Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sistersarah]

i hate having to interpret exactly what my contract says after 3 months of work, but that's what happens in hogwans, right?

my contract says. "there will be two weeks of vacation. one in the winter, one in the summer". i signed this contract. to me, this means 10 vacation days.

i arrived in december and was told, actually, there will be no winter vacation this year for bla bla bla reasons. since i had just arrived, i decided not to make a fuss. i figured, i'll just talk about those days later, after i've settled in, instead of rocking the boat now.

so, summer vacation isn't that far away. so i ask, when is the summer vacation. boss says, oh wed, thurs, fri, sat and sun, of the last week of july. i say, ummm, sat and sun are not "vacation days". i say, since i didn't get any winter vacation, basically you're saying i get only 3 days vacation for this entire contract. so then she says, well, maybe you can have that whole week. ok, so that's 5, where are the other five? she says, that's impossible.

i am sick of this shit. i've had to deal with this at the other 3 schools i worked at. always the same.

how do you guys deal with the vacation issue? would you push for the remaining 5 days or just be happy to get the week in july?

[Real Reality]

It is frustrating. It seems that institutes like to push teachers to work the most. Sometimes Korean teachers will not even demand five days. I would not argue. I might try to discuss it at a very good moment. But, when is that?

You have had this happen before. You might consider posting parts of your story on the Job Information Journal.
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/asia/sefer.cgi?Korea

EFL-Law Guy says,
"Stick to your guns and argue your interpretation - also refer the school to the Labor Standards Act and say it is very clear that it (your contract) must be 14 days total. (If your school is small with less than 5 employees the LSA doesn't apply) but still refer to it anyway - 7 days is ludicrous -"
http://www.koreabridge.com/forums/index.php?s=d838a7810e11bac72dbb0a259ce992bc&showtopic=3824

Vacation, only 5 days
http://www.koreabridge.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3567

[shawner88]

I've never really had a vacation. Yeah I should have. Yeah it was in my contracts. I just kind of accepted the fact it wasn't to be. The problem is who covers your classes when you go? Should the Koreans have to? They don't get vacation, that's for sure. Should they also suffer and cover your classes when you do? If I raised enough fuss I'm sure I could have gotten more time off. Yet I'd have felt bad doing that to my coworkers. Sad, I know. Frustrating yes. But that's the way it is here!

[The Lemon]

I think there's also a calculation going on in the brain of the hogwon owner that when their push comes to their shove, you'll do what they want. Those two weeks were a mythical benefit to get you to sign on. Why are they now taking it away? Because they think they can.

Choose two weeks that are convenient to you. Inform them that this will be your vacation time. If they protest, ask them which two calendar weeks are better for them. Don't back down. What are they going to do? Fire you? They need you.

You may start to see that one month's severance being dangled over your head as incentive to roll over on this. But ask yourself - if they're trying to cheat you out of vacation that's in the contract, do you think you'll actually see the severance pay at the end of the contract, after all your leverage - your labour - is gone?

[Squid]

Try ECC, the 10 day holiday you're having when you're not having a holiday... oh the rest of the country is, sure enough, but they don't get paid for it and you 'aint either... sucker!

Where I am now, 'til the end of this month anyways, no holidays written in. Much simpler.

Next job, two weeks written in... guess it's fun and games time again.

[intergalactic]

In another thread I argued with aussie col about taking vacation.
However, in your case since the contract stated "one week in winter and one week in summer", I really think you should stand your ground on this. You are right, weekends DON'T count as holidays! Sheesh...
and I would say "I understand you couldn't give me time off in winter, but I still want my 10 days paid vacation as stated in the contract, therefore even if I get my week in summer at the end of my contract I shall be leaving a week early and that will make up for my the winter days I didn't get." (it might even be winter by then!)
If she has given you a contract that says what you said it does, you have all the hand here. She is just trying to call your bluff.

[FUBAR]

Since many Koreans work on Saturday, they consider it to be a working day. That is why they call that day off for you. Sunday should not be considered a holiday however.

I am curious; You have had this occur at 3 other schools and you thought nothing of getting it the exact dates written into your contract? What gives?

[sistersarah]

fubar - honestly, i didn't think this would happen. i thought it was written very clearly in the contract "two weeks. one in winter, one in summer". i don't know how much more clear that can be, unless, like you say, the actual dates are written in. so to answer your question, i didn't expect this at all! maybe i should have discussed it face to face before hand, but i just didn't think there would be a problem, from the way the contract was worded. seemed cut and dry.

[Grotto]

Some(not all) hogwan owners are just ignorant money grubbing insects who have no concept of what a contract means...to them it is just a peice of paper that they can bind you to them.....'oh you cant leave you signed a contract' ...'oh I will interpret the contract so it only favors me...what you think does not matter'....'oh this is the way it is in Korea'....'oh the Korean employees dont complain'

I am pretty sick of the stupidity of hogwan owners and operators.

I think the only way around it is to specify exactly what days you want off in your contract...if you get 10 days then right at the beginning write them in if the school does not have set holidays. That way you can take the time you want when you want and if they bitch about it you can just say 'hey you had over 6 months to make arrangements What have you been doing '

We are entitled to time off, we deserve time off and we all know we need some time off

[phaedrus]