Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bogey666]

just curious.

in the gepik contract it states the school MAY ask you to work up to 6 hours of overtime weekly and you'll have to work it if asked.

my question is - is this limited to "regular" school hours? = meaning between 8:30-4:30 and thereabouts?

OR does this also include after hours/outside regular school hours?

I always though logically this would include afterhours, since adding 6 hours to 22 hours weekly would mean you'd be teaching 6 hours a day out of 7 every day - a fairly unsustainable workload.

anyways- just curious - who knows what the contract stipulation actually is?

and why wouldn't it possibly include Saturdays (if you had to work outside of "regular" school hours?)

[Jammer113]

The contract is very clear about your working hours and that you are not to work saturdays or sundays. As the part about mandatory overtime only refers to teaching hours, it would not be mandatory to work after school, and especially not on weekends. (It very specifically says that the employee is not to work on Saturday or Sunday.)

Of course, that's the English version. And your principal may say otherwise, regardless of what the actual contract says.

[bogey666]

[bogey666]

so does anyone know the real answer?

because with all due respect, I don't quite buy jammer's.

extra 6 hours within regular working hours would have one teaching virtually non stop. (aka pretty much 6 periods a day - in my school, there are 7)

[tob55]

There are many things that can be negotiated concerning the contract, but other things that cannot. You MAY be asked to work additional classes, but normally those hours fall into the category of after school and club activity programs the schools operate. It depends on the school. The contract is the standard contract that comes from GEPIK, but the schools have the liberty of changing the contract in different sections to suit their specific needs.

I do know that if your contract states no weekends or holidays, then the school should honor that. Some schools have begun demanding that the NETs come in on weekends and other day to work, which by labor standards is not acceptable. However, when people don't become proactive on their own, it tends to create a great deal of confusion.

I have been in my GEPIK school for the last 4 years, and seldom does my school ask or demand that I teach extra hours because they know what the labor standards are, but also that I am proactive in making sure everything is followed. Does that mean I never work extra hours? No, many times I have helped the school out by taking extra classes, but I was given the option.

I hope it works out for you. Be sure to discuss the option of doing the hours as an after school things which would make better sense than having you work straight through from the time you arrive at school until you leave. Funny how the NETs are in some situations, teaching so many more class hours than the regular KTs. At my school the English co-teachers and I work a least 7 class hours more than anyone in the entire high school other than the gym teacher. I see a lot of the KTs sitting around doing their web shopping and other work while we rush from class to class regularly. No complaining, but i is an interesting phenom when the KTs have the opinion that our worth is not that significant.

[bogey666]

thanks tob

I completely understand and realize this is really an "inside" school deal..

and I've never been asked to work Saturdays.. (and have made it fairly known I'd never would)

it's really more a function of my IMMENSE frustration at after agreeing to do an hour after school class.... now I find out I have NO Korean co-teacher.. and no curriculum - it's a "conversation" class - which the also packed to the maximum amount of 20 students.

(they initially tried me to teach 2 classes, I said no)

now I don't really need a Korean co-teacher in such a class, but yet I DO - because their levels are so low (even though these are the smartest English students in the school) that you can NOT really have a "conversation" class with them. It'll have to be something else..

what pisses me off immensely is that I cannot even explain the most basic of concepts about what I'm trying to teach, because they won't understand (and I feel bad for the kids actually, because they're mostly first graders and they have higher levels and enthusiasm than previous grades)

I mean.. I'll make do... I'll figure it out... but for now I'm pretty pissed off.

and I will definitely "take it out" to a degree on the new co-teacher who is running the after school program who also tried pressuring me to do 2 hours.. (even trying the "older people have a responsibility to society" line after I told him it was a quality of life" issue for me)

[xCustomx]

[tob55]

I understand your frustration. The same thing was asked of me a couple of years ago, and I taught the same kind of class, but not with happy thoughts. I got through it and the school never saw fit to ask me again. They knew they were just using me to fill a spot rather than actually do any teaching with the students. I made it through and we did more casual conversation rather than structured lesson plans which worked well for me and the students. They actually DID learn something, and that was a benefit for everyone involved. I hope everything works out for you. I know what a hassle and a pain in the rear it can be doing these things, especially when they throw them in your lap at the last minute without any forethought for why you are being asked to do something.

[bogey666]

[nobbyken]

28 classes a week, all before the end of the working day, would mean you were doing 6 hours OT a week. They can ask you, and you have to decide if you would like 24+ hours of OT a month.
Check that any missed periods for tests or non-teaching days, won't suck the hours OT from the remainder of the week!
(Like working OT Mon-Wed, then not getting paid OT because Thurs is sports day, etc.)

[bundangbabo]

[bogey666]

[wylies99]