Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Joshea8]

I'm currently in the process of possibly renewing my hagwon contract. The current contract states the school will pay for one flight back home. My boss said a new contract would not include a flight at all (whether I renew it for six months or a year, both are fine with him). I have a vacation in August and am planning on returning home for a week or so. Originally he said he would pay for the ticket. All of a sudden he said how he usually renews contracts is he doesn't pay for a flight home, but instead builds it into your second contract.

Basically, right now I make 2.1 million won. If I stay for six months, he will raise it to 2.4 million won. The actual raise is only 100,000, but the extra 200,000 each month makes up for the lost flight from the previous contract (for a total of 1.2 million won). Since I live in New York, depending on the season, this doesn't cover it all necessarily.

Essentially what it appears he's doing is paying for the flight, but masking it as a raise so he doesn't have to give me a bigger raise than 100,000. (I don't think if this is bad or not).

Does this make sense? Do teachers renewing hagwon contracts not get much of a raise anyway? I work for a very good hagwon, we get free dinner everyday and we've never been paid late. It's a chain and a very reputable school. Is this technically breaking the contract?

Thanks in advance.

[CarolinaTHeels]

what chain?

[hamie]

My husband and I were in the same situation in February. We told her we still wanted the flight home money from this year, in addition to her flying us home next year. We were ready to find a new school if she didn't pay up. In the end, she decided it would cost her more to find new teachers so she paid up. Each school is different, so tread carefully.

[Joshea8]

I'd rather not say the name, it's a very good chain and I don't want them to get a bad reputation just because of a minor disagreement.

How much of a raise do hagwons typically give?

[ttompatz]

It is a contractual matter and is what you can negotiate.

There is NO hard and fast rule.

.

[cayce23]

When I renewed for an extra year, I got a 200,000 won raise and a free flight to and from the U.S., which I took for my first year's vacation. I'll get a round-trip back to the states when I finish my second year. All I had to do was ask for it, and my boss gave it to me no problem.

[koreatimes]