Korean Job Discussion Forums

[John_ESL_White]

Whose embassy issues warnings on teaching in Korea besides the yanks?

What other sources are out there for this sort of thing?

I'm being paid late at my haggy; the reason, "parents not paying on time".

My response, when told I wasn't getting paid, was that I am due money for the previous month and that the parents already paid for that month.

...


Anyway, Tuesday is my "teach the teachers (and director) class".

I have a lesson plan, just need materials.

Anything published saying /hinting that korean hagwons do not pay on time, do not pay the correct amount, etc will be used...

Please help.

It'll be a hell of a lesson.

[ThingsComeAround]

If you are going to "teach" the director about paying "on time,"
you may be asking to tread in a cesspool

Choosing to publicly embarrass the director of your school about pay may not help the chances of getting paid.

I am not saying what your school did was right, however you should not have allowed them to feed you the story of "the parents did not pay on time". That is when you approach them with the story of "I should see the labor board"

Good luck with your lesson

[John_ESL_White]

[some waygug-in]

I suppose you could use some examples from the Korea blacklist site,

http://blacklist.tokyojon.com/


or some of the warnings on www.efl-law.com

but I agree with the above comment, it's not going to be a "fun" lesson.

[ChopChaeJoe]

That's just bad manners. It would be ok, imo, to sneak a critical joke in, but the way you're going about this shows no class at all. I guess you'll have a story to amuse drunks at a bar with tho.

If you're that upset about late pay, just refuse to work.

[air76]

So you're willing to eat what I would imagine is at least 400,000-500,000 won, if not much more, in order to play a 'joke' on your boss in class?

Sounds like your story is BS....furthermore, if you've got so much money that you can just throw such a significant amount of it away then you wouldn't be working at a hagwon.

[cruisemonkey]

I like your style! The following are excerpts from the Canadian Embassy website -

The key to happy and fruitful employment as a language instructor in Korea is to be employed by a reputable school and to obtain a fair and clear contract. Many Canadian citizens have come to Korea under contract with promises of generous salaries, bonuses and other amenities. The majority of them have had an enjoyable and rewarding experience. A minority, however, have found themselves in positions far different from those originally promised.

Canadian government offices are not permitted to become involved in any case, conduct an investigation, or act as lawyers or mediators in any personal, legal or contractual conflicts experienced by Canadian citizens. They cannot investigate, certify or vouch for prospective employers. It is up to each individual to evaluate any employment offer before signing a contract.

However, if you encounter employment difficulties, the Seoul Metropolitan government has recently established the Seoul Help Center for Foreigners, which provides many forms of assistance, including a Job Help System for Expats in Seoul, community services, information on Korea and contacts regarding specific issues.

The Embassy of Canada in Seoul does not maintain a list of teaching institutes. If you are thinking of accepting a job as a teacher of English in Korea, you are advised to ask the institute concerned for the names and telephone numbers of current and former teachers so that you can contact them directly.

If you encounter difficulties while teaching in Korea, contact the Consular Section at the Embassy of Canada in Seoul or the Canadian Consulate in Busan.

Private language institutes are found all over Korea but the majority are located in Seoul. Some are well known and have many branches, while others are small-scale operations and are short-lived. The ESL (English as a Second Language) market in Korea is extremely competitive and it is common for institutes to fail. Many of the more marginal businesses open their doors, hire the first foreigner they can find, advertise for students, offer classes for a month or so, and then close.

Most hakwons employ expatriate (American, British, Canadian, New Zealander and Australian) instructors for conversation classes. Some of the better institutes will provide housing for instructors. The typical full- time employee can be expected to work 20 to 30 hours a week. The majority of classes are conducted in the early morning and the evening. Therefore, many instructors have free time in the afternoon. Most classes have from 10 to 15 students � usually university students, or businesspeople who are contemplating overseas assignments or trying to improve their English skills. Many hakwons also have after-school classes for children as young as five years old.

All institutes are required by law to provide health insurance during the period of employment and severance pay on completion of a one-year contract, but some institutes fail to honour these provisions. (For more information, see "Severance Pay")

[Hanson]

http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/4028818208a0ac650108b6a2586f0076_Unforeseen_dangers_of_Korea_Hagwon_culture.do.html

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2898300

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/03/177_20073.html

http://www.cossett.net/korea/ivy.html

I'd love to be a fly on the wall during your lesson - hope these links help.

[cruisemonkey]

[John_ESL_White]

That's the stuff I need.

Thanks.

This class is going to be a "teach the teachers" class, not a regular class.

As for being rude, etc.,; the rudest thing in the world is to not get paid by your employer on the right date or in the correct amount.. agreed?

There are no acceptable excuses. I was told that the parents haven't paid on time....-----> BS. The parents paid for me last month. The money they haven't paid on time is for NEXT month, right?

Then I was told that most parents paid by credit card and that the government monitors the CC transactions so she has to pay more taxes.... WTF?

Anyway you shovel it, it's hagwon BS.

And, for the same employer to expect you to come in every day and do your job in spite of not being paid is just a ridiculous insult.

A small lesson with literature from embassy websites and Korean newspapers may bring that employer back down to earth; but, being korea, the message probably will not get through....

Thanks to you guys who understand and dropped a link or quote.

[Hanson]

Please do come back and tell us how the lesson went... I'm definitely curious.

[Hanson]

Bump

So... how'd it go?

[moosehead]

[TheUrbanMyth]

Not teaching gives them a legitimate excuse to fire you.