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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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 Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:57 pm Post subject: Is my school being ridiculous? |
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I have winter camps. I had no vacation. My school tells me this is because of the new policy wherein foreigners don't get any vacation.
Anyway, I deskwarmed every day last month spare Christmas day and New Year's day. I came back in on the 4th and had to deskwarm until today when I start teaching winter camps.
My work hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm, camp runs only from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. I'm required to sign a paper at 9:00am that says I'm here. I have to sign another when my class is finished.
I'm leaving Korea on the 2nd of March and finishing my contract on the 28th of February. I have to come to work and teach winter camp or deskwarm, every single weekday until then.
Does this sound right to anybody else? Am I being shafted?
Also, one more question:
I'm in my second year at this school. In July of '09 (after one year) I returned home to Canada then came back again. I'm ending this contract three months early (Feb 28th). My school wants me to pay for half of my trip to Canada last year because I'm leaving three months early. My contract says that if I stay for more than six months then I don't have to pay it back, but the contract is a little ambiguously worded and my employer is saying that it is different in second year.
Am I being shafted here, too? |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| You don't need to pay for your flight to Korea, but if you go back home I am not sure. They can make you do camps. Just make sure your vacation time is used up. That's basically the only card you can play. |
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ippy
Joined: 25 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you on epik or one of its variants? I assume you are. Whats this about no vacation. You have paid vacation, its in your contract. In your paid vacation you can do what you like. Oustide it you probably do have to come to school and deskwarm unless youre one of the lucky ones. |
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Toju
Joined: 06 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| That sucks. Another case of not really knowing how to treat foreigners the same way as they treat their own, yet expect the same level of loyalty from both.... |
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loyfriend
Joined: 03 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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Does this sound right to anybody else? Am I being shafted?
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My work hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm, camp runs only from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. I'm required to sign a paper at 9:00am that says I'm here. I have to sign another when my class is finished.
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I really don't understand some people. I mean you want the school to pay you for a months pay and do nothing. The extra weeks you had were not in the contract. The school owes you nothing.
In the USA and many countries Japan, Canada and so forth, even if there was no work or orders for your job, the company would have you come in and do nothing. So what is the difference.
I could do counseling and all my clients could cancel, no show or end up in jail, but the company will still have me sit in my office. They wouldn't pay me to sit at home.
You got 9-3. Take an online course, be productive and do something to better yourself. |
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ippy
Joined: 25 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| loyfriend wrote: |
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Does this sound right to anybody else? Am I being shafted?
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My work hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm, camp runs only from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. I'm required to sign a paper at 9:00am that says I'm here. I have to sign another when my class is finished.
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I really don't understand some people. I mean you want the school to pay you for a months pay and do nothing. The extra weeks you had were not in the contract. The school owes you nothing.
In the USA and many countries Japan, Canada and so forth, even if there was no work or orders for your job, the company would have you come in and do nothing. So what is the difference.
I could do counseling and all my clients could cancel, no show or end up in jail, but the company will still have me sit in my office. They wouldn't pay me to sit at home.
You got 9-3. Take an online course, be productive and do something to better yourself. |
could you clarify a bit. If i understand it hes asking the following:
Is my school right to insist that i have no vacation because of the new regulations that came in this year from EPIK.
Secondly, i have been at this school for over six months, do i have to pay back half of my flight even though my contract states i dont? Also, is it different in second year like my boss says it is?
As yet i havent seen his contract, and unless youre his boss, i doubt you have either, so how the hell do you know what is and what isnt in his contract? Extra months? What extra months? Im not following what youre talking about at all. Have you read his OP or are you just talking about the first thing that comes into your head? |
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ippy
Joined: 25 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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To the OP. You probably need to post whatit says in yoru contract about the flight. Preferably the korean too since thats usually the governing language, and then people can tell you. Also you need to clarify what vacation you are talking about here. Are you talking about your PAID vacation, or are you talking about the unwritten vacation that lots of people enjoyed up until this year on EPIK. If its the former, the regulations DO NOT affect your contracturally agreed vacation. If its the latter and youve burned through all your paid vacation then im afraid you probably do have to desk warm. You arent alone though, most of us have to do it this year.
PS. The contract you signed in your second year tells you whether its different in the second year, not your boss. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| loyfriend wrote: |
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Does this sound right to anybody else? Am I being shafted?
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My work hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm, camp runs only from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. I'm required to sign a paper at 9:00am that says I'm here. I have to sign another when my class is finished.
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I really don't understand some people. I mean you want the school to pay you for a months pay and do nothing. The extra weeks you had were not in the contract. The school owes you nothing.
In the USA and many countries Japan, Canada and so forth, even if there was no work or orders for your job, the company would have you come in and do nothing. So what is the difference.
I could do counseling and all my clients could cancel, no show or end up in jail, but the company will still have me sit in my office. They wouldn't pay me to sit at home.
You got 9-3. Take an online course, be productive and do something to better yourself. |
Well, under normal circumstances I'd agree with you. Work was actually work back home and often it was degrading, boring and repetitive, so the down time here is appreciated even if I do have to spend it in my office.
I have a few problems that I didn't mention that make it unbearable. Since none of the other teachers in my office are required to come in I'm pretty much the only person in the school during the morning hours. I have to come in, hassle someone in administration to find the janitor to unlock the office door so I can even get inside.
This usually takes an hour. For that hour, they tell me to "wait here" (in the hallway outside my office) while they go find the key to open it. I'm not allowed to have a key but every other teacher is allowed to have one.
I spend that hour sitting on the floor in the hallway. There are no chairs because all the rooms are locked. It is the same temperature as the outside. When the door is finally unlocked, the office is freezing. I usually make a call to administration asking them to turn the heat on and they say they can't with just one person in the office.
I want to do all sorts of things from lesson planning to studying Japanese (I'm going to Japan in March) but with the office being so cold, I often just sit in my chair with my hands in my pockets watching TV shows on my laptop (my hands get really cold if I type).
This morning, when the department head was on her way to my office, she called administration from her car and they started heating the office for her before she arrived.
See, its things like this that annoy me. I'm there when no one else is, having to beg for simple things that no one else has to beg for (unlocking the door, having a place to sit) all the while feeling like an outcast. I've really tried my best with my school. I've been commended on my teaching quite a bit. I've always gone above and beyond my job requirements (whatever those are, heh) and what do I get in return?
Its not that I mind getting paid to do nothing while being at the school. Its the constantly being ignored, feeling left out, not being told about anything and being treated like an alien when I know that I work a lot harder than some other people in my position.
Today I was so pissed off that they were obviously brushing me off as much as humanly possible because I made some simple requests, that I left work and came home. I'm in my apartment right now, where it is warm, making my lesson plans for today. If they complain then I'll tell them exactly why I chose not to stay at the school.
...and this, in a nutshell, is why I'm leaving Korea. |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Secondly, i have been at this school for over six months, do i have to pay back half of my flight even though my contract states i dont? Also, is it different in second year like my boss says it is? |
Well, yea it is different. They could have paid you for your flight home and hired another teacher. Now that you are leaving before the 2nd year is up, they are losing out.
This is not rocket science to figure this out. Bottom line, use your vacation time noted in your contract and leave when you can. If you don't like it, and you won't be back to Korea, leave now and avoid the winter craps, I mean camps. |
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loyfriend
Joined: 03 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, I understand Stalin84.
a few weeks ago their was a long post about teachers crying over the new rules. It ended up being many pages and had many people posting negitive things.
Your complaints sound fair.
I know from past teachers if you work 6 months you don't have to pay back teh flight over. As for the flight going home you get that after the second six months. If you dont care about the money going home or complete contract benefits you could leave anytime. |
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sunnata1
Joined: 19 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
I have a few problems that I didn't mention that make it unbearable. Since none of the other teachers in my office are required to come in I'm pretty much the only person in the school during the morning hours. I have to come in, hassle someone in administration to find the janitor to unlock the office door so I can even get inside.
This usually takes an hour. For that hour, they tell me to "wait here" (in the hallway outside my office) while they go find the key to open it. I'm not allowed to have a key but every other teacher is allowed to have one.
I spend that hour sitting on the floor in the hallway. There are no chairs because all the rooms are locked. It is the same temperature as the outside. When the door is finally unlocked, the office is freezing. I usually make a call to administration asking them to turn the heat on and they say they can't with just one person in the office.
I want to do all sorts of things from lesson planning to studying Japanese (I'm going to Japan in March) but with the office being so cold, I often just sit in my chair with my hands in my pockets watching TV shows on my laptop (my hands get really cold if I type).
This morning, when the department head was on her way to my office, she called administration from her car and they started heating the office for her before she arrived.
See, its things like this that annoy me. I'm there when no one else is, having to beg for simple things that no one else has to beg for (unlocking the door, having a place to sit) all the while feeling like an outcast. I've really tried my best with my school. I've been commended on my teaching quite a bit. I've always gone above and beyond my job requirements (whatever those are, heh) and what do I get in return?
Its not that I mind getting paid to do nothing while being at the school. Its the constantly being ignored, feeling left out, not being told about anything and being treated like an alien when I know that I work a lot harder than some other people in my position.
Today I was so pissed off that they were obviously brushing me off as much as humanly possible because I made some simple requests, that I left work and came home. I'm in my apartment right now, where it is warm, making my lesson plans for today. If they complain then I'll tell them exactly why I chose not to stay at the school.
...and this, in a nutshell, is why I'm leaving Korea. |
I can't understand why you are voluntarily going to work in that environment.
Tomorrow you tell the adminstration that you want a key and you want the office heated. If you don't get a key by the end of that day you will not come to work the next day. You will work from home.
If the heat is not working or you are not allowed to have the heat on you tell them you are leaving and you will work from home.
Do not allow yourself to be used as in this way. Stand up - get a back bone - and speak with a clear voice. |
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fromtheuk
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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I empathize with you OP. I worked in Korea for 2 years, on my 3rd contract I did a runner, because I was offered a better job elsewhere and I was sick of the rudeness of my Korean colleagues.
I often read how people on this forum encourage natives to be assertive which is commendable, but I found the reality of working in public schools is you are seen as being less than the cleaners in your employers eyes, and it's just because you're not Korean.
Initially, I felt some guilt for doing a runner, but after a while I felt happy to have stuck 2 fingers up at my employer. Why be reasonable when the other party is so unreasonable?!!!  |
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Ramen
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
I want to do all sorts of things from lesson planning to studying Japanese (I'm going to Japan in March) but with the office being so cold, I often just sit in my chair with my hands in my pockets watching TV shows on my laptop (my hands get really cold if I type).
...and this, in a nutshell, is why I'm leaving Korea. |
There's your problem right there. Koreans dislike Japan and you're betraying them for Japan. |
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xCustomx
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:32 pm Post subject: Re: Is my school being ridiculous? |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
I'm in my second year at this school. In July of '09 (after one year) I returned home to Canada then came back again. I'm ending this contract three months early (Feb 28th). My school wants me to pay for half of my trip to Canada last year because I'm leaving three months early. My contract says that if I stay for more than six months then I don't have to pay it back, but the contract is a little ambiguously worded and my employer is saying that it is different in second year.
Am I being shafted here, too? |
Hey...I think I know who this is...I had the old GEPIK contract as you, so I'm familiar with the terms and wording. Since you finished the first contract, your school has to pay for your airfare back to Canada. Then you began a new contract, which is why they flew you back (or bought a RT ticket). You've finished at least half of your second contract, so you're not obligated to pay back the fare from Canada to Korea. Since you are leaving early though, the school does not have to pay for any airfare to Japan. Your school is really screwing with you...If there are any problems you should really call that number I gave you last weekend. |
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jiberish
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: The Carribean Bay Wrestler
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| It seems perfectly normal to me. Only some lucky people can leave early but get paid for full hours. If your contract hours are 9-5 then they are paying for 9-5. If you want to come in at 2pm can they pay you less? As for the flight that is perfectly fair. I think your lucky you are even getting half. |
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