Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ms_casillas]

Ok

I am new at this. A great job in Incheon (I would love
to hear about this place, btw) the recuruiter said
everthing is set, send your contract, signed. Hurry.

Then I said' Why doesn't it state the hours worked?
He said in Korea, they do not put hours in the contract.
If this is true, how do you know you are working overtime?

Thanks
Rebecca

[MissMaggie]

LIES!

My contract stated the hours I was expected to be at school as well as the number of hours I would have to work a week.

[PigeonFart]

Do not sign that contract. Of course you want to see the working hours, who wouldn't ?

Most contracts i've seen have the working hours in them. If they don't, then just ask them to be put in. If you get a bullshit answer like the one you got then find another recruiter.


example: Mon to Fri, 1pm to 9pm (45min class x 30 per week)

[Zaria32]

Don't assume that "30 hours per week" answers your question. If there
are 45 minute classes, and 15 minutes between classes could mean that you are teaching 40 classes of 45 minutes each, plus prep time, plus
meetings etc. If it defines a "teaching hour" that helps. Also, in case
other responders didn't make it clear, your recruiter is a liar. This is,
sadly, not uncommon in Korea.

[Robot_Teacher]

40 45 minute classes a week would be a nightmare! Yuck! What a trap. 30 hours a week is way too many teaching hours anyhow.

[berrieh]

Delete... Deleting (mostly) all posts... Mods please delete

[antoniothegreat]

if you sign it, you deserve any crap treatment you get when you come and work an 80 hour week.

[lifeinkorea]

It doesn't make sense to me. I don't see how putting up some number of hours makes it ok for the employer to dictate how those hours are divided. It merely shows the total number of hours. It's unfinished and ambiguous. Can they make you work 24 hours without a break? At some point, common sense has to kick in.

Of course, the teacher should find out the actual schedule to see if it is what they want. I also find it the fault of both school and teacher if they BOTH neglect to get confirmation from the other and run into problems later.

There is something I have read about how courts do favor the party that doesn't write up the contract, meaning if the person writing the contract wanted something specific it is more their responsibility to spell it out than the person simply signing it. This has nothing to do with the smaller or larger party, but the larger one is usually an employer.

[antoniothegreat]

[ED209]

Get your start and finish times. How many hours a 'week'(not month). A definition of a teaching hour(does 40mins = 1hr?). And break times! You should, by law be entitled to 30mins for every 4hrs, and an hour for every 8hrs. Anything below 25,000won for overtime is worthless. You should also note the overtime, though optional in the contract is often expected by the employer.

I also say 'week' instead of 'month', this is so you don't end up working 50hrs one week, then only doing 20hrs for the next couple of weeks.

Plenty of jobs out there, it's hard to tell though from contracts if they are good or bad places. A good tight contract may still be seen as something flexible by the employer to be settled on their interpretation.

[bogey666]

re your request about loving to hear about this place. btw..

aka Incheon.

I recently remember recently reading a post where it was referred to as "the armpit of Korea".

[toonchoon]

some of the best contracts are loosely worded and don't have much written in them.

on the other hand, a very detailed contract may not actually end up being what you expected because Koreans don't really care about the contract as much as you do

signing a contract that has less details in it than you would want may be a bad choice, but maybe also maybe a risk worth taking.

even though my boss told me what my schedule would be, the hours weren't written in the contract. i took the risk, and turns out I teach less then 5 hours a day (that's total time in the office).

did it pay off? i don't know yet. i've been there a week, and so far everything seems decent and legit.

[Real Reality]

Half of Native English Instructors Quit After a Year
by Kang Shin-who, Korea Times (December 30, 2008)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_37020.html