Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spyglass]

I would strongly advise anyone against accepting a position at this school. The school is extremely disorganized and notorious for mistreating and firing employees.

All foreign teachers are housed in a dirty, unsafe area of the city known to most locals as "hooker hood". Most of the apartments are old, dirty and loud, not to mention that many of them have serious mold problems which have caused several teachers to get sick.

The owners are very disorganized and are constantly making changes to classes and schedules without consulting employees. They also regularly make mistakes on paychecks.

This school does not provide National Health Insurance or National Pension Plan to its employees, this is ILLEGAL under Korean law and results in employees paying full price for all medical services. As well, since the school does not pay into the pension plan this results in a loss of about $1200 per year for each individual employee. Usually the money payed into the pension, $99 per month from both the employee and the employer, can be collected at the end of the employee's contract, however since this school does not pay into the plan, you lose all of this money.

The hours at the school are unreasonably long. All employees work 9:30-6 and most are forced to work overtime which means staying until 7:00 or 7:30, overtime is not optional and is paid at an extremely low hourly rate. Also, there is not enough prep time in the schedule for any employee to finish all of the necessary work so most employees end up working longer hours without pay.

Employees are also required to prepare a kindergarten graduation skit complete with songs and dances which requires more unpaid hours of work. This puts a lot of unnecessary stress on employees. I would recommend looking for a school that doesn't require this extra, unpaid work. As well all employees are forced to work Saturdays when requested.

There are many far better jobs in Korea, don't make the mistake of accepting a position with this school.

[bigtexas]

post this school in the IRSK www.schoolsinkorea.com

You got to be a noob, this crap happens all the time. Many people hire only new teachers so they can rip them off. New teachers dont know up from down.

[bcjinseoul]

Ah yes, LCI Kid's Club in Gwangju. That was my first year in Korea. Managed to finish my contract, and moved on to better jobs in Korea...and better cities. Took the words right out of my mouth. Nothing more to add, really.

I feel your pain.

Only thing I miss about Gwangju is a certain special someone from the past.

Actually, between a GEPIK high school with like no real vacation time and some things I've had to go through with a SMOE high school, I'm ready to go back to hogwons...the good ones, that is. (Afternoons and no kindies, short shifts, etc.) It's nice to know the names of your kids, have small classes, and not coteach. Now that I miss...

[qcat79]

sounds like you average crap school. i hate it for ya.