Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sublunari]

So I've been working part-time on an F2 visa at a sort of "home school" run out of the owner's apartment for the last month. There are just four young kids at this place and their English is excellent, while the owner herself has lived in America for ten years and has generally shown herself to be a capable and friendly employer.

All the same, about one week into the contract she asked me to show up for work half an hour early to help with planning the day's lessons. She just paid me for the first time a few hours ago and I was not really surprised to find that I had not been received any monetary compensation for all of those extra half hours. The discrepancy amounts to about a hundred dollars. She also deliberately didn't pay me for the last few days as a sort of "deposit" which we had agreed to in the contract, and which I would presumably receive next month; however if we have a falling out it's safe to say that I'll never see a penny of any of that cash.

My wife wants me to threaten her with government action unless she ponies up. The homeschool doesn't seem to be registered as an official hagwon, which apparently means that it's illegal for the owner to hire foreigners to teach her kids. The problem is that this sounds a little too much like blackmail to me. My current plan, spineless as it may seem, is to give her a call tomorrow asking if she counted those extra half hours, which she obviously has not; if she refuses to pay, I'm just going to stop working there, as it isn't a large sum of money and I'm afraid that we'll get sued if we report her business to the government.

So the question I want to ask is, if she refuses to pay me, should I threaten to report her to the government, and should I carry out that threat? Do I have to worry about getting sued for defamation or anything like that? Thanks for your help!

[Setaro]

Did she actually say she would pay you for coming in half an hour early? Many people go to work 10/20/30 minutes early in order to prepare for the day's work/lessons.

[sublunari]

No, she never said that she would because I was too idiotic to ask; I had assumed that I would be paid for all of my time at work, rather than just most of it, but I suppose that is a silly American conceit. I won't be making the same mistake again.

[some waygug-in]

If you're on an F-2 you don't have to do anything you don't want to.

You don't have to "threaten" her with anything, just tell her directly that you don't need the job that badly, if she really wants you there she will listen.

[Setaro]

[sublunari]

[Quack Addict]

Setaro you're an idiot!

[warmachinenkorea]

[blm]

Threatening to report seems a nasty move, and selfishly I think gives us a bad name.

Expecting an extra half hour is part of Korean culture...just let her know it's not your culture and that you are not happy.

Then leave if you want to.

[sublunari]

Whew, that was great. She went absolutely ballistic, threatened character assassination, government intervention, legal action, etc., etc. The best part was when she claimed that I had agreed to working for free in the contract, which no sane English teacher would ever do, and then read the contract to me over the phone. Of course there was nothing there about working for free. I didn't threaten her and remained calm and polite through our fifteen-minute phone call; but I'll be warning other teachers about her place here if she does go through with any of her threats. It's pretty unfortunate because she was very happy with my teaching until I asked to be paid for my work.

Obvious lesson for other teachers: make sure your employers pay you! And don't work for them if they don't! You have no business being slaves! Centuries of labor activism has guaranteed all of you the right to a fair wage! Don't take anything less!

[Setaro]

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

[blm]

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

I wonder if you badmouth E2s as a way to gain credibility amongst the people whose approval you seek?

[definitely maybe]

For you skeptics out there who are referring to hagwons/public schools when you talk about prep work, it's better to view his situation as private tutoring. Don't get into the legality of it, because his visa allows it as long as it's above board. In cases like this onsite prep is not expected or required. It sounds like there was a lack of communication on the planning period, but it's not unacceptable to expect money for it, nor does that expectation run contrary to Korean culture.