Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gollum]

My private high school told us that they have been approached by Universities wanting us to teach their elementary camp classes -- at no pay for us, of course.

Apparently, Universities know that public/private schools have teachers either sitting around on vacation or having nothing to do during vacation, so they want to use them to teach at their school. Obviously they would probably pay money to my school, and I was told I would not be paid for that.

I said I have no interest in working anywhere other than here. I simply won't agree to it if they aren't going to pay me a separate salary, even though they pay me a salary here while I'm on vacation.

Just a heads up, I'm sure some others will hear of this fun new idea brought to you by your local Korean school administration.

[crazylemongirl]

I got some offers through my school last year for camps but they were at least willing to pay me. However they weren't willing to do the immigration paperwork involved in making ti legal so they got a big 'hell no' from me.

[hellofaniceguy]

Duh.....
is it me or is it....
tell your school boss...vacation is just that...vacation! No work and yes...still get paid! Ask them..."do you work on your vacation for free?"
It is the choice of the employee to work on THEIR vacation or not. Not the schools or companies. If you decide to teach summer camp...damm straight you should be paid! What...."Universities know that public/private schools have teachers either sitting around on vacation or having nothing to do during vacation, so they want to use them to teach at their school."

What is a vacation for!?!?!?!
I'd also point out...the school is getting paid to teach these summer camps.....then so should I! Charity?
Go to the Red Cross.

[Gollum]

Yeah, I hear you, but the odd situation here is that, by contract, we have only 2 weeks of vacation per year. There are no students in our school 2 months out of the year. Rather than have us not in the building, or just sitting there, they want us to go teach at another school.

I'm saying "no" to another location.

[JongnoGuru]

I've wondered how that goes. You've got foreigners working for schools or universities which don't hold regular session during several months out of the year. Now, people will say, "Oh, I've got three~four months of paid vacation every year! Nyuk, nyuk! " and I wonder whether that's exactly how the employer (or the contract) reads things. That is, are those months when students aren't in regular session considered "vacation from all duties/responsibilities to the employer", or simply as "months when students aren't in regular session"? And, is actual vacation time (i.e., legally or contractually stipulated number of days off per year) a different thing, conceptually?

When I read all the posters saying, "My school is trying to get me to do this during vacation, My school is trying to get all of us to do that on vacation", then I start to wonder whether they mean "vacation from school" (from the students' perspective) or "vacation from work" (from the employee's perspective).

(No, I've never had a teaching job, and yes, I realise I'm asking these questions from the depths of my own ignorance. So spare me the "Shiat, you is one dumb guru!" responses, because I already know that.)

[Gollum]

Guru, you're right, but it's kind of a weird situation for a few reasons.

We are supposed to, by law, only work for 1 institution. The original contract is to work for one school. To work somewhere else LEGALLY, immigration approval is necessary. If we don't get it, and get busted, it's OUR BUTT that gets fined. Sure, the school gets in trouble too, but we get fined and may even lose our E-2 for now or in the future.

Yes, we can work a 2nd location with Immigration approval, and it's not difficult for the school to get it, but we don't have to agree to do that. I see no basis why I would have to agree to working at a different location. That is an entirely different situation than what I signed up for. So I'm not going to agree to it. Hell no. Not for free.

I'll be darned if I'm going to go teach at another location -- legally or not -- without getting paid. If they want to force me to sit in our empty school building for weeks, then fine. They can do that according to my contract. But I'm not going to slave away at some camp for nothing, knowing full well that my school is getting paid for the time.

On another note, they promised me that even though my contract states 2 weeks of vacation, that I'd get the same vacation as last year. So far, it's held true. If they try to change their minds, I've made it abundantly clear that I will immediately give notice and leave. I'll just enter full-time Korean study at SNU or something, which I'm planning to do anyway.

They did "ask" me what I thought about this, which was very kind of them. Other schools would just demand it. In my experience, however, asking is not far from demanding, anyway.

[JacktheCat]

[Dispatched]

[W.T.Carl]

The same thing happened to me. The school wanted me to teach over the Christmas break for the local school district running an inservice for el ed teachers. I agreed and got paid what the school was being paid ( good money). I had a blast. And then they gave me comp time! Worked out nicely.

[bosintang]

[Incognito]

Well...the same thing just happened to me! My high school wants me to teach middle school kids over summer vacation. I actually have no problem with this as it is specified in my contract; however, I do have a problem with teaching them at another school if it is indeed ILLEGAL!!!

Crazy Lemon Girl mentioned above that to make the process of allowing teachers to teach at another school legal, special paperwork is needed. Does anyone have any information regarding the needed paperwork? Is special paperwork required?

ANY information will be very much appreciated!

David

[Grotto]

To work at any other location other than the school on your contract you need to go down to immigration and fill out the proper paperwork in order to do it legally.

If your employer does not file for this permission and you get caught you will be fined and deported. Never work at two places without proper paperwork.

[denverdeath]

Grotto's right.

To the OP: Your original contract doesn't have crap like "The employer shall, at his or her discretion, designate the workplace.", does it? I guess, technically, that they could have you do the contracted amount of hours elsewhere, but I also believe that they have to report the change in location for it to be legal through immigration. When I've been farmed out in the past, my hakwons got an "add-on" done through immigration and I was paid extra money for this work. The interesting thing with your situation is that you're not doing any teaching at the time in question. Tell them that many schools pay an additional 30,000/hr for any kind of additional work. At least that's what my school's trying to do. I have a 2-wk "summer class" with my regular school's kids. Starting at the same time, I have a 3-wk "summer camp" at a local uni. I'm doing 3-4 hours in the morning for an additional 30,000/hr at the uni and am receiving my regular monthly rate at my regular school for two afternoon hours. Maybe my regular school is actually being paid 50,000 and is only giving me the 30? Anyway, I agreed to the amount, as long as it's processed through immigration. That should be interesting, too. I have an F-2 visa with my workplace as the "add-on" E-2. I wonder if this extra "add-on" can be added on?

To Incognito: Yes, special paperwork is needed for it to be legal. Verify things with immigration, but I'm pretty sure that you will need to apply for "Permission for Change of Status of Sojourn" and include the business'/school's official documents. Ask immigration. Just make sure that it's legal and that you have proof both in your passport and on your alien registration card. Sorry that I don't have all the exact details...

[denverdeath]

p.s. Vacations are important. Because of my 2-wk and 3-wk camps, I think that I'm getting three weeks rather than four. I'm more than happy with that, and can use the extra money. However, if they are trying to cut into your contractual two-week guaranteed and paid vacation, you should absolutely refuse to do jack.

[Incognito]

Thanks for the help. I will contact immigration tomorrow (Monday).