Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lost in Yongin]

I feel obliged to place this warning for anyone considering working for the LCI Kid�s Club Branch in Suji Gu Yong in City. I do not give this warning lightly. This was the 4th school I worked at in Korea and the only one that offered serious problems. I am only stating issues that my fianc� and I experienced personally and not other complaints from teacher working there or rumors about other teachers who felt it necessary to leave their contracts with this owner.
The original problems originated with the recruiters Jae Jung (Je Joung) and John Chang (ESL Info). They were very detailed during phone interviews and with their advertisement on ESL Caf�. During the interview process I was specific about hours, pay, holidays, and age of students and they where able to confirm what we required and we came to an agreement. After speaking with the schools Academic coordinator Ellie (Chung Eun Chi) and the contracts wording reflected our concerns and we signed. Here were the problems we encountered:

1. The contract states 126 hours a teaching term. We were told a teaching term is one month. One month is actually 19 or 20 days based on the schools needs. An actual work month compared with other hagwons would actually work out to 134 to 142 hours a month before over time. You are in the classroom for the whole �126� hours.
2. The contract states one week holiday in summer and one week in winter. We confirmed this was 10 days. In reality it was 9 and subject to change based on the school�s needs.
3. You are not paid for national holidays.
4. Age group concerns are ignored. A guaranteed 6 year old class became a 5 year old (3-4 year olds) class.
5. 24 hours notice to take a sick day is required. Sick days are not paid.
6. Mandatory over time where it is often difficult to be paid correctly.
7. Consistent in class observation as well as cameras and microphones in all the classrooms.
8. You are required to hand in your monthly bills (gas, electric ect.) to be taken off your pay. Bills are often not paid even though the amounts have been removed from your pay. You will be then double pay the next month along late charges.
9. You are required to pay bills left by other teachers.
10. The following are the required duties to be completed each month without pay: 40 1 page weekly evaluations, 40 monthly evaluation/report cards, proof reading and correcting of 120 journals, creating and preparing monthly and weekly tests, correcting/re-writing 30 monthly tests and 160 weekly tests, and proofreading Korean supervisors work as needed. As well you have to prepare your class for four festivals over the year.

When irregularities began to appear after starting the position I requested a meeting with the owner Melany (Chi Hyun Son) who informed me it was our fault in believing what the recruiters had said. They were not her employees and she was free to interpret our contract stipulations as she saw fit. We spoke with all levels of supervision to no avail before we felt we had no choice but to leave. Present teachers also get bonuses for recruitment so take this into account if your are contacted by email.

[bellum99]

Yup...never heard a good thing about a Kids Club school. Sorry you got screwed over, but they do it to almost everyone. I just love how they can interpret that contract to mean whatever the hell they want. I call it
K-illogic.

(Yes, I have worked for Kids Club before.)

[Funky Chunk]

Dude, sorry to hear that. I worked at a Kids Club a few years ago with no problems beyond the standard annoyances. Hopefully the next situation will be better for you if you choose to stick around.

[marlow]

I worked for an LCI Kid's Club before, and it had the standard annoyances, and they were very annoying indeed.

[xCustomx]

As frustrating as my public school can be at times, I will never go back to a hagwon for the reasons that you mentioned above. I had to do a lot of unpaid work such as making and grading monthly exams, quizzes, journals, speech and essay contests, etc.. I rarely have to take work home with me at a public schol, which is a huge benefit. I suggest going with a public school or find a new hagwon where you are able to make revisions in the contract that suit your needs. Good luck finding a new place~

[TheSwindler]

Some of my good friends worked at that school.

I always thought they were overworked compared to me BUT the funny thing is 5 out of 11 of their teachers signed on for a second year (this was last year).

After my friends told me about their workload, I was surprised that so many of them signed on again.

I could only assume that things weren't that bad?

[simpleminds]

Sorry you got such a raw deal. Few recruiters are honest.

I worked for a Kid's Club for two years; the first was good with only a few annoyances, the second turned into hell.