Korean Job Discussion Forums

IncognitoHFX · Joined: 06 May 2007 Location: Yeongtong, Suwon

So my hagwan was pretty much daisies and sunshine for the first two months. I had no problems at all, and the other teacher (who is a veteran of nearly a year) hadn't had any problems either.

The thing about my hagwan is that it has been steadily losing money since I came here, well before I came here, but they didn't seem to care about that or the fact that parents were complaining. I think parents complain about everything, and a good school will ignore it because the school itself is capable.

Lately my school seems to really be caving into every whim of the parents, which is the root problem behind all the crap that has gone steadily down in the last two months.

The first thing is my working hours. I used to work a breezy five hours a day, totalling 25 hours a week. I'd start teaching at 2:30 and end at 6:30-7:00, then I'd linger for a bit, do work and disappear. Now the hours have been going steadily up, which is strange given that the hagwan is losing students. Shouldn't our hours be going down?

Now I come in at 12:30 to prep, teach from 2:30-8:00/8:30 (with no breaks) and stay at the hagwan doing paper work until 9:30-10:00pm.

That's another thing, paperwork. Every week here it seems like something changes, either to the curriculum (we don't really have one) or the program at the school. Apparently there has been a program all along, but no one has told me about it or given me information on it.

Last week I was informed about the program rather harshly when they realized that my pacing and the structure of my classes was completely off what the program was (it took them four months to realize this). So I get this huge lecture from our director, and she also issues me an informal warning for not adhering to the program which had never been mentionned to me before. Next warning is formal, and I was made aware that I was walking on thin ice. Again, what program!?

Every day I spend more time doing seemingly useless paperwork, making vocabulary tests, and photocopying than genuinely preparing for classes. Many of my kids don't have the right materials, so I told the staff this and they said the kids did have the materials. Again, I checked with the kids and assured that they didn`t have the materials, and our director said the materials would be photocopied/made available to me.

Anyway, they aren't being photocopied and it seems I have to do it myself. It will take hours and it will be ongoing and consistent as the materials seem to be changed almost on the fly (every week they change the classes around or take a student out of a big class and give them a one on one class which means I have to work more hours and do more prep).

Its getting kind of ridiculous. Where do I draw the line? On top of the kids behaving terribly and there being no system instituted to insure their behaviour in class, the school seems to be making up a system as it's going along and taking it up the a*s by the parents.

I'm reaching my limit and contemplating switching hagwons, but I'm still under the six month mark so I'd have to pay my plane tickets back if I switched.

On top of all of this, there is the separate issue of living too far away from work, in an apartment that is owned by the boss of another hagwan (a chain hagwan that is known for being bad), and in a month's time I'll have to work kindergarten (in the mornings) at the other hagwan so my hagwan can live up to it's end of the bargain with respect to housing. Yes, I get paid 600,000 more a month to do the kindergarten, but I don't want to do the kindergarten. I like my free time and need a lot of it for my main hagwan. I also might have to pay for having my VISA stamped for the other hagwan.

Suggestions?

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Walk. Your contract presumably has penalties built in for early termination of the contract by either party. Print out the Letter of Release on this site, take it to the boss, and tell her that you "agree with your concerns and feel that it's obviously in the best interests of all concerned for you to leave immediately, allowing them to find someone right now, please sign right here, thank you, goodbye."

Then get another job. It shouldn't take long, really. Once you have the new job and, more importantly, the renewed visa in hand, you can go the Labor Board, the Pension Office, and the Tax Office about the crud the old boss was pulling.

Here are some hints for you regarding some of the standard blurbs I've heard others tell me they've gotten from their hagweon bosses:

The parents aren't complaining.
There is no curriculum at the hagweon.
There is no program.
Your diploma and passport are neither lost nor "at the franchise headquarters in Seoul/other city that's too far to drive to in one hour."
There is no informal warning first then formal warning next disciplinary scale. Either you're still hired or you're fired. Whatever you do, DON'T sign anything at all during a gripe against you session, especially if it's in Korean or in English and Korean.
Don't believe the current boss about how the next hagweon will treat you and certainly don't believe that you'll have to pay for the visa run. C'mon! The new place will be thrilled to only pay $200 instead of over $1000 to get a native teacher.

Tommy · Joined: 24 Aug 2005

Sounds like your regular hagwon BS. Once you caved to one request, they started piling more BS on top. Look at your situation - you're coming in earlier and staying later. You're being asked to do impossible things with no support. You're supposed to have a lunch/dinner break if you're working 6 hours straight. Also, working this 2nd kindy gig needs to get approved by immy, so don't think that you need to do this.

How many months until your 6th month mark? I'd try to stick it out until then. How confident are you in getting a letter of release or getting your boss to cancel your visa (both will let you continue working after leaving this current place)?

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:39 am Post subject:

All I can say is the same thing I said in your last thread about your crazy students who threw your stuff out the window. Leave. This hogwon seems to be way too disorganized and you'll never be able to do enough to help. If the place is losing money what do you think they'll get rid of to stay in the black? Your job. So go now, find a job that has a good steady foundation and enjoy teaching there.

The more you talk about your job, the more crappy I think it is.

Fresh Prince · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: The glorious nation of Korea

You're working 9 hours a day and they don't appreciate it, that's a bad sign. You're putting in extra work for free, and even working through your breaks to help the school. They should be bringing in food and and doing little things to make your life easier, but instead they gave you an informal warning, and try to force you to work at another hokwon as part of some shady deal they made.

If I was in that situation, I would leave. Does your contract say that you don't have to pay back your airfare if you've been working for six months? I would put in my contractually obligated notice to be gone as soon as the airfare no longer needs to be paid back.

Jizzo T. Clown · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Location: at my wit's end

I see you're no longer in Anyang and are now in Uiwang--does that mean you've moved on?

IncognitoHFX · Joined: 06 May 2007 Location: Yeongtong, Suwon

Atavistic · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject:

I think this "informal warning" "skating on thin ice" shit is an excuse to set you up to fire you without giving you much warning or severance.

Be aware: If you are fired before 6 months, they don't need to give you 30 days notice, even if it's in your contract. (Said Labor to me.) They also don't need to give you 30 days pay if they fire you with less than 30 days notice. (Said Labor to me.)

If I were you, I'd start refusing. PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN NOW and GET FIRED. Then you don't need to pay back any plane tickets. If you can't get fired by the 6 month mark, then you can quit! DO NOT WORK more hours than your contract. TAKE A BREAK! DO NOT GO TO KINDY! (Is that in your contract????)

You won't have a problem getting another job. I didn't when I was fired.

(Sweet justice in that case: the guy who was hired to replace me (hired BEFORE I was fired) got fired at the 11 month mark and is, as far as I can tell, too much of a *beep* to report them to Labor. I warned him!)