Korean Job Discussion Forums

[flower]

The Director and Manger of this school will use and abuse you - they unfortunately treat the foreign staff as monkeys - parade them in front of people and throw them away when they're bored.

The school has great facilities and the accommodation provided is really good too, but the boss is a complete control freak and a mad man. He will happily scream and shout at you on a daily basis, tell you who you can and cannot be friends with and he even told on of the other staff members who she could and couldn't date!

Don't be fooled by these guys - they will make your 12 months miserable.

[Ramen]

Did you try shouting back?

Say yes to what ever they say but do as you please.

[wylies99]

Thanks for posting the warning, OP.

[garykasparov]

[captain kirk]

I think I've been there. Is it a big, red brick set of buildings in the countryside with a sports field beside. Nice facilities, as you say. The manager was very intense looking, 'dynamic'. The English Village type rooms have an airport, shop, etc. Is this the place? The FTs did NOT look happy there. I visited about a year ago. The manager looks very nervous and fidgety.

[cruisemonkey]

There's this rather cryptic statement in their job ads -

"Recontraction Bonus: one month salary."

I'm sure they mean to say - "Severance pay: one month salary" (severance isn't mentioned). However, some naive newbie will take it literally, and sign on without carefully reading the contract.

[flower]

in response to captain kirk - it sounds like the place you visited and as you say the boss is nervous and fidgity - it all looks great on the outside, but once you're in its a different story

[flower]

[flower]

Please see reponse to the questions below

( 1 ) What were your working hours? 9-5
( 2 ) When did you prepare for your classes? 9am
( 3 ) How long did you prepare for your classes? 30 mins in the morning
( 4 ) How long were your breaks? 45 minutes for lunch
( 5 ) Did your employer allow you to use your breaks freely? no
( 6 ) How many classes did you teach per day? 6
( 7 ) How much time did you spend teaching per class? 45 minutes
( 8 ) Did working hours change during summer and winter vacation periods? no
( 9 ) If yes to ( 8 ), what were the working hours during vacation periods?
( 10 ) Did your employer require you to work on the weekends? no
( 11 ) If yes to ( 10 ), what were the working hours on the weekends?

Job Duties

( 1 ) What job duties did you perform that were not written in your contract? cleaning, travelling, writing manuals for local authority offices
( 2 ) How often did you perform the above duties that were not written in your contract? very frequently

Wages & Overtime Wages

( 1 ) Did your employer always pay overtime wages? yes
( 2 ) Did your employer pay your wages in cash or deposit your wages into your Korean bank account? bank deposit
( 3 ) How did your employer calculate overtime wages? per hour

Pay receipt

( 1 ) Does your employer provide pay receipts that clearly stated the date of pay, pay period dates, overtime wages earned, monthly salary including deductions from your monthly salary for ( 1 ) pension, ( 2 ) income tax and ( 3 ) health insurance? no and when staff asked for pay advice slips he would get very upset!

Health Insurance

( 1 ) Did your employer provide you with a health insurance card? yes
( 2 ) Did your employer pay contributions for both parties to the National Health Insurance Corporation? yes
( 3 ) Did your employer respect your right to medical privacy? no

Pension

( 1 ) Did your employer pay into the Korean Pension Plan? yes
Income Taxes

( 1 ) Did your employer always deduct the correct amount for income taxes from your monthly salary? I think so
( 2 ) Did your employer pay deductions from your monthly salary for income taxes to the tax office?

Severance Pay

( 1 ) Did your employer always pay severance pay upon completion of the contract? yes - if you manage to finish

Living Conditions

( 1 ) Was your apartment clean upon arrival? no
( 2 ) Were you provided with all the furnishings as stated in your contract? no
( 3 ) Were all the furnishings/appliances in working order when you moved into your apartment?no
( 4 ) Were the bills in your name or your employer's name? neither
( 5 ) If the bills were in your employer's name, did your employer deduct the correct amount from your monthly salary for utilities? the right amount was paid
( 6 ) Did your employer respect your right to privacy? NO

Paid Annual Leave

( 1 ) When and how did you use your paid annual leave? when the boss said so and you had to submit signed statements and provide telephone numbers and addresses to say where you were going

Dismissal

( 1 ) Did your employer have a reputation of dismissing teachers for the sole purpose of not paying them last month�s wages, airfare and severance pay? yes - he would fire them or push them into resigning, this happened on several occassions to my knowledge

Financial

( 1 ) Was the school in financial trouble? no

Discipline Methods

( 1 ) Was your employer abusive towards students? yes
( 2 ) Was your employer abusive towards teachers? yes

Paid Sick Leave

( 1 ) Did you use a paid sick leave day? no - this was frowned upon, you were expected to go in unless you were on your death bed
( 2 ) If yes to ( 1 ), how did your employer react?
( 3 ) If teachers used a day of paid sick leave, did your employer require them to work another day to make up for the hours missed?

Students/Teachers

( 1 ) How many students attended the school? [color=red][b]70-85 per week
( 2 ) How many foreign teachers and Korean teachers worked at the school?[/quote] [color=red][b]8 foreign 1 Korean - when fully staffed, but it was usually 6 foreign and 1 korean

[garykasparov]

[justaguy]

If he is not a good person to work for, maybe you should consider quitting.

[cruisemonkey]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'm not going to say anything opinionated (though I have plenty of opinions I could add to the above); suffice to say, anyone considering an offer from this place should consider the above *very* seriously. If anyone has any questions about this topic I'd be happy to respond to PMs.

[flower]

Just for the record - I did quit. I wasn't the first and I am sure I won't be the last!

[BS.Dos.]

LOL

Excellent stuff.

Keep up the good work flower/s.