Korean Job Discussion Forums

teachergirltoo · Joined: 28 Oct 2006

I have a friend coming to work in Korea and he has received several offers so I am starting to review contracts. I have noticed that in the new 2008 GEPIK contract that overtime is not optional anymore - the school has the right to ask you to work up to 6 hours of overtime each week within or outside of your regular work hours. I am just wondering if anyone has found this clause to be a problem in their work situation. Is it being exercised by employers. I have always like having it as an option because there are times when other commitments in life must take priority.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

I haven't got it to check fully but I don't think that is a new clause. I think there was around that amount of overtime that we could be required to do. Can you post the actual wording in the clause you are concerned about?

Ramen · Joined: 15 Apr 2008

I thought it was illegal to force an employee to work overtime. Doesn't the labor law supercede contract clause if it's against the law?

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

It is also true that public school teachers spend a fair amount of time every week not actually teaching both in and outside of normal school hours. It is more than likely that most of the overtime hours over the 22
teaching hours in the contract would take place in the hours that the teacher is going to have to be at school anyway. So if you are lucky enough to get it then you would get a very nice extra amount of pay each week without being required to spend much (if any) extra time at school.

teachergirltoo · Joined: 28 Oct 2006

ARTICLE 7 (3). Employee�s regular teaching hours shall not exceed twenty-two (22) hours per week. Employee may be asked to teach extra hours within and/or out of the regular working hours. Extra teaching should not exceed 6 hours per week without Employee�s consent.

I am under an old GEPIK contract that clearly states that overtime is optional, and on occasion I have appreciated that because I have had prior commitments, and had to turn down some overtime opportunities.

But if this clause hasn't been a problem for others or exercised in a negative manner by the employers in these more recent contracts though, then that is a good thing and probably nothing to be concerned about.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

This is the same clause that was in my contract last year .... So not new this year. It does make any overtime over the normal 22 limited to a maximum of 6 hours unless the employee agrees. So the employee still has the power to refuse an overtime offer which is for more than 6 hours a week. I personally found that I had so much free time at school where I needed to be there but did not have teaching commitments that working 6 more hours in that would not have hurt at all, or stopped me doing other things.

poet13 · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:49 pm Post subject:

"Employee may be asked to teach extra hours within and/or out of the regular working hours."

or out. Hmm, I'm in EPIK, and the contract changes seem to trickly deown to us, so it concerns me too.

I read that as being that they can ask me to come in every saturday for 6 hours. Or that they can ask me to work two evenings for three hours each week. F that.

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Bingo · Joined: 22 Jun 2006

Your friend's main concern shouuld be the countless ways Gepik will try to steal your overtime pay. They hate paying it, and will use every excuse ('paid' holidays etc.) to cut your overtime almost down to nothing.

Gepik is little better than a hogwan.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

That clause was thrown in because schools were complaining about native teachers who didn't teach over 22 classes, no matter what.

Lets say the school has:

6 5th grade classes and 6 6th grade classes. Thats 24 classes a week if you see them twice a week. The school wants you to teach all the 5th and 6th graders, twice a week.

Then the native teacher says, "Sorry, I don't teach over 22 hours. I don't care if 2 classes will only see me once a week."

Thats happened more often than you think. Most teachers will say, "Sure, its only 2(3 or 4) more classes. I am sitting at school anyways, and if I already have the lessons, I don't see any problem with teaching the same thing a couple more times.

A few adamantly refuse to do anything above 22 hours, so thats why they stuck taht clause in teh contract.

JustJohn · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Location: Your computer screen

icicle and pkang have this one nailed