Korean Job Discussion Forums

[drdst122]

I've been working here for almost 4 months now. Sorry for the long winded post, just want to include all the details.

Per my contract;
"Working hours may be slightly extended depending on location or session, but is generally from 1:30 to 8:30pm, Monday through Friday."

When I first arrived, we did work from 1:30-8:30pm. Then a month or so into my job, we had a new director brought in. During this time, we had a meeting and one of the other teachers mentioned that other similar campuses were working 1pm-8pm. Our director said she would ask about it and see if we could change. A week later and she informed us that they said it was OK and that our new hours would be 1pm-8pm.

Fast forward to now and my boss, who did not personally inform me, I had to find out from other teachers that our hours had been changed to 12:30pm-8:30pm. I referred to my contract to see what it said and it does say 130-830 (7 hours) per day. The words slightly do not mean an almost 15% increase in working hours. I brought this up with the director and was told about the "slightly" part of the contract and that this branch was now 8 hours and I got the wrong (old) contract.

Two of older teachers have renewed their contracts recently and theirs in fact do state they are to work for 8 hours.

I want to know what you guys think about this. It's not that I'm incapable of working 8 hours a day. It's that I feel I should be compensated if I work more than what my contract says, even if they did give me the wrong one. One of the major reasons I signed onto this position was the shortened working hours.

Thanks again for your opinions.

[paulandsilas]

Edited for content.

[drdst122]

I can see what you're saying, but this a pretty large company I am working for. It's not just single school with one director calling all the shots.

For the most part, everything in the contract is and thus far been right on point and I haven't had any problems whatsoever.

[Rothbard]

[OculisOrbis]

[thegadfly]

Well, I tend to think of things in a binary flowchart....

It is either a breach of contract, or it isn't. The words "slightly extended" would, in my opinion, include 30 minutes in either direction. In your opinion they do not...trouble is, my opinion, or yours, does not really matter. Are you willing to quit over the extra hour a day?

If you are, then plan to do so. Tell them you were not hired to work that extra hour, you would not have taken the job had that been the case, and if they won't honor your initial agreement, then you are gone. Then go when they refuse, which I assume they will. If it is a fairly decent place, they will probably have a replacement for you quickly enough that they won't try too much crap or be too bitter about it...though some folks are vindictive and petty, regardless of circumstances....

If you are not willing to quit over the extra hour, then use whatever charm and influence you have to try to get something in return for the "compromise." If you can't finagle something, and you don't want to quit over it, then I would advise you to bite the bullet....

If the hour a day were an office hour, I personally wouldn't get bent out of shape over it, but if it were an extra class a day, without any increase in pay, I might (depending on the current workload).

Good luck, and hope you work something out that works for you....

[ChilgokBlackHole]

Does it say in your contract that you'd be working for free? I see an hour a day overtime pay here.

[engrishprease]

Spot on advice by Thegadfly.

Unfortunately, ESL teachers are very easy to replace. If you don't mind quitting and/or losing your job over this, then by all means continue to argue about the extra hour. If you do, odds are very good your school will find a "reason" to fire you.

Unless you're a top-notch teacher, attractive, and popular with the students/parents, I'd also suggest you bite the bullet..

[cert43]

Are you taking "extra unpaid" classes
or is this time just bieng used as strikly as "prep"?
These factors make all the difference.

[oldfatfarang]

[Nester Noodlemon]

[Otherside]

Excellent post fatfarang, Agree 100%

OP. Your case may be different, but in general, once you start giving an inch, you'll find it often becomes a 1 way street and a few weeks/months later you are miles from the contract.

I was working a Hagwon with a standard 1-9 schedule (including1 hours prep), The school was new, so not too many classes, so the director asked me if I wouldn't mind teaching a couple of morning classes. I agreed. So I had a split schedule, 10-11, and then 1-6 (finishing early due to not so many classes). Based on this, I didn't really mind, sure I was out the house for 8 hours, but only 6 at work and a nice lunch break.

Then school starting filling up, so it became 10-11 and 1-7, and then 10-11, and 1-8, and finally 10-11 and 1-9, at this point I was not that happy, as I was working an extra hour, with the split shift meaning 11 hours out the house. When payday came after this full schedule, I was expecting a good chunk of overtime, needless to say some creative math (120hours = 144 classes of 50mins rather than 120classes), meant the overtime was almost non-existent, even though my working day had effectively been extended by 3 hours. At this point I had enough and the Intimidation" and Denegration strategies came out.

[PatrickGHBusan]

Gadfy is right on target OP. If I were you I would consider his advice carefully.

[engrishprease]

Yeah OP, don't listen to the folks telling you to stand your ground..



Unless you're really well qualified, attractive, etc etc, you'd be digging your own grave if you follow their advice.

Listen to TheGad, he knows what he's talking about. Keep us updated!

[paulandsilas]

Wow, people are so freaking rude on these boards.