Korean Job Discussion Forums

speakyword · Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Location: Daejeon

I know that sometimes contracts look fine to newbies because of the total amount of hours worked but that there is an issue of how many classes in total you teach and how long they are. I'm very confused about this, can someone try to explain how to know if you've got a decent setup or not?

nomad-ish · Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:40 pm Post subject:

contracts normally state how many work hours a week (how long you must be in the school) and how many teaching hours a week (from within those working hours). a teaching hour can vary between schools (typically, elementary PS=40min., middle PS=45min., high PS=50min.). hagwans may say that 1 hour = 1 teaching hour.

at most public schools, they state 22 teaching hours/week and 40 work hours/week.

at most hagwans, they state 30 teaching hours/week and the number of work hours are usually less than 40 hours/week. if the hagwan states a number of classes that you are responsible for in the contract, make sure they also mention how long each class is.

there's a lot of variation. but remember not to sign a contract that just mentions working hours, because technically they could make you teach for all of those hours.

The Goalie · Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Location: Chungcheongnamdo

All the above...and just to drive the point home, especially if you're dealing with a hagwon, make sure it's stated clearly (eg. no more than 30 fifty-minute classes a week... an insane amount of work but such are hagwons). Any ambiguity can (and probably will) be used in the hagwon's favor. They can add up those 10 minutes between each class when you're not actually teaching and squeeze a lot more work out of you.