Korean Job Discussion Forums

[danita30]

First, I should not have used a recruiter. I work for this francise before so I thought it would be ok. I didn't see all the warning bells so a lot of this is on me. I got here on Sunday afternoon I was teaching on Monday. Which they did not tell me that and when I got to this school I found my schedule had 8 classes in a row with only a 5 minute break for Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Second week I was here director called me in his office. Telling me I left the classroom too much. I am like hello I haven;t even been here two weeks and I am not even over jet lag. I need to get crayons or what not. They also didn't tell me the other teacher quit before I came. I am thinking she just finished her contract but she did a runner that should have been a tell tale sign if I would have know that. Then they lied about it first. She had emergency. I found out from somebody else she just left. Also in this meeting he said he was worried about women teacher's because they get lonely. He has a problem with women so that put me off too along with that crappy schedule. For my deposit money they take out 500 dollars for 3 months. So how did I get out of this legally and get better school. I have worked in Korea before and I have never been unhappy as I am now.

[CentralCali]

Is the deposit money mentioned in the contract? If not, taking the money is withholding of salary.

Franchises in South Korea are not like they are in the West. In the US and other Western countries, a franchise holder agrees to follow the policies and business practices set forth by the franchise headquarters. Here, on the other hand, all a franchise means is that the franchise holder has purchased the rights to use a name, to purchase materials from the franchise headquarters. and to have employees attend training sessions.

I learned that simple fact the hard way myself when my dishonest employer refused to pay a coworker and me what they owed us. We contacted the franchise headquarters and discovered that the HQ efforts were worthless although they did try to get the boss to do the honest thing. HQ did refuse to renew the hagweon's contract so there was that one positive.

One would think it's incredibly obvious why such a system is a terrible business practice, but I guess "This is Korea!" is the only logic to apply.

Very many people here are completely unfamiliar with the concept of jet lag. They just don't understand that to travel to the West, it takes quite some time (and they also don't understand that the closer it is to the flight date, the higher the ticket price will be) to travel to Korea from overseas. No matter how many times you tell them that you just got here from overseas, the boss will say, "Look at the Korean teachers. They're ready to work!"

For the "crayons and whatnot," you should prepare those in advance. Yes, I know it's a truism and can't always be done, but try anyway.

The bit about women teachers is illegal discrimination. The South Korean Constitution and other laws here prohibit it. It is possible to win a court case on that but it would be expensive.

[danita30]

Well like I was saying at the time I had only been there a week and not even a half. I wasn;t leaving every class or everyday of the work week to get something. That easily fixable send one the kids out to do it lol but I try to make sure I have all the stuff though when I get in so that problem is fixed that crappy schedule no. He even knows he needs another teacher but he's too cheap to get another all the teachers or at least the Native have 8 classes 3 days a week and only one of us has a break in between. We only get the five minutes barely enough time to go the bathroom. Korean law says your work 4 hrs you get 30 minutes for a break. About the discrimination yeah that would be waste and hard to prove in court. So what can I do other than change schools since the manager won't change but I just want to go about it legally. I can;t stand another 11 months of this.

[CentralCali]

Friend, nothing here is easily fixable. If something goes wrong, as far as your boss is concerned, it's your (the foreigner's) fault. Sending a kid out to get it will also get you reprimanded ("Why aren't the students in class?").

Theoretically, changing schools should be easy. In practice, though, is the unconstitutional but very well enforced requirement for the Letter of Release. Absent that from your current employer, you have two choices: stay here and work for him or go back to your country until the end of your original contract period. There is a way to challenge that requirement in the courts; however, it would be quite expensive.

Good bosses here realize the right way to run their businesses and treat their employees. The problem is the bad bosses are fully aware of the restrictions on you, the foreign employee, so they can easily get away with a lot of things that would get them put in jail if they did them in other countries.

Your hagweon actually schedules time between the classes? That's a new one on me. Most of the folks I know at hagweons have to do two, three, or four classes in a row and then have a short break.

Edited to add: I find myself quite often thinking that the dishonest practices of some hagweon owners depend so much on the honesty of the employees whom the owners are cheating. A lot of folks I've encountered have waited until they've hit the six month mark so they could pull a runner after they've done the time to compensate for the flight ticket over. Others have invested a bit of time and money into pursuing action through the Labor Board, Pension Office, and Tax Office. I don't know anyone who's pursued action through the Office of Education but that is also a possibility.

[danita30]

Yeah that's what it seems like its going to be Long drawn out year. He would probably make it hard or not give me a release letter. I think after I survive this no more hagwons for me. I will go to public school or throughly check it out since I will already be in Korea this time. Thanks for the advice I guess I am stuck lol.

[twg]

[sadsac]

Give them there 30 days notice and leave.