Korean Job Discussion Forums

[efemmera]

Hi. Any advice appreciated. I have been offered a GEPIK contract through a recruiter who seems trustworthy but reading these postings tend to make one a bit suspicious. If anyone could answer the following questions, I would be very grateful:

Is it true that GEPIK does not offer any sort of orientation prior to starting employment?
Is it common for someone to be recruited for a non September start with GEPIK?
I have requested the email address of any former employee and been informed this is not possible due to privacy issues? Is this common?

Thanks in advance for any insight provided.

[teacha]

[lifeinkorea]

First off, I don't know how helpful these orientations will be. I never went to one. If you are worried about what to teach and how to teach it, use the online community and teachers you meet. I bet you will learn a lot more.

It's not a bad idea to get contact information of previous employees, but there isn't much they can do to change the school system. Usually, teachers will have a problem with someone else working at the school instead of the school itself. You can't assume those same people will be there when you teach.

The gripe is almost always on the head English teacher or lack of help from your co-teacher. Again, these arrangements change each year. I often see teachers complaining about schools and then when I get there, I don't see what the big deal is. Perhaps they had problems during the previous year, but now new people are in charge.

So, if you still want to pursue it, offer your contact info instead of asking for the other teacher's email address. That way, they can keep the privacy argument they are throwing at you, and you can give them permission. Privacy won't be an issue then.

[efemmera]

Thanks very much to both of you for your insight. My instincts told me this was not the right poition so I have declined but this info will come in handy in the event of a different GEPIK contract.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[romano812]

I have worked for a couple of Hagwons and I have worked for GEPIK. The only one that caused me any real problems was GEPIK. I'm really not sure whether it is the recruiter, GEPIK, or both that are to blame for the problems.
My first problem had to do with flight money. I finished a contract with a Hagwon in April, had my flight booked and was ready to leave the country. At that time GEPIK offered me a job through a recruiter to start the beginning of May. I was supposed to fly home in April (ticket I provided) and then fly back for the beginning of May (flight covered by GEPIK). Just before I was leaving, the school asked me if I would stick around because they might want me to start early. I told them I would reschedule my flight for the summer holidays and they agreed to provide a flight at that time. When summer holidays arrived they said they would not pay for a flight, I should have used it at the beginning of my contract.
My second problem (and third) has to do with holidays and days off. My contract and conversations stated I would have 40 paid holidays. 20 were to be formally scheduled and 20 informally scheduled. Now this one is partly my fault for misunderstanding the situation. 20 "informal days" means that I still work, but I don't teach any classes. However, I still think the contract should read 20 formal holidays, and state nothing else because it is misleading. So, now being down to 20 days for holidays with no paid flight the school then tells me I have to cut my summer holidays 7 days short for, you guessed it, H1N1/ swine flu quarantine. They further tell me if I do not cut my holidays short I will be forced to take the 7 days upon my return, will not be allowed to use my sick days and will not be paid for those days off.
My third problem: After all is said and done and we are getting no where with the situation I told them I would quit and give them my 60 days notice. This was on a Friday. On the Saturday (yes the next day) I happened to notice the recruiter already had my job posted with a start date that was in less than 30 days! They obviously had no intention of honoring the 60 days and when I confronted them on this matter they fired me.
Now my fourth problem: Even though the labor laws indicate an employer must give 30 days notice for firing, the GEPIK contract states 15 days. Even if the employer lets you go before the 30 days they are still required to pay for the entire 30 days. I didn't see the money for the 30 days. I didn't see the money for the 15 days. I didn't see any of the money. So after all is said and done and all the bills are paid the school still owes me somewhere between 2 and 3 million won depending if you use the 15 days or the 30 days.
So, I have nothing but bad things to say about working for GEPIK, and now with the situation over at SMOE, I can do nothing but bash the entire public school system in Korea. I will also bash YnG Recruit because they have some very dishonest people working for them. It's too bad because the manager over at YnG is a very nice, decent man. If anybody has to deal with YnG I would recommend you insist on only dealing with the manager/ owner.
Just my thoughts and experiences.

[nathanrutledge]

where was the school, if i may ask?

[sas]

Apologies for gatecrashing this thread but i'd say it is on topic..

For what reasons could the recruiter say the school (public) will provide the contact details of the current foreign teacher at the end of September (for a late October start) rather than immediately?

Are they secretly hoping that the current teacher will renew?

[romano812]

The school is in the Namhansanseong area. It's unfortunate but that's how things work; sometimes you get a great school and sometimes you get burned.
Working at the school itself wasn't bad. They were just constantly trying to screw me on money and/ or days.

[Countrygirl]

[romano812]

Well as far as I'm concerned I've played fair ball through this entire episode. When they were not willing to settle the matter I gave them my 60 days notice. When I discovered they posted my job to start in less than 30 days, I confronted them on the matter. At that point they fired me and gave me my 15 days notice, according to the contract, not labor laws. I completed my 15 days as per contract and work schedule and they did not pay me.
I am out of the country now and there isn't much of a chance of recovering the money. That's fine, I just want people to be aware of the fact that public schools are not necessarily better than hagwons.

[efemmera]

Do you have to be in country to file a complaint with the authorities? Karma is a big dog and alot of Korean employers are going to heve their *sses bitten!

[Countrygirl]

I think that in romano812's case, he would have been able to get most of his problems fixed by calling GEPIK and the labour board. The only thing that I think he would have gotten screwed on is the airflight in the middle of the year.

What you have to remember about GEPIK and other public education jobs is that all paper work and purchases have to be done by the book due to audits. What you also have to know about Koreans is that they will often say whatever they want to get what they want, and then later they find out they can't do it and they think that a simple sorry is enough.

Just like in the rest of the world, it's best to protect yourself by getting all changes to the contract written down and signed by the Principal. That way you can go to the labour board and get the money that is rightfully yours.

Another way of protecting yourself is to read, read and read the contract. I also got screwed by my school (you can look at previous posts) because I didn't understand the contract well enough. It was my own fault. I am now starting to enter my 3rd year and I got everything that I wanted this time around because I knew the contract and I was willing to walk if I didn't get it.

Also, ask lots of questions. I understand how my school works but when I helped out at another school's English Festival, I expected to get paid 20,000 won per hour. We all ended up getting paid 30,000 won for 3 hours. 10,000 won per hour for a school that took 30 minutes to get to on a Saturday. I didn't fight it because (1) I failed to verify how much I would have gotten paid and (2) I had a Korean friend who worked there who has been very generous with me so I didn't want to embarrass her.

Time at a public school can be very rewarding as long as you ask the right questions and always remember that the Principal is NOT your friend. In general, Principals in Korea are always trying to find ways to get extra money (for themselves) and the budget for the Foreign Teacher is like a pot of gold just calling their name.

So, in a nutshell...

- Get all changes down in writing
- understand the contract
- ask lots of questions

I think that romano812's case is one of the more extreme ones and I do think that the school wouldn't have been able to fire him just because they didn't like him asking questions. He also should have been able to get his holidays just by calling GEPIK. Dain Bae at GEPIK is one of the harder people to talk to but she was very helpful in forcing the schools to follow the contract.