Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

Formerly Titled: DID I JUST GET A RAISE?


I'm contracted for 22 hours a week at my boys high school. Last term they didn't know what to do with me and I usually taught 18 hours and sometimes even less.

So I got my new schedule Monday and they had me down for the full 22 hours but 4 of the classes were to be with the lowest students that none of the other teachers wanted in their 'Extra classes' (4:00-5:00). I like a lot of those boys, but don't really see the point of paying me W2 million+ to work with guys who will never use English.

Anyway, this morning there were some mysterious strangers in the building and meetings behind closed doors. No one said anything to me so I figured they were not important.

Late this afternoon, after my classes were finished my co-teacher came over to my desk and said, "Bad news". The VeeP has sold me and my services to a middle school up the road (those mysterious strangers) for 4 hours a week. (Four of my high school classes were cancelled--two of the low end boys classes and two others, so I'm still at 22.)

The good news is that I'm to be paid by the hour to work there. So I'll be doing the same amount of work, during school time, but I'll be getting something like W400,000 more a month--with the possibility of 3 hours on Saturday once a month for more money. Does anyone else have a situation like this? It seems kind of odd to me, but who am I to complain?

Oh, and by the way, I found W500 in the locker at the mok-yok-tang after work. The money god seems to be smiling in my direction for once.

[riley]

Personally, I think it's sort of lame that you weren't even consulted over this, but if you're happy, then hey, that's great for you. Seriously, if you are happy, that's what matters.

[ulsanchris]

make sure they are both one your arc.

[jinju]

make it legal and you are sweet.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It would have been nice to be consulted, and last semester they asked how I felt about teaching middle school and I turned it down. Nothing was said about the money that time. It doesn't bother me too much, though. I taught high school back home and teachers don't have much influence on which classes you are assigned to teach, so I'm kind of used to it. On top of that, I've been wanting to increase my salary. I even volunteered to teach a night class which I really didn't want to do, but that program got postponed.

I did ask about the legality. Amusingly, the VeeP pulled out the contract and pointed at the sentence where it says the school can assign me to any location it wants. As diplomatically as possible, I tried to get the idea across that a contract may violate laws. In the end, I convinced them to give Immi a call and clarify if I need a stamp on my ARC or not. Should know the outcome of that on Monday.

One thing I didn't mention. If things go right, this will mean three fewer lesson plans a week. I think I'll be able to recycle my high school lessons with some minor alterations for the middle schoolers. Quite frankly, I feel like the cat who just ate a canary.

[jinju]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Nothing goes quite as smoothly as expected here in the land of morning chaos.

I came in to work on Monday believing Mr. Lee had made the call to Immi to clarify whether I needed a change on my ARC. He wasn't around and I got a surprise day off, so went home.

Tuesday, the co-teacher came over to my desk and said things were fine. They had talked to the coordinator up in the county seat and she said I didn't need a stamp.

I said, "Whoa! Didn't anyone call Immi?"

No, they hadn't called Immi. They had talked to the principal and one of his friends who happened to be in the office, so everything was fine. I could go ahead and work and not worry about getting fined or kicked out of the country.

Ummm...No, this was not going according to plan, much less the letter of the law.

I didn't want to make the threat that I wasn't going to work at the middle school until I got Immi approval. I don't want to mess up the really good office atmosphere. I also don't want Immi trouble.

Strategy 2: I told them about my first run in with Immi when I got stranded in Hong Kong for 17 days with no money or food (for 3 days). "Ahhhhh", they said. "We feel you pain. We'll call the coordinator and let her talk to you. That will make you feel safe."

So they did. I told her, if everything is fine with Immi, why won't they call and ask them for a one sentence letter stating that me working in 2 places is fine with them. She said Immi doesn't do that kind of thing. They don't care where we work. Immi only grants permission for us to work in Korea. The rest is up to the employer. That told me the woman was totally clueless and that I'd have to try something else.

I pulled my co-worker out in the hall and was much more direct. I said none of these people are lawyers and none of them know anything about immi law. I am the only one who has ever had any dealings with them. As a personal favor to me, call Immi. It will only take 5 minutes. If they say on the phone I don't need permission, I will believe you and not mention it again.

Fortunately she agreed to do it.

Five minutes later she came to my desk and said I was right. (The VeeP isn't too happy about this.)

At 1 my co-worker came to my desk and said to take the form, W60,000, and my passport to the middle school and pick up their form and get down to Masan Immi asap.

I did all that. However, Immi also wants the signed contract with the middle school.

So, in order to get a friggin stamp of permission on your ARC for a second job, you need:

*your passport
*your ARC
*a permission form from your main employer
*a form from the new part-time employer
*a signed contract
*and W60,000

(And the luck of having someone in charge who really does know the law or is willing to check on the law rather than just ask everyone's opinion on what they think the law should be.)

When the contract gets finished, I'll have to make a second trip down to Masan.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Well thanks a lot for being the first one in our school district to teach them yet another thing about how Immigration works. I work in the same school district as Ya-ta and I can confirm that no one at the district office or any of the schools (apart from experienced foreigners) has a bloody clue how Immigration works or what the labour laws are.

[peppermint]

Why would they. I'd assume they're fairly new to hiring foreigners. They've got no reason to know much about Immigration.

[Karabeara]

What we need is someone at immigration handing out a handy-dandy little information packet that gives the how-to's of this sort of thing. Make it a sort of hand-out that they give all new schools or teachers. It should be in both Korean and English. I have often thought of approaching someone about putting something like this together, but figured they'd never do it.

Giving fines to the ignorant is much more lucrative than spending money on giving them the information they need not to get the fine.

[bellum99]

The fact that they don't care about the teachers problems also make it unlikely. Ever try to explain something to an immmigration officer...yikes they are thick in the head. I think you have to fail a test to work for immigration.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Yes, they are brand new at it. Our bunch of way-gookins this last fall was the first for them.

The most frustrating thing in the conversations on Fri. and Tues. was that everyone was just throwing out their opinion as if non-lawyers' opinions about the law mattered, rather than saying, "There are differences of opinion. None of us has ever encountered this situation before. Let's call Immi and get the official interpretation of the regulations. Then we'll all know what to do." But no. I think I spent a total of 3 hours convincing them to make a 5 minute phone call. And my stress level was getting higher by the minute and that ain't good, because my diplomatic skills are minimal at the best of times.

PS: If anyone gets into a situation where a public school official uses the argument that their employees do not need the Immi approval stamp because the law is different for schools and hakwons, we now know that is simply not true (at least as far as Masan Immi is concerned).

[Zyzyfer]

To be fair, most Koreans aren't even aware that there is such a thing as separate laws for foreigners working here. Unless they specialize in a certain department that we have to deal with, they won't even have a clue.

[cranura]

anybody remember bobby fuller?
"i fought the law and the law won"
better safe than sorry as the proverb goes.......

[Ya-ta Boy]

Made the trip to Masan Immi with all the forms this time.

I'm feeling naked...they kept my passport and ARC card and gave me a 'receipt' to show if I need an ID. I should get them back in the mail in 10 days.