Read 1198 times

  • Zair20
  • Newgookin

    • 3

    • December 02, 2021, 06:20:43 pm
To wait or not to wait? 3 months left of hell...
« on: December 02, 2021, 06:46:09 pm »
Hello,

I have a question/ looking for advice.

 I have been really patient and working with this academy for 9 months now.  However, I've had so many issues with the scheduling, constant changes, and how they discipline problematic children (aka they just expect you to give them no negative consequences for their actions).

I had finally gotten numb to everything there and finally found joy in my classes. I had a group of 1st graders I loved as if they were my own. And they did very well with me... but suddenly my classes were changed and they knowingly gave me classes with PROBLEMATIC  kids because I'm 'a good teacher' and 'firm but nice.'

Since I was already unhappy with my current school,  I interviewed with a nicer school and was offered a job that starts in March 2022. My current contract ends February 28th 2022.

With even more unnecessary changes (the other teachers are upset with our classes being switched too), I really just want to quit now and wait 3 months for my new job. They have given me so many issues, and this new change was my last straw.

I'm scared about what happens if I break this contract. Will I lose the new job I have lined up too? Won't my visa get canceled instead of transfered? How can I  stay in Korea and keep this new job?

I know the other option is just to wait out these last 3 months, but it's so hard to get through the days now. It's really taking a toll on me.

Any quitting, transferring, or immigration advice would be welcomed.


Re: To wait or not to wait? 3 months left of hell...
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2021, 09:09:10 am »
If you are teaching on an E-2 Visa, then unfortunately you are tied down to your employer until the end of the contract.
Even if you have signed your next contract with the new school, if you quit working for your current school now, then your E-2 visa will be cancelled by your current employer, and you must leave the country within 14 days.
There is a way around this. In order for you to "quit" your current job and stay in Korea by switching over to a temporary D-10 visa until your next school secures another E-2 visa, you would need to get a paper called "a letter of release," from your current school. Here is where the problem comes in, the employer is not obligated to provide you with this letter of release, and in 99.9% of cases will refuse to do so as it is not beneficial for them to lose an employee. If you try to bring this up with them, it might backfire on you and they could try to terminate you early, or make your last 3 months a living hell.

Since you have already found a nicer school to work for, I would honestly say, do you best to get through the next 3 months, collect all of your paychecks and contract completion bonuses, and transfer quietly.

Lastly, I hope you were able to talk to some of the teachers currently working at the new school that you'll be going to next March. While an interview can go well and the school owners can seem "nice" on camera, with Hakwons you never really know what you're getting yourself into until you really start working there.  Since E-2 visa holders here are practically "slaves" to their Hakwons, as the school owns your visa for the duration of your contract, and Hakwons are private businesses out to make as much profit as possible, with the owners investing their life savings and hoping this "Hakwon" will keep them alive till the end of their days......please, please do thorough research before you commit to a life of misery for a year.

I don't want to be the Debbie downer here, but I want to give you something to keep in mind as it seems that you are new to working in Korea. The whole Hakwon industry is built on "Competition" and "ignorance" for a lack of a better word. In this competitive country, where natural resources are scarce, and the biggest resource being "humans" where everyone's life goal is to beat their neighbor, parents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on educating their children in many subjects and especially "English," the language they themselves don't know much but hope their children can master for an opportunity to travel, study, work, or even immigrate to either the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, or get into one of the top universities in Seoul and grab a high paying job at Samsung, Lg, ect... On the other side of the spectrum, in order for these Hakwons to remain sustainable, the owners rely on "naive" young Native English Teachers, who come here completely "ignorant" or unaware of  the low salaries, their legal rights, the Korean language, the fact that they don't even own their own E-2 visa (like in Japan), but their visas are owned by their employers, to keep this system a float.

Before you sign your contract with the new school (if you haven't already), I would suggest asking if the Hakwon only hires E-2 visa teachers (slaves), or if they also hire Native English  teachers on  F  visas. For example,  (F-4 ) Overseas Koreans Visa, F-6 (Marriage immigrant visa), or (F-5) Permanent resident Visa. This is important because the F Visa holders own their own visas and they can quit their jobs or change jobs whenever they want without needing "a letter of release" and the Hakwon owners know this. So the bad ones who want to abuse their staff will try to say hiring 'F-visa holders is illegal" when in reality they won't do it because of the consequences.

I really wish you all the best at your new school! Right now, it is still possible to save quite a bit of money working in ESL in Korea if you're young single, and frugal. Save up as much as possible, and move on to bigger and better things in life!
« Last Edit: December 03, 2021, 09:35:31 am by HiddenInKorea »


  • hangook77
  • Waygook Lord

    • 6487

    • September 14, 2017, 09:10:12 am
    • Near Busan
Re: To wait or not to wait? 3 months left of hell...
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2021, 10:24:14 am »
As I said on another post, you generally need a letter of release to get a D 10 or to wait until your contract is finished to get one.  (Only in rare cases are exceptions made.)  So, wait it out for 3 months.  I had heard if you were fired unfairly (IE 11 month firings) you may have a case for the labor board and getting immigration to make an exception for issuing a D10 or something like that.  Stick it out for two months, they will fly by.  Then  the last month if they are really ignorant, you can start telling them off.  Firings in the eleventh month are usually suspicious, especially if you have no written warnings previously.  You'll be through in no time.  Quitting this close to the finish line means you would most likely have to go home and get all new documents which your new employer may or may not like. 


Re: To wait or not to wait? 3 months left of hell...
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2021, 01:16:14 pm »
Tough it out. It’s easier for you in terms of immi and staying in country.
Blocked users; your mom


Re: To wait or not to wait? 3 months left of hell...
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2021, 02:25:02 pm »
Takes a lot to get fired here and you got 3 months before greener pastures.

Go full Office Space.