Korean Job Discussion Forums

[newintown]

after almost 7 months i've almost reached the end of the line with my hagwon. won't go into details, but been treated appallingly from day one.
theres a possiblity of getting another job in the same city, but am wondering the best way to go about leaving:
lie & pretend i have a family issue back home & guarantee the release letter required
OR
have it out with them, tell them the reasons why i don't want to work for their stinking school, and pray that they release me anyway.

[newintown]

think i may have found the answer to my own question courtesy of ttompatz:

Unless you plan to blackmail a release letter from your school you may be stuck there until the end of your contract or forced to quit and wait out your visa while sitting on a beach in Thailand or the Philippines.

Even if you quit or get fired your current boss does NOT have to release you from your visa to allow you to find another job. You may have to use the labor board and immigration to fight for it.

[newintown]

i'd still appreciate any advice people have re: release letters / best course of action.
PLEASE!

[intherye]

I hate to say it but your best course of action is to grin and bear it for the next 5 months. You do have other options, but the chances of them giving you a release letter are slim. If they are already difficult, they aren't going to suddenly be nice and understanding of a "family situation" or care about how much you hate the school- they are most likely very aware that they treat you like crap. You certainly could take it to the labor board, but you'd have to keep working during the process, which isn't going to make for any sort of improved work atmosphere. Not to mention it's going to take some time to get results and there's no guarantee that it's going to go your way.
I do understand- my first year here SUCKED. My school was an absolute nightmare and I was miserably unhappy. I wanted to split every day. But sticking with it was really the easiest (and best) thing to go. Just keep reminding yourself that it's only 5 more months. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[oskinny1]

Here is what you do:

Carry around a little notebook and write down everything bad that they do to you (in front of them) and finish your contract. After you are finished write a book and make millions selling it to newbie EFL teachers coming to Korea.

MILLIONS!!!!

If they ask why you are writing things down just tell them it is for the labo(u)r board.

[cdninkorea]

What about if you gave them two choices: either sign a letter of release, postdated for a month from now (you'll work another month, thus giving them time to find another teacher), or you'll fly out tomorrow and wait out your time on a beach somewhere.

Would this work?

If you tell them you're leaving the country for family you won't need a letter of release: you only need it to get another job before the first contract finishes. It's not as if they can stop you from leaving the country unless your have that letter.

[newintown]

ok cheers. its a terrible situation, i have loads of ammunition i could take the labor board, but its whether things would go my way.
i'm pretty sure they're going to sack me before end of contract, and this other job could potentially begin in sept, so it would make sense for them to release me. but as others have pointed out, if they've been b@stards up to now, they're hardly going to have a change of heart.
the importance of the release letter has only just become obvious to me. i guess if we could just switch jobs with ease, people would be doing it right, left & centre.

[Ilsanman]

You could force them to fire you. If they still deny your release letter, then they are denying firing you. Then you can continue to get paid while not working, or not working very hard.

But be prepared to fight, if that's what you do.

[newintown]

okay, so if they fire us, are the obliged to write the release letter? i could easily make them fire me. pretty sure of that!

[acegrand]

I think there is a misnomer about release letters here. I worked for a hellish Hogwan for about 5 months, and had the same issues with treatment and so forth. I submitted my 6 week letter of resignation, and in it, I put I was expecting my signed letter of release on the final day of work. They signed my resignation letter, and I got my release no problem on the last day. That is just my experience, but it was not that difficult.

[I-am-me]

I would not be surprised if they tried to screw you at the end and fired you. At least you are eligible for your severance pay. If you put up with their crap for 7 months, it is probably better to stick it out to the end. If you break the contract, then you are at fault in korean's eyes. Let them make the wrong move so they will be at fault.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I extorted a release letter out of my first employer by getting a list of all the parents' numbers and getting together with a bi-lingual friend to start calling parents. After we got off the phone with the second the supervisor was ringing me begging me to stop and promising me whatever I wanted.

[kat2]

If you are goign to work for a public school or uni, sometimes they are kind of "above the law" when it comes to hiring a teacher who is still ona visa. They have a little pull with immigration.

You can threaten them. But this can also backfire if they choose to jsut fire you outright. While starting to call parents seems low, it is sometimes the only option. I got a release letter from my last hogwan, but that was mainly b/c the director had a crush on my husband.

[newintown]

can someone just confirm for me then, if they fire me, do they have to release me?

[willneverteachagain]