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bludreamers
Joined: 21 Apr 2011
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 Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 7:10 am Post subject: Hagwon Owner Being Ridiculous NEED ADVICE! |
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My girlfriend has been teaching for the same hagwon for a little over 1.5 years. She started her contract late 2010 at this hagwon and was promised leeway when it came to vacation days and that she'd never have to work late. Those promises didn't last long.
So far here are the list of complaints.
1. The hagwon does not offer her health insurance unless she were to pay an extra 100,000 won a month to the hagwon owner.
2. The hagwon doesn't pay her pension.
3. The hagwon has been really uneven about her vacation days. This is strange given that her recruiter pays for and supplies replacement teachers for her vacation time. The hagwon DOES NOT have to find or pay for a teacher.
4. The hagwon has "lost" her diploma somewhere in their files.
5. The hagwon owner singles her out and repeated tells her how much trouble she causes him by taking sick days and vacation days (less than the amount that she is entitled to and with three weeks to two months head notice).
6. I don't know if this is normal, but they make her pay for her visa application fees.
I am a Korean American and have even sent my father (who loves my girlfriend) to sort out this mess. He returned without any results and felt that she should leave the position as soon as possible.
Today, he called her into his office and yelled at her for 30 minutes about how none of the other foreign teachers take their vacation days until she cried.
Her sister is scheduled to come to Korea and she needed to take the time off to show her around Korea. He repeatedly yelled at her about how she didn't care about the school and that she had no respect for the schedule. In the end he threatened to either fire her for taking her vacation days or that she'd have to count the weekends as vacation time.
My girlfriend is a good teacher, something even the hagwon owner admitted but that she was 'inconvenient' due to her use of her vacation time. Her students like her and she is a good (if a little strict) teacher.
Are there any grounds here to contact the labor board? Any advice on how to handle this?
I'm planning on contacting the labor tomorrow regardless for some advice. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| Going to pension/health would mean both parties having to back pay for 1.5yrs. Having been there for this time changing jobs shouldn't be too hard. She should quit, find a new job, and move on. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:14 am Post subject: Re: Hagwon Owner Being Ridiculous NEED ADVICE! |
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| bludreamers wrote: |
My girlfriend has been teaching for the same hagwon for a little over 1.5 years. She started her contract late 2010 at this hagwon and was promised leeway when it came to vacation days and that she'd never have to work late. Those promises didn't last long.
So far here are the list of complaints.. |
Were these promises in the contract? Verbal promises outside of a written contract are worthless.
| bludreamers wrote: |
1. The hagwon does not offer her health insurance unless she were to pay an extra 100,000 won a month to the hagwon owner.
2. The hagwon doesn't pay her pension.. |
Pension and Health Insurance are linked. So, if you are registered for one the other will find out and verify that you are registered. The owner doesn't want the expense.
The big questions are:
1) What does her contract say? Was she hired as an "employee," as an "independent contractor," or something else.
2) Was she legally registered as an IC?
If she is an "employee" then the school must register for and pay 50% of the fee for her Pension and Health Insurance with NHIC.
She should check her contract and then, assuming that her contract doesn't list her as an Independent Contractor, check and report her status with Pension, NHIC and the Labor Board. They should follow up and get her enrolled. Your friend will have to make her 50% payments as well retroactive to her arrival in Korea.
Chances are that your friend is a legal employee and she will be able to get these benefits instated retroactively and her boss will be forced to pay.
This means that your friend will get the satisfaction and money from winning but that the rest of her time at this job will be even more miserable as far as personal relationships go.
| bludreamers wrote: |
| 4. The hagwon has "lost" her diploma somewhere in their files.. |
Do you mean her original diploma? These days E2 visas require that you give an apostiled copy of your diploma to Immigration. Immigration keeps this copy. It sounds like that may be where her diploma is.
If Immigration doesn't have an apostiled copy, or the apostiled original, or maybe even if they do, she will need an apostiled copy to renew or transfer this year so she had better get busy ordering a new one since her original is gone.
It is a common occurance for many teachers in hogwans and public schools to find that some people don't respect their documents - sad. In other cases, schools hold their documents hostage.
It would be speculation to guess whether the diploma is in the hands of Immigration, lost, or being held hostage without more info.
| bludreamers wrote: |
| 6. I don't know if this is normal, but they make her pay for her visa application fees.. |
This is normal. Teachers generally pay all their own document and visa related costs. Those few who have a school that reimburses for any of these should be grateful.
| bludreamers wrote: |
3. The hagwon has been really uneven about her vacation days. This is strange given that her recruiter pays for and supplies replacement teachers for her vacation time. The hagwon DOES NOT have to find or pay for a teacher..
5. The hagwon owner singles her out and repeated tells her how much trouble she causes him by taking sick days and vacation days (less than the amount that she is entitled to and with three weeks to two months head notice).
Today, he called her into his office and yelled at her for 30 minutes about how none of the other foreign teachers take their vacation days until she cried.
Her sister is scheduled to come to Korea and she needed to take the time off to show her around Korea. He repeatedly yelled at her about how she didn't care about the school and that she had no respect for the schedule. In the end he threatened to either fire her for taking her vacation days or that she'd have to count the weekends as vacation time.
My girlfriend is a good teacher, something even the hagwon owner admitted but that she was 'inconvenient' due to her use of her vacation time. Her students like her and she is a good (if a little strict) teacher.. |
Of course, if she is a good teacher the school doesn't want her out for vacation. Using a substitute teacher would not be as good for the students. Also, a substitute would either have to be an F-visa teacher or get an E2 visa with the school to legally substitute at the school, so it seems strange that the recruiter would provide one. I've never heard of a recruiter providing such a service.
Usually schools choose the vacation days and teachers get their vacations all at the same time while the school is closed. This is normal for public schools and hogwans. Very few schools would let a teacher have time off because they have a visitor. Rather, the teacher and visitor would be expected to schedule their travels during the school vacation.
If the school never closes for vacation, however, then the school must make arrangements for time off that the teacher is entitled to and does not interfere with the smooth operation of the school.
The Labor Board will be interested in this issue as well if she is allowed no vacation at all. If it is a matter of taking time off other than at the scheduled dates you friend will be expected to follow the school calendar.
| bludreamers wrote: |
I am a Korean American and have even sent my father (who loves my girlfriend) to sort out this mess. He returned without any results and felt that she should leave the position as soon as possible.
Are there any grounds here to contact the labor board? Any advice on how to handle this?
I'm planning on contacting the labor tomorrow regardless for some advice. |
You will need a copy of her contract and her ARC and she should be available to verify that you are assisting her. Verify her status first in the contract and then contact Pension, NHIC, and the tax office in addition to the Labor Board.
Your father may be right. It's probably best that she leave this job, but she should plan to leave at the best time for her. |
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bbunce
Joined: 28 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Is your girlfriend here on an E-2 visa? |
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bludreamers
Joined: 21 Apr 2011
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject: Re: Re: |
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| Is your girlfriend here on an E-2 visa? |
Yes she is but she is looking to change to a different visa so that she can change her job at the end of this year.
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| Were these promises in the contract? Verbal promises outside of a written contract are worthless. |
Yes they were verbal promises and we didn't expect him to keep them except that he keeps them with all of his other workers but not with her.
Is there any precedence for a teacher being fired for trying to use her vacation days. The school is never closed although the students do occasionally have testing. They would prefer she take vacation on those days since she only works ~2 hours a day for thsoe days.
I've heard of the "11th month" firings and shady maneuvers like that but I haven't seen any instances of a teacher being harassed or fired for taking their vacation days.
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This means that your friend will get the satisfaction and money from winning but that the rest of her time at this job will be even more miserable as far as personal relationships go.
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Yeah we figured that out. The problem is that she only has a problem with the owner. The guy who actually runs things at the hagwon is usually understanding and helps her out from time to time.
She doesn't want to fight the hagwon (she likes a few of the teachers and the students there) but if it comes to that, can she "win" the pension payments after she is fired or closer to when she quits?
Also, should we contact the labor board or should we just sit on it?
The hagwon owner has these little bits where he goes on a rampage but they've been pretty tame until now. This is the first time he's threatened to fire her which is why I'm posting now. |
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