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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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 Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 12:29 am Post subject: Mandatory Overnight |
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My school is making the three teachers of our seven year old kindergarten classes come in for a mandatory overnight this weekend, 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. In return, those teachers get to come in at 2 PM (rather than 9 AM) on Monday. There will be no overtime pay. They only informed them of this two weeks ago, and rather than our director informing all the teachers together, she told one of them to tell the others (I assume as a means of staving off a riot).
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? Have any of you had something like this sprung on you? I'm a bit concerned about the precedent. Also, though it's late, they're considering asking for a bit more in return for such a huge time commitment. Any thoughts or recommendations are highly appreciated. |
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gogophoto
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:47 am Post subject: Re: Mandatory Overnight |
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| northway wrote: |
My school is making the three teachers of our seven year old kindergarten classes come in for a mandatory overnight this weekend, 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. In return, those teachers get to come in at 2 PM (rather than 9 AM) on Monday. There will be no overtime pay. They only informed them of this two weeks ago, and rather than our director informing all the teachers together, she told one of them to tell the others (I assume as a means of staving off a riot).
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? Have any of you had something like this sprung on you? I'm a bit concerned about the precedent. Also, though it's late, they're considering asking for a bit more in return for such a huge time commitment. Any thoughts or recommendations are highly appreciated. |
Hey there, northway. How many teachers are at your hagwon? What does the contract say about such a thing? It sounds like little in the way of extra compensation (coming in 5 hours late on one day) for the cost of their time (24 HOURS during the middle of the weekend). If it had happened to me, I would have tried to get the rest of the teachers who had to do it to say, unanimously, that they were not going to do any such thing, especially without monetary compensation equaling the overtime rate set in the contract. And I would have said that no less than a day or two after first being informed about it.
Since time has passed, though, well, I don't know what I would do now. At my old hagwon I simply complained about being asked to come in on weekends without compensation against my contract. It didn't change anything, because I was really one of the only foreign teachers out of 15 who brought it up. Eventually I stopped complaining, and stopped going to Saturday stuff. Eventually, they fired me. I might have had a case at the labor board, but they did give me a letter of release and I found a much better job.
I guess what I'm saying is you work with several other foreign teachers, and if one person is going to have a problem with it you should make sure EVERYONE has a real problem with it. All in all, this situation is unfortunate for your coworkers. |
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oldtactics
Joined: 18 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:50 am Post subject: |
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Maybe my response is because I've been here for a couple years now, but... who cares? Have none of them ever done an overnight camp before? Are their lives going to be so traumatised by having to work on a Saturday morning one time?
Surely their food and accomodations are being paid for - what else are they planning on asking for? Extra money? They can probably get some basic overtime pay, but don't count on it.
What are they being asked to do? Will it just be foreign teachers, or is the entire kindy staff going to be there? My opinion of the situation would probably change if it turns out that they're the only ones dealing with the kids for the entire night, but I hope that's not the case! |
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litebear
Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Holland
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:03 am Post subject: Re: Mandatory Overnight |
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| northway wrote: |
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? |
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist....
I'm sure you know the rest!
You need to convince them to fight this and stand up for them, have all the English teachers at your academy say that they will never do a 24 hour weekend shift if asked. |
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Chris.Quigley
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Location: Belfast. N Ireland
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:02 am Post subject: Re: Mandatory Overnight |
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| litebear wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? |
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist....
I'm sure you know the rest!
You need to convince them to fight this and stand up for them, have all the English teachers at your academy say that they will never do a 24 hour weekend shift if asked. |
Comparing a Hagwon to the Nazis... Korea is just that bad...  |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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Two Korean teachers are going, but they're getting the whole day off on Monday because they don't have elementary to teach, which seems a hell of a lot more reasonable.
I think it's a bit absurd to say it's not a big deal to go an entire week without a day off with no compensation.
The contract language says something about occasional weekend activities, which up until this point has been things that last three hours or so, i.e. coming in to meet prospective parents and a play. They've never done the overnight before, but now that the precedent is set that it's a freebie I'm concerned with what other crap they might pull. |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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Twenty four hours at whatever overtime rate is set in your contract. As a public school teacher, I wouldn't work for less than 30,000 * 24.
That's basically ruining your co-workers' Saturday and Sunday so if they didn't want to pay overtime I'd do it for no less than two extra vacation days.
Accepting anything less is pretty gutless. And make sure they all agree with this.
For those who are reading this who haven't been hired yet, this is why you should work for a public school and not a hagwon.
(I apologize for the bluntness but it's a pretty crazy thing for your director to ask for.) |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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I've always been curious why people agree. No contract says you have to teach at overnight camps and help chaperon students. That's a 24 hour work day. But threads like this always seem to pop up. Worse comes to worse if they put a bag over your head and throw you in a van. Run away at the first gas station.  |
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FDNY
Joined: 27 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
The contract language says something about occasional weekend activities, which up until this point has been things that last three hours or so, i.e. coming in to meet prospective parents and a play. They've never done the overnight before, but now that the precedent is set that it's a freebie I'm concerned with what other crap they might pull. |
If you happily signed a contract that stated you may have to work weekends, then you are royally screwed with nobody to blame but yourself. Sorry, but that is about it. |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| FDNY wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
The contract language says something about occasional weekend activities, which up until this point has been things that last three hours or so, i.e. coming in to meet prospective parents and a play. They've never done the overnight before, but now that the precedent is set that it's a freebie I'm concerned with what other crap they might pull. |
If you happily signed a contract that stated you may have to work weekends, then you are royally screwed with nobody to blame but yourself. Sorry, but that is about it. |
No it's not. Because a workday, by the contract is 8 hours. If it's an overnight thing, Its not 8 hrs.
OP Talk to the labor board |
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FDNY
Joined: 27 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| FDNY wrote: |
| winterfall wrote: |
| If you happily signed a contract that stated you may have to work weekends, then you are royally screwed with nobody to blame but yourself. Sorry, but that is about it. |
No it's not. Because a workday, by the contract is 8 hours. If it's an overnight thing, Its not 8 hrs.
OP Talk to the labor board |
Yeah, winterfall may be right that you will get paid for it. 24 X (whatever hagwons call a wage these days) = Lets say 24 X 20,000 = 480,000KRW
Not bad, sign me up. |
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nomad-ish
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: Mandatory Overnight |
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| northway wrote: |
My school is making the three teachers of our seven year old kindergarten classes come in for a mandatory overnight this weekend, 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. In return, those teachers get to come in at 2 PM (rather than 9 AM) on Monday. There will be no overtime pay. They only informed them of this two weeks ago, and rather than our director informing all the teachers together, she told one of them to tell the others (I assume as a means of staving off a riot).
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? Have any of you had something like this sprung on you? I'm a bit concerned about the precedent. Also, though it's late, they're considering asking for a bit more in return for such a huge time commitment. Any thoughts or recommendations are highly appreciated. |
i would say they either have to pay me overtime for 24 hours or give 3 extra vacation days (8 hour days x3 = 24 hours). have your friends really thought about what this means? for 24 hours, they will be these kids' mommies or daddies and all of what that entails. nevermind the fact that the kid:teacher ratio will not be 1:1 or even 2:1. your friends had 2 weeks to think about all this, what have they been doing? |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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| winterfall wrote: |
| FDNY wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
The contract language says something about occasional weekend activities, which up until this point has been things that last three hours or so, i.e. coming in to meet prospective parents and a play. They've never done the overnight before, but now that the precedent is set that it's a freebie I'm concerned with what other crap they might pull. |
If you happily signed a contract that stated you may have to work weekends, then you are royally screwed with nobody to blame but yourself. Sorry, but that is about it. |
No it's not. Because a workday, by the contract is 8 hours. If it's an overnight thing, Its not 8 hrs.
OP Talk to the labor board |
He wasn't asked to go. Why would he talk to the labor board? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:54 pm Post subject: Re: Mandatory Overnight |
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| nomad-ish wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
My school is making the three teachers of our seven year old kindergarten classes come in for a mandatory overnight this weekend, 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. In return, those teachers get to come in at 2 PM (rather than 9 AM) on Monday. There will be no overtime pay. They only informed them of this two weeks ago, and rather than our director informing all the teachers together, she told one of them to tell the others (I assume as a means of staving off a riot).
Thank God I'm not one of those teachers, but what would you do? Have any of you had something like this sprung on you? I'm a bit concerned about the precedent. Also, though it's late, they're considering asking for a bit more in return for such a huge time commitment. Any thoughts or recommendations are highly appreciated. |
i would say they either have to pay me overtime for 24 hours or give 3 extra vacation days (8 hour days x3 = 24 hours). have your friends really thought about what this means? for 24 hours, they will be these kids' mommies or daddies and all of what that entails. nevermind the fact that the kid:teacher ratio will not be 1:1 or even 2:1. your friends had 2 weeks to think about all this, what have they been doing? |
Damn good question. I'm a bit pissed at them for staying so quiet, as if I stay I'll likely be a seven year old teacher next year and have to deal with the same crap.
I think the problem is that of the three teachers, one started in August and another in September. The one who started in September has been struggling, as it's her first time teaching, and I don't think she felt confident putting herself out there. There's also the issue that in the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty good hagwon to work for, and they don't want to rock the boat. The only teacher who was really in favor of saying anything was the guy who's been here for over a year, and even he was a bit hesitant.
In regards to labor board complaints, wouldn't this ultimately be a legal issue? My school is directly owned by a huge company.
As for being screwed by the contract language, I call BS. It doesn't say "free sleepover" anywhere in the contract. |
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