Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Newby]

Hi All,

I was hoping to get your expertise...

I've been offered a job and I'm reviewing the contract and this "little thing" is standing out to me...

"No regular schedule of working hours/classes can be guaranteed to employee. The employee may work longer than the usual working hours during the summer and winter sessions of the school year. Due to the way the Korean education system works, this schedule is unavoidable. The employer understands that this is a heavy load and the employee�s appreciation is greatly appreciated."

what you do you all reckon? have any of you guys come across this?

Are there any other things that I should look out for?

Ta

[cruisemonkey]

Find a different job.

[Korussian]

Vague statements like that make it easy for your employer to insist that they can dump as much work on you as they want, and possibly not even pay you extra for your time.

To make yourself feel a bit more confident:

Your contract should specify the number of hours you work per week for your standard salary, the TIME RANGE in which hours are considered standard, the overtime rate for hours beyond that, and your right to refuse overtime hours beyond a certain threshold.

For example:

"Teachers will teach 22 teaching hours per week between 8:30am and 4:30pm. Teachers may be asked and must accept to teach up to 26 hours per week, at an overtime rate of 20,000won for each hour after the 22 standard hours, or for teaching hours outside of the regular teaching day (8:30am to 4:30pm). Teachers may accept additional teaching hours beyond 26 hours per week, but teachers have a right to refuse these extra hours with no penalty".

Also, be sure that your contract clearly states the duration of a teaching hour. 50 minute teaching hours really add up compared to 40 minute teaching hours, etc.

All of this said, given that the contract you're looking at already contains that vague paragraph and a preemptive apology, I wouldn't trust this particular employer even if they did amend the contract as above. As they say in my nerdy world, "an apology in a sack is worth the sack".

[AussieGav]