private investigator

agent

administrative assistant

accounts receivable clerk

Larrek Investigations

A typical day at work with this company is all over the place. They expect you to do files by yourself and without their assistance, but then they call you and harass you if they don’t like the way you conducted it (Mostly if there’s no activity). You might as well walk up the persons driveway, knock on the door, and ask when they’re leaving the house, because if you don’t get any activity its your fault. You need to provide updates twice a day, but a certain VP wont respond to you and of your phone calls, emails or texts. Supposed to be a people person, but doesn’t want to deal with people. What i learned about this company is very simple. No matter how much you bend over backwards for them, make a deal with them about travel costs, sleep in your car for them, they will never treat you with the respect that you deserve. They don’t care about employees, only making money. 

Management is the worst I’ve ever had to deal with. Several former employees, including myself have never been treated like the lowest of the low, until working here. It’s actually disgusting. I’d rather be homeless than have my name attached to their company. Everything is “YOUR FAULT”. You start at 5 am and the person leaves before you got here, its your fault. They tell you to start at 3 am and the person doesn’t leave their house till 10 am, its your fault. Next time ill place a phone call and ask what they are doing for the day. This company has people all down the chain, that way if something goes wrong, they can get rid of the next highest employee. 

Other than mostly working by yourself, they favourite certain individuals and “family members” within the company. Doesn’t matter how great of a job you do, they will favourite the people that don’t get the job done correctly and ethically. The hardest part of the job is going to a file and getting burnt within the first minute, because certain investigators did it before you. If you read their reports, they get so much activity the first day or two. The third day and on, they sit outside of the area and get no activity. These employees are getting burnt and not telling anyone. They don’t document it, they don’t tell you, and they leave you out to dry if you have to go back. This job is supposed to be about communication and working as a team, and there’s none of that there. 

Another brutal part of this company is they don’t give you much communication on when you work next. Every day you have to wait between 4pm-7pm and wait for a file. You never know where that file is, and you cant have a social life outside of work. Ive received files at 7pm that would be 4 hours away, and they expect you to be ready and leave to start around 5am that morning. “Hey wife, sorry i cant pick up the kids from daycare at 6pm because i received a file at 5pm, and have to pack and leave. I know you get off work at 7pm, but its cool. The kids can just wait outside till when you get them”. Like ARE YOU SERIOUS? Why would anyone want to do this day in and day out. 

Overall, these company doesn’t even deserve 1 star. They don’t deserve to be hiring employees, and they don’t deserve to be in business. They don’t deserve 50% of the employees they harass. If you’re looking for a company, do yourself a favour and don’t apply here. If you are currently employed here, have a drink or 12 on me, because i can only imagine what you’re dealing with right now. Or better yet, use the $100 LCBO Gift Card you’ll be getting for Christmas coming up, because they don’t want their employees to “talk and communicate” with each other. 

Good luck everyone, ill be rooting for you, unlike this company.

If you want to work like a slave and be unappreciated, work here!

I have worked at many of the big companies dealing with insurance fraud over the past 15+ years, but this company is the most unprofessional company I have ever worked for. This company lacks common sense and thinks all their employees were born yesterday. Toxicity from the top down. They don’t take suggestions nor advice from the investigator on the road who is working the file and knows best. 

Micromanagement at its finest! Do not let them let you believe that they don’t and they “just let you go to do your files and don’t bother you” it is the exact opposite. Your manager has a manager who has to get approval from another manager and so on and so forth. A lot of decisions go directly to the CEO. Your direct manager can’t even make decisions without going to their manager. Could be partly to do with the fact that some are underqualified to be a manager, but that’s besides the point. One manager was fired from another company for time theft yet was welcomed a warm seat in mgmt here after putting barely any time in. Did I mention favouritism? 

They make you put in updates on an online system twice a day and don’t even check it, instead bombard you with questions when their answers are already online where they are supposed to check. 

They will make you travel all over the place even if they tell you otherwise at hire and your travel expenses are not fully covered and no point in negotiating unless you’re a senior who’s been there for years upon years whom also have different travel agreements than everyone else. 

Mgrs are very quick to throw employees under the bus for no absolute reason aside from wanting to “look good” to upper mgmt. It’s a rarity to get any sort of recognition or praise or even a ‘job well done’. Mgmt is against employees talking to one another, likely because they give each investigator a different rule or rate. So the whole blurb where it says the CEO “strongly believes in teamwork” is utterly false. 

Files are laughingly mismanaged and instructions are backwards with no real explanation behind it. If you question anything...good luck getting a fair response or even a response that touches on the question at all. The managers need to put their egos aside and allow the handling investigator to do their job and make their own decisions. 

They say they provide overtime, but whenever you get close they give you “down days” and you work seven days a week to barely get full time hours. So if you want to take a few days off and constantly worry if you’re going to make your 40 hours, this is the company for you! 

CLIENTS BEWARE! This company does not utilize provided budgets with your best interests in mind and lies about how/when it was used. They basically do whatever they want with the budgets and disregard some client requests. I’m wondering how many clients actually get “money back” from the budget when they decide to cut the investigator with 2-4 hours left to be used to “give back to the client”. Some senior investigators here like to “f the dog” and “ghost” daily/weekly and it is well known to the company yet its continued to be allowed. 

Overall a joke to work for and baffled that this company is still in business. Only stayed for the pay cheque. Would give 0 stars if I could.

The list of issues in detail I could bring up would have me writing half a novel so I'm gonna try and keep this somewhat short so it's more general and relatable.

First off, I was warned by multiple PI's about how bad it is to work here but I didn't listen. I like to find things out for myself. I figured they were bad PI's who were let go and thus bitter. Its turns out their descriptions ended up being very accurate, echoing my overall experience. 

I started here in the spring with high hopes, ready to learn. The training I received was sparse and horrendous, supervision lacked the apparent desire or capability to answer questions in a timely manner if at all. Responses were seemingly only given to questions they felt were safe or easy to answer. Supervisor was ready and willing to place blame, try to throw you under the bus and attempt to belittle on the phone, giving trouble for having to make on the fly decisions regarding important events that I would not receive answers for, if I did they would often be vague or incomplete sometimes hours after they were needing an answer. 

To be fair I believe they were abusing my supervisors people pleasing tendencies and overloading him with an amount of tasks and responsibilities he clearly could not even begin to handle effectively.

The higher ups apparently don't associate or bother interacting with lowely frontliners at all. Avoiding calls, emails, texts and then responding selectively with three word answers days later. Keep in mind this is after repeated attempts, over days to get answers from my direct supervisor. Goes to show why direct supervisors exhibit the same level of noncommunication.

I think the worst part about this expereince was how much the company was talked up and all the promises of freindly teamwork "we're like a family here" type stuff. Only to experience the absolute opposite within days. I never imagined I'd ever be so openly deceived by an employer regarding such a multitude of information, seemingly to get people hired and through training.

I'd never been so happy to get out of employment for a company in all my life. The sense of relief I felt is hard to explain. The atmosphere that was building so quickly here was one of unclear, inconsistent communication, impersonal lack of respect and a feeling that your openly unimportant and replaceable to them right off the bat, especially if you question why you don't see any of the great things they said would exist.

But don't take my word for it. Give it a try as it really is something you have to experience to fully comprehend. They'll hire most PI's seemingly on the spot and throw you into the fray soon after. It'll make you appreciate many of the other decently managed agencies that are out there.

I have worked in government, profit and non-profit organizations in the past. During my past seven years that I moved to PI industry I have worked for three large PI companies downtown before I joined Larrek. 

Overall, I find Larrek to be a fast-paced and technologically advanced company. The company does not leave its staff behind or alone to fend for themselves. Though you are expected to be a PI practitioner before you apply to the company, there is still plenty of support to learn and grow into the profession with Larrek. It is in Larrek that the President is ready to share his secrets to success with you. I find that I could text the President or Vice President at any time and will receive advice. The administrative staff are friendly and always available to answer questions. The environment and people are very pleasant.

In terms of scheduling, I find Larrek Investigations policy to be by the book with flexible working hours. When you get a file, Larrek shares the client requirements with you, so you know what you are getting into. Work/life balance depends on the requirements of a file, if you are not up to the challenge or you can’t travel, all you have to do is text your team leader and return the file, no question asked. I’ve found this very helpful when balancing work with health or family obligations.

As for salary and benefits, I find Larrek’s mileage compensation and hourly salary to be among the highest in the market today. The benefits provided include health and dental which I am very happy with.

In terms of job security, we all know the PI industry is very seasonal. When I was with other companies, they would let PI’s go with no warning when we entered slow months. I’ve found Larrek to take a much better approach where they will tell you honestly about the situation and advise you on what is in your best interest. They try their best when work is slow, to divide the work available among everyone.

Do you love being treated like trash and made to feel horrible about every tiny mistake (even if it were one you were told to leave)? Do you love being made to feel like you are nothing more than a waste of space and not good enough at anything you do? Then this job might be for you! 

Never in my life have I experienced a company so deeply involved in work-drama and backstabbing managers. Nice to your face, but as soon as you turn your back they bad-mouth you and your work (and within earshot!). 

Horrible management structure, you're not allowed to speak directly to the managers about any sort of issue. Nothing is actually kept confidential as all the managers are friends and just gossip all day. If they decide they do not like you, they will implement a "Performance Improvement Plan" where they basically swamp you with work to stress you out so you make mistakes, giving them a reason to terminate your employment. 

Company fails to comply with Labour Law standards, but don't bring it up or they will make up a reason to terminate you. Poor management and planning, if they implement a "time-saving" plan, it will take you 3 times longer to do than the way you initially did it, and if you ask any sort of question regarding the process or how things work, you "create a toxic work environment" and are terminated. 

Please... just don't work here. This company is terrible in so many ways that I can't even explain. 

Since working at Larrek, I have had the opportunity to continue with my growth within the company. I haven't stayed in the same spot as I started in and I am always learning new skills and tasks. 

What is asked in a day is trying your best from 9 to 5 and being proud of the work you are completing. There isn't a demand to make you stay after hours or start earlier, however, there is always the opportunity for you to choose to continue working additional hours if they're available. Sometimes the clients have high-pressure deadlines, but we work together as a team to get what needs to be done. Working for insurance companies and law firms, the work we do needs to be of a high quality. If you are going to phone it in or coast along, this will not be the job for you.

The staff in the workplace are highly supportive of each other and are open about sharing about their lives. We try to keep connected, even with the separation the past year has had for us. It's difficult moving from an office environment to a home one and we've been doing what we can to keep connected since emails/written messages take away the personal feel. 

If you need an accommodation or support, management and the leaders will be there for you. Management is always available if you need them, including early mornings, evenings and weekends. 

In addition, the pension and benefit plans offered are excellent and would highly recommend enrolling.

I've been a private investigator for over a decade now and have worked for all the big companies in one form or another.  If you've been around for a while, you don't need to read further, I'm sure you already know all about Larrek and how they treat their employees and how awful their management truly is.  If you're new to the industry, please beware of this company, you will be micromanaged like you wouldn't believe.  Managers have managers and their managers have managers--I'm not joking.  They have a history of threatening people in an effort to get more out of them, and don't expect your reimbursement to be black and white, you'll be negotiated with on every file how much they're willing to pay you for your expenses--you're expected to eat a good chunk of your mileage "for the sake of the company".  While there are circumstances when I would agree with this, it is a regular occurrence at Larrek and is unacceptable.

I don't recommend working for this company, especially as a junior investigator.  Find a smaller agency where you can find a good mentor to take you under their wing.

Over my five-plus years at the company, I've experienced a culture that is the epitome of friendly, welcoming, and innovative. Starting as an administrative assistant, I've grown through the ranks to become a manager, a testament to the company's commitment to employee development and career progression. The casual yet professional atmosphere makes it an ideal place for those who thrive in a collaborative environment.

Management's approachability, including regular interactions with the CEO, has been a cornerstone of my positive experience. It's not just about the open doors; it's the genuine support and guidance provided that makes a difference. The work environment, while fast-paced and sometimes stressful, is mitigated by a strong team spirit. We always band together to ensure tasks are completed efficiently, which not only fosters a sense of unity but also makes the workload manageable.

The opportunity to work closely with colleagues has led to many forming friendships that extend beyond the workplace. This sense of community has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, enhancing the collaborative efforts required to tackle our projects.

The one key component that Larrek has as a company that makes them stand out is something that most companies say they have, but really don’t. It’s empathy, it’s not a fancy job title or anything of that nature. It is the fact that they understand and empathize with their employees that makes them so different. I have had a variety of jobs across a wide range of industries, and they are truly the only company that hasn’t made me feel like I was just another number on their employee list. Every single person, from my direct bosses, to the management of the company and everyone else that I get to interact with is so kind and understanding. No employee has the exact same needs as another, but from my experience, they have been nothing short of amazing to me. If you ever get the chance to work for Larrek, take it. You will not regret it.

Fun company to work and overall great experience. Lots of work and opportunities to improve skills as a private investigator as well as traveling opportunities. Management/Team leaders are understanding when to comes to long hour days/weeks resulting in being tired, results of your work day/files and overall work life balance (although it is common to struggle with work life balance in the field of being a Private Investigator management makes up for it as best as they can) . As well as being friendly and make working enjoyable. Also with reliable steady work as well as fair pay. 

Larrek is also the type of company where you get back what you put in. Management does not let good work/results and efforts go unseen.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Private investigator 20 salaries reported	$29.90 per hour
Agent 1 salary reported	$30.00 per hour
Administrative assistant 2 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Accounts receivable clerk 1 salary reported	$24.00 per hour

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