many hours. Plus it can get your boss in the habit of signing off on hours regularly, so they dont delay
in related news:
How long does it take NCARB to give your record the "final evaluation"? My last set of hours to complete IDP were approved by my supervisor 7 weeks ago and it still says I have "provisional satisfied my hours." It's not that I am waiting to take exams or anything... I would just feel better knowing that it's 100% finished, not 99.5%.
i think it depends on the current amount submitted at any given time, depending on the amount of people working.
I got my final approval in about 3 weeks if i remember right
Try giving them a call and politely asking the status of your final evaluation. Sometimes that can bump it up quicker
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