Korean Job Discussion Forums

[legalquestions]

I have been asked to pitch in and teach one of the courses he had been teaching. He was being paid 3,600,000 per month to teach five classes per week (each class is two hours per week).

I naturally assumed that I would receive 1/5 of his monthly pay for teaching 1/5 of his courses (about 180,000 for the two hours per week). But I have learned that the university will in fact pay me only 28,000 per hour (ie, 56,000 for the two hour class each week, not the 180,000 he was paid).

In other words the university will get a huge $$ windfall by exploiting me (and the other profs who have agreed to pitch in and help them out during their emergency situation). We all have more than enough to do as it is already, but we agreed (assuming we'd share his salary equally) in order to help them out during their bind.

So how do they show their appreciation of our "team spirit?" By paying us less than 1/3 of what they would have had to pay, had he stayed (most of us are on the same salary, by the way).

In addition, their $$ windfall is increased furthermore by the fact that they won't have to pay his vacation pay (ten weeks), apartment, health insurance, etc., for the remainder of the semester. Technically, if we really wanted to be precise, we could make an argument that we were entitled to share the cost of these additional perks as well.

My dilemna is this: grit my teeth and agree to do it for the 28,000 per hour (and be exploited), or pass on the opportunity (and be labeled a non-team player, and possibly not be renewed for next year)?

What would you do?

[bassexpander]

Wow... is this one of the sky schools? That's a fairly nice paycheck.

I'd be honest and tell them you know what he was making, and that you'd like to at least be paid what he was. Just be very kind about it. You might even try to be "their friend" and suggest that the current economy is making other teachers discuss leaving the school, and that it might be wise not to anger them, because everyone is a little upset at the pay for those hours.

Seriously... be friendly and act like you're doing them a favor by telling them this.

[polonius]

Correct me if I am wrong, but, teaching a University course also requires a certain amount of correction, consultation and prep time. Will you be expected to pick up the slack in these areas as well? I would suggest to the admin that you will have more to do than just teach, and that prep and correction time will eat into your own necessary time. Tell them you will keep a log of all extra time you put in because of the extra class, and they will be charged an overtime rate for that as well.

I wouldn't go in to discussions showing his numbers, and how much they will save, because it is no longer about him. Rather, it is about you, and what your time is worth.

If it is indeed only 2 hours of extra work a week, perhaps tell them that you will only accept this for a minimum period of time.

[marlow]

[inkoreaforgood]

That should have been a topic of discussion before you and your coworkers agreed to take over those classes. Otherwise you should only get what is standard overtime at your school.

Also, once you start to make a fuss about this matter, you can kiss any goodwill you've gained from this goodbye. They are going to see it as a mostly us vs foreigners thing, and one of you took off without notice, leaving the school in the lurch. By agreeing to take over his classes, you gave them some increased sense of security, but by arguing over the money you will kill any hope of negating your irresponsible coworker's actions.

[Mr. Pink]

Not sure what to tell you. 3.6mil for that many hours and those perks is pretty damn good. Most of the people on this board would die for a job like that. Keep that in mind.

I personally would do minimal effort for the sub classes compared to what you do with your regular classes. If administration were to say anything, I would tell them I put first effort into the classes I am getting properly paid to teach and am contracted for. After that, there isn't much time for the sub class I am getting paid subpar for.

[legalquestions]

Not SKY, but we all teach content courses (E1 visa, peer reviewed publication required type job, etc.) We didn't discuss it with them before we agreed to do it because we all just assumed that if we taught his classes, we'd get his salary.

[jellobean]

I think this is about whether you stick together. If you all refuse to do it, what can they do? However, if it's only one or two of you then you might run into problems. That's always the issue in Korea. You can never get foreigners to stick up for themselves as a group. If all the people who agreed to take the extra classes go to the administration as a group you might have some luck. What are they going to do if you all refuse, replace all of you next semester? E-1 folks with publishing aren't as easy to replace as your standard freshman English teacher, especially with the current exchange rate. You might also mention that (the exchange rate issue) if you go as a group.

[IlIlNine]

[Thiuda]

The same thing happened to us three years ago. We had hired a new teacher, but they simply decided not to show up at the beginning of the semester. We were asked to teach the extra hours and agreed to do so, provided that we would be paid the runners salary divided by the teachers doing the classes. The department asked administration about this, administration indicated that salaries are released only to individuals, not groups. In the end the instructors decided to take on the classes as normal OT if the university lowered our weekly contact hours upon contract renewal, which they did. Our contracts run for two years and our weekly hours have remained three hours a week lower since then.

Instead of asking for money, which administration may not be able to pay out, ask for alternative benefits. It worked for us.

[legalquestions]

Thiuda,

Thanks for the advice, but why wouldn't administration be able to pay the money out? After all, they have paid him (the runner) the full salary up till now. Seems like to just pay us the OT rate would be more of a paperwork/admin problem than just continuing what is already in place. This way they don't have to change anything.

Also, yout situation was different in that it happened before classes actually began. The situation here occured the week of mid-term exams. They were really in a bind and we all bent over backwards to help them avoid a major headache.

Seems to me they ought to pay us his normal salary PLUS a bonus in addition (to show their gratitude). Keep in mind that none of the Korean professors (in the same department) will be assisting with teaching the runners classes, even though they are also qualified to teach these same courses (in English).

It makes me feel a bit like a typical Korean exploited SE Asian migrant laborer here.

[mmarshalynne]

What does your contract say? If they are paying you according to your contract for the extra hours, you don't have a complaint. Perhaps, before you sign a new contract next year, you could address the issue.