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Working National Holidays

 
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yokofoxes



Joined: 04 Oct 2010

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 8:59 pm    Post subject: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

So I'm currently loving life with Chungdahm and they have just informed all teachers across Korea it seems that everyone has to work August 15th (Independence Day). Is this allowed?

I checked my contract and it makes no specific mention of national holidays but am I right in presuming that as it is a national holiday they cannot make us work?

Even if legally they are allowed to I think they have truly proved what a shower of cnuts they are.
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modernseoul



Joined: 11 Sep 2011
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

yokofoxes wrote:
So I'm currently loving life with Chungdahm and they have just informed all teachers across Korea it seems that everyone has to work August 15th (Independence Day). Is this allowed?

I checked my contract and it makes no specific mention of national holidays but am I right in presuming that as it is a national holiday they cannot make us work?

Even if legally they are allowed to I think they have truly proved what a shower of cnuts they are.


It's a red day and therefore you shouldn't be required to work. However if they force the issue, ask for overtime plus a day in lieu or just say you'll call the labor board to check.
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yokofoxes



Joined: 04 Oct 2010

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The biggest problem is that this has come from the Head Office so actually talking to someone about it will be nigh on impossible.

Hopefully by then I'll have secured a new job (fingers crossed) so I plan on using it as a reason for quitting.

To be honest, I've known from the moment I signed with Chungdahm that they are arses, although the school I work for is pretty good, but I didn't think even they would stoop this low.
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littlelisa



Joined: 12 Jun 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've always heard that this is common for Chungdahm. The question is, are they giving you another day off in lieu?

My school doesn't give Korean public holidays, but it's an international school. The only ones they legally have to give are Chuseok and Seollal, apparently. I don't mind because we get other days off instead.
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nicwr2002



Joined: 17 Aug 2011

PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ask if you are getting another day off instead. A hagwon that I used to work at asked the teaching staff if they wanted an extra day of summer vacation instead of the 15th off or have a shorter summer vacation with the 15th off. Maybe it is a similar situation for you as well.
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ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:54 am    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

yokofoxes wrote:
So I'm currently loving life with Chungdahm and they have just informed all teachers across Korea it seems that everyone has to work August 15th (Independence Day). Is this allowed?

I checked my contract and it makes no specific mention of national holidays but am I right in presuming that as it is a national holiday they cannot make us work?

Even if legally they are allowed to I think they have truly proved what a shower of cnuts they are.



Your employer is not required to give you Aug 15th off. Think about it. Shops, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, emergency services ... all kinds of people will be working, people who serve the public in many capacities.

CDI has promised that they will teach their students on these days, so they are obligated to stay open. Their contracts do not give red days off as holidays, so they are breaking no promise to their teachers. Hopefully you have other days off or some appropriate compensation for working on a national holiday.

Of course CDI is worse than you've described, IMO, and I'd recommend that teachers and students stay away - there are plenty of great hogwans to go to - but I'll bet they never promised you those days off in their contract. CDI promises very little, and they do their best to deliver what they've promised.
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yokofoxes



Joined: 04 Oct 2010

PostPosted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

ontheway wrote:
Your employer is not required to give you Aug 15th off. Think about it. Shops, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, emergency services ... all kinds of people will be working, people who serve the public in many capacities.


Are these people told they have to work national holidays or is it like in the UK/USA when people choose to work holidays because they get overtime pay or another benefit?

Nothing surprises me with a company like CDI, it does sometimes boggle the mind why the willfully choose to piss off their staff but, then again, there are plenty of recruits willing to take the job. I'm lucky that my actual school is very relaxed and friendly and I barely have to deal with CDI at all, the gits.
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nicwr2002



Joined: 17 Aug 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 2:07 am    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

ontheway wrote:
Your employer is not required to give you Aug 15th off. Think about it. Shops, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, emergency services ... all kinds of people will be working, people who serve the public in many capacities.



Most of the those places are either filled with part timers or are necessary things to get open. Usually they give the people that have to work on the holiday another day off in lieu. If they aren't required to give that day off, then why bother making national holidays right?


Last edited by nicwr2002 on Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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MedellinHeel



Joined: 16 Jan 2014

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How does any sane person work for CDI?

3 hour long classes
Not off on all national holidays
Poor vacation if I remember correctly
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pattinsons



Joined: 28 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I previously worked at both Chungdahm and Chungdahm April. It is standard for CDI teachers to have very little to no time off. If you do get a day off you will have to make up for it on a saturday. It may be considered BS by most of us, but it is still the norm for them.

I worked from June-November. I remember the only days we got off were Chuseok. Along with some days were middle school students had exams.

Check your contract. Vacation should be explicitly stated in there, but then again a contract means very little.
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pattinsons



Joined: 28 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

[quote="ontheway"]
yokofoxes wrote:
CDI promises very little, and they do their best to deliver what they've promised.


More like CDI promises very little, and rarely lives up to those promises.
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Beeyee



Joined: 29 May 2007

PostPosted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Your employer is not required to give you Aug 15th off. Think about it. Shops, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, emergency services ... all kinds of people will be working, people who serve the public in many capacities.

CDI has promised that they will teach their students on these days, so they are obligated to stay open. Their contracts do not give red days off as holidays, so they are breaking no promise to their teachers


This.

Chungdahm is a publicly traded company and is under no obligation to give national holidays to its staff.

Surely you were aware of this before you signed the contract? Chungdahm is pretty infamous for this.
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ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 7:14 am    Post subject: Re: Working National Holidays Reply with quote

nicwr2002 wrote:
ontheway wrote:
Your employer is not required to give you Aug 15th off. Think about it. Shops, restaurants, movie theaters, hospitals, emergency services ... all kinds of people will be working, people who serve the public in many capacities.



Most of the those places are either filled with part timers or are necessary things to get open. Usually they give the people that have to work on the holiday another day off in lieu.

If they aren't required to give that day off, then why bother making national holidays right?


Where are you from? I'm not sure about other countries, but in the US it's the same, holidays are up to the employer. US employers are not required by law to give holidays off nor to pay overtime for holidays. Employers give holidays and time and a half to keep their employees happy and to attract better applicants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_holidays wrote:


Public holidays in the United States

Pursuant to the Tenth Amendment, the U.S. federal government only has constitutional jurisdiction to establish holidays for itself, for certain federally chartered and regulated businesses (such as federal banks), and for Washington, D.C.; otherwise, constitutional authority to create public holidays is a power reserved to the states. Most states also allow local jurisdictions (cities, villages, etc.) to establish their own local holidays. As a result, holidays are not governed at the federal level as each state has jurisdiction over its holidays.

Although holidays are declared as official, the government, whether it be federal, state, or local, cannot dictate to businesses when they need to officially close.



Quote:
Paid Holidays

... 78 percent of organizations offer their full-time employees six to 10 paid holidays, and 51 percent give part-time staff up to five paid holidays.

Nine out of 10 organizations will observe New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day in 2014. This is similar to previous years.

Only 18 percent in 2014 will close the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and 2 percent the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Few organizations close for religious holidays except for Christmas Day; a much smaller percentage will close Dec. 24 (35 percent) than Dec. 25 (95 percent), and 32 percent will close early Dec. 24.

Good Friday—the Friday before Easter—is the next most common religious holiday observed, with 21 percent of HR professionals saying their organization will close their offices that day in 2014. Only 5 percent will close early.

Thirty-six percent said their organization will close for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, on Monday, Jan. 20, and 35 percent will shut their doors on Presidents Day, on Monday, Feb. 17.

Looking ahead to 2015, 92 percent plan to close their offices on Thursday, Jan. 1.
http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrnews/pages/shrm-2014-survey-floating-holidays.aspx
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