Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rockstarsmooth]

so today i was chatting with the office manager and taking a look at the yearly schedule. we got to the subject of vacation days, and she thought that my vacation was just the 2 weeks when the school is closed. i told her that i got 14 more days, paid, on top of those 2 weeks. she wasn't too sure about it, so i emailed her the section of my contract that covers vacation. this is what i wrote (bold), and her response (italics) is below....

5. Compensation and Benefits
vi) Vacation: The College agrees to offer the Employee a paid vacation leave of 14 days per year and shall provide 1 straight week leave, twice a year as well.

When I decide to take some vacation time, I promise I will let you know far in advance (2-3 months if possible), and in writing.
Thanks

Although you have every right to take those days off, in here, teaching the classes schedule given comes first than any responsibility/benefit or anything else. We have stated about this on our contract.
Also I would like to inform you that the techers will have to pay for the sub fee in case of taking the vacation from the scheduled teaching days.
Please understand our policy and what we value as our priority.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

this struck me as a bit hinky, and i wrote back thus:

I agree that it's important to make sure the classes are being taught, however, when a person takes a vacation day, they are taking it from their workdays, not from weekends, national holidays or school holidays. If that was the case, it wouldn't be a vacation day, just a scheduled day off. So I think that the protocol should be that when a teacher takes a day off, there will be a sub provided to cover the classes.
Vacation days are paid. If teachers have to pay for subs, then the vacation days end up not being paid, the money would come to me, and then go from me to the sub. That doesn't seem fair, and it's not in the contract. If the school is willing to offer 14 paid vacation days, how the school chooses to solve the problem of not having a teacher during those days is up to the school, it's not the teacher's problem or responsibility. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with lining up a sub and preparing all the lesson plans and materials for the sub, but paying the sub should not be the responsibility of the teacher, and nowhere in the contract does it state that it is the teacher's responsibility.
I hope we can get this cleared up.

i have yet to get a response to this. i am due to make my visa run next week, i am currently here on a tourist visa. as i see it, that still makes me a free agent of sorts. a friend of mine is at a pretty cool school in another city, and while she gets paid less, there hasn't been any crap thus far. obviously, i won't be taking any action until i get a response to my latest email, but i do want to have a backup plan if i need it.
what do you think? if they stick to their guns on the vacation issue, would you bail? my problem isn't just getting my vacation days, my main concern is that this may be indicative of future pettiness or d!cking around. if i do get out, is it reasonable to ask the other school to repay my airfare to this one? i'm a bit unsure about how to deal with this, my last school was fantastic, i didn't have any problems whatsoever. i'm mildly tempted to be complacent, but i know that i'll be kicking myself if i just roll over... sigh.
thanks for any and all input.
rss

[theatrelily]

Not sure if this applies to your situation but some schools will say that you are entitled to 10- 14 days vacation which specifically refers to the 2 weeks that they are closed....those two weeks would be your paid vacation from the school...my old school automatically deducted 3 of your vacation days to be used when our school closed for 3 days in July.

...and yes, many schools consider the weekends in that. Not saying it's fair but I think it falls under the same lines as your monthly pay often being calculated over the 30 days in a month and not the 20-20something odd working days you actually teach.

Technically the terms of the contract you posted don't mention your holidays being outside the College's predetermined holidays.

Happens all the time, may be happening here. Not entirely sure, that's just my 2won's worth.

[Smee]

public school or hagwon?


Many times those 14 days will fall when the school is closed. Perhaps it's even written like that elsewhere in your contract. Sounds like you're working for a Gyeonggi-do public school (?).

If you are agreeable enough, you might get some slack here; just don't expect it.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[rockstarsmooth]

the contract says 14 days on top of 1 straight week 2 times a year. i interpret that to mean 2 weeks of school closure and then 14 days at my discretion. that's how the office manager interpreted it as well, once i pointed it out. my concern is that she seems to think i can only take those 14 days when i'm not working so as not to affect my classes, which would already be my days off! and she says i should pay for my sub. i don't like that idea very much!
it's not a public school, it's kind of a hagwon, it's the english program in a college, but it's open to the public as well as the college students. okay, it's a hogwan.
rss

[ChuckECheese]

[jazblanc77]

I'll bet anything that what that 14 days is referring to is national holidays which usually runs in the 13-16 day range each year, depending on where the days land on the calendar. In other words, they are saying that you can have all national holidays, plus the two scheduled school holidays (7 days each with 5 weekdays and 2 on the weekend). You aren't going to get those 14 days, no matter what you say or do. They screwed up the wording, that's all.

If you have only been there for 2 weeks and you are already having a dispute of this magnitude that you are thinking about bailing out, then that's really too bad. I would tend to say that if they had worded what they meant properly, and the OP hadn't approached the issue in such a "western" way, perhaps there never would have been a problem. However, what has become of the issue will definitely follow the OP like a shadow for the rest of the contract (if he/she sticks with it).

[rockstarsmooth]

i should perhaps clarify a few things...
before i signed the contract, i spoke with a rep from the school, a rep whose first language is english. i asked her specifically if those 14 days were above and beyond the 2 weeks, national holidays and school holidays. she said yes. i asked again to confirm it, and she said yes. she also confirmed it again in writing.
this is not my first gig in korea. i am not walking into this expecting to be treated in a "western" way. i understand tha this is not canada, that things are done differently here. i got my particular position because i have experience here and am able to deal with the cultural differences.
another teacher at my school has been given a very difficult time about taking one day off, a day that is one of her vacation days. she gave them 3 months notice that she would be taking one day off, this notice was given via email and in person, and was accepted. it wasn't mentioned again by the school until just over a week ago, when they told her to cancel her plans, that there was no way they would give her a day off. they denied ever knowing about the day off. it wasn't until she showed them copies of the original email and the response from the school that they admitted knowing about the day off. that particular situation took almost a week to be resolved, and put me in a difficult position (head teacher, thus the "bridge" between the admin and teachers). the way that the school dealt with that situation (calling the teacher a liar, raised voices, demanding she cancel her vacation plans) has made me feel a little leery.
i realize that i didn't put all of this into my original post. again, my main issue isn't getting my days off, i'm more concerned about respect, and being treated fairly. the vacation days seem to be a symptom of a larger problem.
rss

[jazblanc77]

I would high tail it out of there if you are still able. I kind of doubt that your new school will cover the cost of the flight since local hires never do. Just consider the cost of your flight over as the price of your sanity. When it comes to your emotional stability, the cost of an airfare is chump change.

Good luck!

[Hyeon Een]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[rockstarsmooth]

phew!
resolution has been reached and it's something that both i and the school feel comfortable with.
at the end of each term (1 term = 2 months) there are a few days off, to be used as make-up days or prep days for the next term, but only as needed. unless someone had to take a sick day, they're just days off. unfortunately, in almost every case, a good string of them is interrupted by a workday, splitting up a run of 5-9 days off (taking into account weekends and/or national holidays). what we've done is shift around the schedule so that those pesky single days have been moved, so that everyone gets about a week or so off at the end of each term. their big concern was finding subs when teachers took days off, it can be a pain in the ass for sure. this way subs won't be needed, unless someone calls in sick of course. the contract wording has been amended to state that there will be 14 days off as scheduled by the school in addition to the 2 one-week holidays. i think that's fair. the director and i worked out a schedule, i will present to the other teachers tomorrow and see if they approve.
i'd really prefer to not have to bail out, it feels like bad karma to me and would be a major hassle. the new schedule is in writing and this will solve my main issue: teachers can be respected, or at least treated fairly in this school.
cheers, and thanks for the comments and advice.
rss