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A royal screw-job, before the contract is even signed
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kermo

Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 8:54 pm Post subject:

mack the knife wrote:

Quote:

I'm using the incident as leverage, frankly.

Jesus H... I'm away from the board for a few weeks and THIS is what happens?

Leverage? With a Korean?? A Korean in a position of power (over you)??? In Korea????

Put down that pipe you've been smokin' and move on (quickly) to the next offer.

Period.

Meh. I wrote a letter, but lost his email address in the shuffle (currently writing from Canada. Yay for root beer!). In the meantime, I was offered another job thanks to a Dave's poster (you rock, NRVS).

I would really like to take it, but there is a clause in my contract saying I am not allowed to SIT DOWN during classes, or even lean against the wall. Weird. 6 hours of teaching (5 minute breaks in between) while standing.

TheUrbanMyth

Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 5:38 pm Post subject:

mack the knife wrote:

Quote:

I'm using the incident as leverage, frankly.

It is is quite possible (as I have pointed out in other posts) to obtain this said leverage. If your director for example is not paying pension, then you are in a much stronger position and have more cards to play should he decide to mess with you down the road.

One has to wonder at the attitude of helplessness that so many foreigners seem to profess on this board. I have always thought that growing a backbone would go a long way towards replacing this attitude.

nrvs

Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: standing upright on a curve

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 11:57 pm Post subject:

kermo wrote:

I would really like to take it, but there is a clause in my contract saying I am not allowed to SIT DOWN during classes, or even lean against the wall. Weird. 6 hours of teaching (5 minute breaks in between) while standing.

Yeah, that's what I do 5 days a week. It's actually not that bad if you're wearing comfortable shoes. I do a lot of wall-leaning, but they've never said anything to me about it.

Good luck with your job search! Sorry my place didn't work out for you.

kermo

Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject:

What? It didn't? Says who? I talked to Sue a couple days ago, and it sounds like you've got a new co-worker! (me. I'm talking about me.) I'm buying you a beer AND A HALF when I get back to Korea, my friend.

Gopher

Joined: 04 Jun 2005

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:24 am Post subject:

nrvs wrote:

kermo wrote:

Yeah, that's what I do 5 days a week. It's actually not that bad if you're wearing comfortable shoes. I do a lot of wall-leaning, but they've never said anything to me about it.

Am I the only one who finds this stipulation absurd? Sometimes I sit, sometimes I stand, sometimes I walk around. All classes are different.

None of the other countries where I've worked put absurdities like this into the contract or the policies and procedures document. This has "control freak" or at least "micromanager" written all over it.

Worst of all, what is the basis that leads this employer to conclude that this is somehow beneficial?

peppermint

Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:01 am Post subject:

It's absurd to put it in a contract, but if you're teaching kids, not sitting down is good policy. If you're walking around the classroom, it's much easier to catch them getting into trouble.

nrvs

Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: standing upright on a curve

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:32 am Post subject:

peppermint wrote:

It's absurd to put it in a contract, but if you're teaching kids, not sitting down is good policy. If you're walking around the classroom, it's much easier to catch them getting into trouble.

It's written in the contract because the foreign teacher I replaced -- he didn't even last a year -- took delight in conducting all of his classes from the back of the classroom, reclining in his office chair. Since it "wasn't in the contract," he got away with being a lazy tool, and now everyone else has to pay for his laziness with dumb contract stipulations.

Honestly, it's not a big deal. Like you said, it keeps the kids paying attention. Also, we can sit during listening classes (Fridays) and if we're not feeling well.

Gopher

Joined: 04 Jun 2005

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:05 pm Post subject:

nrvs wrote:

because the foreign teacher I replaced -- he didn't even last a year -- took delight in conducting all of his classes from the back of the classroom, reclining in his office chair...now everyone else has to pay for his laziness with dumb contract stipulations.

It is a big deal. Their only solution is to stipulate extreme solutions in the contract? Why not remove the office chair from the classroom or simply fire the first teacher for insubordination? Why not just talk about "the problem" with the next teacher and seek cooperation?

Korean hogwon directors seem mostly unequipped to deal with foreign employees constructively.

koryo1

Joined: 26 Aug 2005

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:46 am Post subject:

I hope for your sake you're not working at my friend's hogwon.

kermo wrote:

mack the knife wrote:

Quote:

I'm using the incident as leverage, frankly.

koryo1

Joined: 26 Aug 2005

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:49 am Post subject:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

mack the knife wrote:

Quote:

I'm using the incident as leverage, frankly.

Tell us more about leverage.

What are the ways to get it.
How to use it?
What, specifically, are the treats to make?
What can be hoped to achieve?

For instance, you mentioned pension. What if pension has not been paid? Can you spell out a possible scenario?

Thanks!!!

MixtecaMike

Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Location: 3rd Largest Train Station in Korea

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject:

koryo1 wrote:

What, specifically, are the treats to make?

Maybe a potato, LOL.

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