Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ZZKaris98]

So, this is the details of my crap deal here...

~ My contract states that the start date was the day my plane arrived in Korea (September 19th). I was required to be at the hagwon for at least 4 hours a day from then until October 1st. The teacher I was replacing was still there through the end of September. The director flew me in early because he wanted me there before he left for Canada for 3 weeks. When the director came back from Canada, he told me that my contract didn't start until October 1st. Basically, he refused to pay me for my first 11 days even though I was teaching the majority of the time while the old teacher led games, and he REQUIRED me to be there.

~ Also, my contract states that my apartment was to be furnished starting at my arrival. Well, since the teacher I was replacing was still there. I didn't get anything except for 1 blanket until the Monday after Cheusok (October 5th... I arrived September 19th). No bed, pot, pan, refrigerator, etc.

~ A new Hagwon opened across the street, and 4 students quit our hagwon to go to the new one. Well, since I'm the new foreigner, this got blamed on me (though the kids said that they really liked me). The boss outright told me yesterday, word for word, "I don't give a damn about these students, and I don't care of they even learn English. I care if their mothers pay the tuition. So you need to do whatever you have to do to keep the students here. If they don't progress in English, I'm fine with that. But YOU have to keep these damn kids here."

~ The heat in my apartment has not worked since I got here. I have told the boss about this nearly everyday for the past 5 weeks. He finally had the landlord come to my apartment while I was teaching yesterday, and they said nothing was wrong with it. It has been cold enough to see my breath most nights. I turn it as hot as it can go, and it takes about 6-7 HOURS to heat up enough for me not to see my breath. I still have to wear at least 3 layers of clothes when the heat is turned all the way up.


There are many other things, but these are the major ones. I don't want to just completely bash this hagwon, but I NEED to get out of there. I don't know what options I have. Like, if I find another job in a public school, how does the visa stuff work? Can I get out of this contract, due to conditions, without having to pay recruiter fees and plane tickets back to the director? Things like that. If anyone can help me out with this, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks so much!!!

[Luvlykylady]

Call your recruiter IMMEDIATELY. See what they can do for you.

[afsjesse]

This mirrors my experience in Hagwon mayhem 2 years ago. I waited it out and applied for a PS job which was a lot better but still hat its quirks. There's a few things you can do.

1. Pull a runner and go home.

2. Talk to your boss and hope for a reasonable outcome, if not, threaten to go to the Labor Board. This may get you fired.

3. Get your docs in order and give your hagwon the contractual leave of notice and ask for a letter of release. This may get you fired.

4. Give/ or don't give notice and go straight to the immi. office nearest you. Bring your passport. Tell them that you are no longer working for your school and DEMAND that they give you a dismissal notice which they will staple in your passport. This will give you 30 days I think to find a new job, go to japan for a new visa, and come back! It's a tricky way out of having to go home and come back after your visa expires.

Good Luck.

[cruisemonkey]

[Nester Noodlemon]

[cdninkorea]

If you really want to go nuclear, do what I did a few years ago when I wasn't being paid: show up and refuse to teach. Go to work on time, don't leave no matter what, and tell your boss that you'll teach when you get ALL the money owed to you.

He'll tell you that the students are waiting for you: don't you care about them? Tell him that he's the one who doesn't care if he can't be bothered to pay you. He'll then tell you to go teach and he'll pay you. Refuse. Tell him that you'll teach when the money is in your account and you've gone to the bank to verify it.

It worked for me.

[cruisemonkey]

[lifeinkorea]

There is another option. Put up with the crap, live with blankets (I do, and I have heat working well here). Save up your money, and don't do anything until they fire you. More students that leave, the less you have to teach.

You can do more damage to the hagwon than the hagwon can do to you. Get whatever money you can from them so you can afford the transition when they do fire you.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is if they fire you, it's easier to get immigration to allow you to get another hagwon. If you give 2 month notice, the hagwon doesn't have to give a letter of release.

[lifeinkorea]

[VFRinterceptor]

This sounds similar to my recent experience.

First off, don't mention anything about the labor board. If he fires you, it's best to let him do it wrongfully so you have a case. If you mention Labor board, he'll still fire you, but the way he does it will be 'legal'.

Best thing to do is just ignore his complaints, go to work, get your money.

I highly recommend you start a journal/log with all these little nuances and contract violations, you'll need it if and when you go to the labor board. Make sure you put a date, time and location for each log entry. If you are as busy as me, sometimes its easier to just email yourself every journal entry, so there's no book or hard copy lying around that might get picked up by the wrong person. Or you might lose it or something.

If you are as new to Daves ESL as you are with working in Korea, start looking at peoples previous posts to find out who's giving good advice and who's just making noise.

Keep us posted

[some waygug-in]

Also, get his business card with his full name and business address, name of the hagwan etc. You never know when this can come in handy.

[Enrico Palazzo]

Keep this clean. Keep this thread free of bigoted comments or suggestions to use violence. We mean that. Otherwise, you may get tossed if you don't follow the TOS, especially with posts joking about using violence.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[dirving]

[Teddycakes21]