Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MonLMari]

Are schools use to negotiating contracts directly with teachers? I've countered an offer I recieved from Yeonsei in Gumi and pointed out a few things to the director, like having paid vacation time during the year not just at the end of the contract. I also aske her to define the hours I'd work to avoid split shifts. Do you think this might offend her?

By the way can anyone tell me about this school from experience. Any one on line live Gumi (I've already done netr esearch)? Thanks a bunch

[prosodic]

Have you looked in the FAQ? The link below is about contracts.


http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=20651

[shaun k]

i have lived in gumi for the last two years. the citys ok. if you have some specifics about the city, you can pm me. i have heard about that school. i know its big, one of two or thee big school here, and i have seen some negatives written about it, but i would take everything with a grain of salt until you see for yourself.

i dont know how effective negotiating is from a distance, especially in this culture, unless you have something pretty special to offer the school.

[Grotto]

I disagree.

If you state upfront what your expectations are then you can avoid any unpleasant misunderstandings in the future.

I would put in the contract....no split shifts

It is a good idea to point out that a vacation happens DURING a contract not after....once the contract is finished you dont have to work? What kind of stupid logic is that? Unless you want them to give you an extra 1/2 months salary for holding your holidays til after the contract there is no way I would consent to that.

Definately define the hours...do not accept 30 hours a week...oh thats 1800 minutes divided up as we see fit.

Good luck with your negotiations

[spliff]

The Korean law concerning vacation for forign contract workers states that you're entitled to ten days paid leave after 6 month of the contract is finished.

[Grotto]

Hey Spliff can you tell me where you saw that?

I agree 110% but would love to show it to a few people.

[Pabo Boy]

I worked at Yeon Sei for a year a few years ago. It was OK most of the time, but they do have split shifts, they do have meaningless "I'm the boss so I will call a meeting for all teachers, native and Korean, but is only relevant for the Korean teachers but it makes me feel like I'm King of the World to have all these people waiting on me" meetings. Oops that sounded a little bitter...

The directors at Yeon Sei are notorious for changing contracts when it suits them. When I was there, there was an American teacher who had it specifically stipulated in her contract that she would have 2 or so weeks off at a specific time of the year so that she could go on a prearranged trip to Mongolia. When that time rolled around the boss (Mr Choi) changed his mind, told the teacher there would be no job for her unless she arranged cover. It's pretty difficult to arrange full time cover for just 2 weeks in Korea, but she managed came up with was a Saffie who had just turned up looking for a job, but he was not good enough at the time for Mr Choi. Ironically, 2 years on, I believe the school currently employs a South African...

Another teacher had contractually promised accomodation fall through, another teacher had reduced hours forced on him two months prior to completing his contract. In the year I spent there, only 2 teachers of about 6 completed their contracts successfully, plus another 4 who arrived during my time, including the American teacher mentioned above, left during my time too!

For whatever reason, I generally had no problems, but that could have been that I was'nt making waves, I was there for the money, for good times, and did'nt take the teaching too seriously. I did have a nervous time towards the end when it started to look like I might actually make it through unscathed, wondering if anything would happen to spoil it. Fortunately it did'nt, and I moved up to Seoul to do a year there.

To sum up, you could probaby do much better than Yeon Sei, but if you don't make waves you may be OK.

[Michelle]

Please Negotiate,

It still gives you a leg to stand on. If they get offended by this it does not bode well for the nest of the work year, if they are reasonable about this they will likely be more reasonable about work duties etc.

Those used to dealing with foriegners will expect it.

Having said that they might not always want to stick to it 100%. But a lot of them recognise the importance, some more then others.

[MonLMari]

I tried to negotiate with them, but they never responded to my request. Oh well, not surprised. Still looking.

[Gord]

[MonLMari]

The B@st@rds!

[prosodic]

[peppermint]

This kind of thing was how I got into trouble at my first school. My recruiter negotiated a pretty great contract for me, and the school was so eager to get me that they signed it, then claimed not to have seen everything that deviated even a little from what every other teacher got.

[MonLMari]

Yep better off with out 'em. I think I'm going to get another job at Topia SongPa Gu. I'm going to "scrub" this contract for details as well. Any tips on other things to look out for? I think I need to take a closer look at the ESL LAW website too. I appreciate your responses.

[lush72]