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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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 Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:09 am Post subject: I'm officially nervous here... |
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So, my director just fired the only Korean English teacher at my school. Apparently, my director was a little upset that the teacher had the gall to ask for a reduction in her 60 hour work weeks.
So, that leaves me as the only English teacher in the school, of any nationality. I was teaching 30 hours a week, she was teaching 60 hours a week. By my count, that means there are 90 hours of teaching time a week and I'm the only teacher.
Ummmm....  |
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mb2086
Joined: 10 Feb 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:53 am Post subject: |
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| Stick to what it says in your contract and refuse to work extra hours - they can't sack you for that. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:59 am Post subject: teaching |
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actually they can sack you for that...they can sack you for pretty much any reason that pops into their head...is it fair? NO!
I agree though stick to your guns if he tries to make you work overtime keep track of any and all hours and make sure he pays you for it....at overtime rates.
More kudos to the Korean teacher speaking up for herself...too many schools force the teachers to work long hours for crap pay. |
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rapier
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:06 am Post subject: |
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| BRACE yourself!! is all I can say... whatever is in your contract is insignificant to the korean work mentality of loyally doing whatever is needed to make your business succeed. |
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mb2086
Joined: 10 Feb 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| Yes, but we're not Korean! |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| Oh boy yeah. Be worried. Most contracts have an "over time" clause. You contract for certain work hours but then there's this mysterious over time clause. Over time is a fact of life in any job in North America and I'm not sure why it should be any different here. At least you're theoretically contracted to get paid extra. Most salaried jobs in North America you don't get paid for it. It's your call but if things are pretty decent in other respects (you like your apartment, coworkers, the kids, the commute, they pay you on time) it doesn't hurt to be flexible. If your boss comes to you with added hours that go beyond what you contacted for say "sure, I don't mind doing what it takes until we get a new teacher but we should make sure that I'm not doing the work of two for the rest of my contract. If it's going to take a month, no problem, but beyond that we'll need to talk." |
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Bunnymonster
Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:42 am Post subject: |
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| Buwahahahahahahahaha @ the idea that once you are doing the work of two that they will ever let you stop. On the other hand you are probably going to struggle to avoid it. You have my sympathies. |
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oneiros
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Location: Villa Straylight
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:11 am Post subject: |
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| Bunnymonster wrote: |
| Buwahahahahahahahaha @ the idea that once you are doing the work of two that they will ever let you stop. On the other hand you are probably going to struggle to avoid it. You have my sympathies. |
They might if you do a bad job of it. 
If you do too good a job, they start getting the idea that they don't really need to hire a replacement. That's happened to me many times before. I could never, morally, intentionally mess up though. I've always wanted to try it, though. |
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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| you like your apartment, |
It's a concrete box... a very small concrete box with no windows.
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| coworkers, |
The two I talk to are the two that got axed.
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| the kids, |
Kindergardeners with a penchant for my rear end.
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| they pay you on time. |
1 outta 4 ain't bad.
Honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen. My director was nice as hell to me today after basically having been neutral to me for the last two months. She did ask me to cover one class, but since I was under 30 for the week, I didn't mind and had fun teaching the class. What's funny is that my director says that she's a bad business woman whenever we meet... but if that's the case, maybe she should stop the high turnover of teachers? The science teacher has been replaced twice since I've been here and this will be the fourth Korean English teacher that they hire while I'm here...
But yeah, at least my pay hasn't been late (well, technically yes... she asked me if she could pay the 1st of the next month instead of the 29th and I said no problem... asking to pay a few days late because that's when tuition comes, I don't consider paying late) |
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bjonothan
Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Location: All over the place
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:39 am Post subject: |
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| I recently demanded money from my boss for over time and he wouldn't pay it. I called the labour board and they said that next time they give me a heavy workload just refuse to do it and they can't do a thing. If they fire you, the law says that they have to pay you more than just the money you made that month. I am not sure what the requirement is there but they can chase it up for you. |
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Mankind
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:44 am Post subject: |
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I think you'll see a new Korean teacher quickly. Either that or you'll be free to look for a new job soon. Korean parents are not patient.
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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:53 am Post subject: |
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I've decided to hope for one of two things to happen:
1) The place goes bankrupt (my director's family, including her husband and three daughters who are all very nice won't have problems, as the husband makes a bundle). This way, I can head back to the States for a bit with the money I've saved in the last 6 months and then if I come back, I can do it the right way (i.e. tourist visa, check school (only high school or university or adults), THEN sign contract).
2) The director hires two extremely gorgeous Korean teachers who both have a thing for Americans.
Never hurts to be positive, right? |
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Toby
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| ryleeys wrote: |
I've decided to hope for one of two things to happen:
2) The director hires two extremely gorgeous Korean teachers who both have a thing for Americans.
Never hurts to be positive, right? |
Male or female? |
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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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Axing the Korean teachers is never a good sign. I feel bad for you, man. Either the place is about to go belly up, or they're looking for new blood on the Korean teacher side of things.
The Korean teachers, how were they? Was their English passable? Did they get complaints? How many students are there in the hog? Have the numbers been declining?
The last thing that's gonna happen is that you will get the sack. You're the draw card. The only draw card by the sounds of it.
I smell a bankruptcy on the horizon. Only a hunch. |
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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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| Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 2:24 am Post subject: |
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| indytrucks wrote: |
| The Korean teachers, how were they? |
Of the three that I've taught with so far, the second was the best. I'm probably biased since she and I got to be good friends too. But she did well and was very quickly hired in Suwon. The math teacher that was fired, I've never seen her teach, so I can't make any comments.
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| Was their English passable? |
Yeah, it was okay I guess...
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| Did they get complaints? |
I don't know, but I've been getting a few complaints recently from parents for giving their children zeros if I catch them cheating on tests.
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| How many students are there in the hog? |
100, give or take a dozen.
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| Have the numbers been declining? |
We had an explosion in the student enrollment about two months ago, but it has remained consistent since then. The first four months I was here, there were only 21 English students in the school... I don't know about the math or other classes...
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The last thing that's gonna happen is that you will get the sack. You're the draw card. The only draw card by the sounds of it.
I smell a bankruptcy on the horizon. Only a hunch. |
Well, I don't have as much of a problem with that as I used too... I'm only half way through my contract... I wouldn't have to reimburse my airfare here, but would have to pay my own way back. I'll feel screwed though if this drags out too much longer and I start getting around 9-10 months and it looks like my severence and ticket are toast. |
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