Korean Job Discussion Forums

hogwonguy1979 · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: the racoon den

I was looking into a job offer there until somebody told me all the staff was recently fired and are suing to get their jobs back.

Details on this please, I don't want to be a scab.

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

jjurabong · Joined: 22 Jan 2003

I was one of the staff at the hogwon. Let me clarify- technically we weren't fired. They closed the institute. Although, I fully expect that they will reopen the institute down the road with a lower salary base than we were making, I don't expect it would happen so soon. Many of us still have some kind of contractual tie with the school. ( This is also why we are not suing yet. However, labour law was broken, and it may still be a possibility - certainly not to get our jobs back. I would never go near that place again. We would just like to see them answer for breaking the law and rewarding a terrific teaching staff who gave ( some of them) years of their lives to the betterment of the program, with a weak apology, and the standard 30 days notice.
My guess is that you received an offer from the university dept. which is separate - however you should know that this "Christian" university decided to let us all go when two staff members had expectant wives, and our senior staff members had been there for 20, 9 and 7 years respectively. At 3 years, I was a relative newbie. None of us had ever received complaints about our teaching, and the classes were making money. Sogang enjoyed an excellent reputation. However, we were a strongly unified group of teachers who supported one another, and we were very very well-paid.
I highly suggest staying away from this university. If indeed you are interviewing for the institute, you have the full story from a teacher's side and should ask some hard questions. Pm me if you'd like to know more details about past salary base etc.

prosodic · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: ��

It's time for an update on this situation.

The institute re-opened in September. The new job conditions are as follows:

--6 month contracts with a 3 month probationary period.
--hourly pay between 28,000-32,000 with no guaranteed monthly minimum
--private health insurance rather than the national health plan
--no pension plan

The school cites Korean law, which states that the pension requirement kicks in at 18 hours per week. So, they try to keep everybody at fewer than that number.

Basically, the place has become a revolving door where instructors hang out for a few months until they find something better.

I'd like to know what's going on with the former staff. Anybody know anything about whether or not the lawsuits are going to proceed?

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

susmin · Joined: 04 May 2003

Was this is university, or the SLP franchise?

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

prosodic · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: ��

Thanks for the update Beaver. To be honest, I'm disappointed to hear that there are no lawsuits in the works.

I ended up here because I turned down one too many uni offers last hiring season. I'm just posting about it now because this week I signed a contract with another uni for a position starting in March.

prosodic · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: ��

After realizing how difficult it was to recruit with the old package, and after realizing that nobody wanted to stay, the institute sweetened the pot a little bit. (see below link)

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=14304

As described, it almost looks like an ok deal. If you choose to interview here, I suggest that you ask about the vacation schedule. The ad says 5-6 weeks, but these are not blocks of vacation time.

The institute has eight week terms, so there are 6 terms a year. You get 3-5 days between each term. Add it all up and it comes to 5-6 weeks.

The "improved" contract still excludes subscription to a pension plan.

prosodic · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: ��

Time for an update.

I won a case against Sogang at the Ministry of Labor (see: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=32698 ).

In the time since that happened, both the Director and the Academic Coordinator have "quit." I don't know if their resignations were voluntary or not. People I know who are still there seem to think that the new Director and Academic Coordinator appear to be a bit more reasonable. Still, neither of them have been in their posts for more than a week and a half, so it's too early to know if there will be positive change.