I disagree with everyone saying to "NIGHT RUN". You guys who do night runs are the ones who are giving all NETs a bad name and destroying the English jobs for the good teachers out there who want to stay in Korea and keep working.
It doesn't matter if they are treating you bad. If you want to quit, then give them a heads up notice (2 weeks, 1 month, anything is better than a night run).
If they are treating you bad, you should tell them. By doing a night run and being completely unprofessional about it will continue the trend of koreans belief that English teachers are immature, unprofessional, and should continue to be treated as lower-rung workers who can be overworked and taken advantage of.
I'm sorry to hear you hate it at your job, but the truth is, you don't know for a fact they are treating you badly. Maybe that is what the expect of all their employees. That's why you should tell them so they understand that they are overstepping the contract guidelines. If they knowingly do it, then you can professionally and kindly notify them of your resignation and leave free of guilt.
Leaving in a night run (or just leaving without notice...storming out the door), leaves a very bad perpetuation of a negative image of NETs and the next dude who takes your spot is gonna be treated even worse because of previous NETs who set the bar.
I really hope you can make things work out or find a way to get out nicely. Just don't listen to the people on here who keep saying things like "night runs" and "it doesn't matter, they can't do anything to you".
It's affecting us all.
I disagree with almost everything here. First, the OP is not responsible for the 'image' of every NET in Korea. Neither am I and neither are you. It is not my fault if Koreans choose to lump us all together. Would you tell a Chinese person in the US to act a certain way to better the 'image' of Chinese in America? Would you tell a black person not to quit a job because it makes all black people look bad. I'm not saying the stereotyping doesn't exist, but it is not the responsibility of those being discriminated against to correct it. Further, the OP has a much higher responsibility to himself than to any of us. He shouldn't stay at a job he hates and/or lose wages just to defend the perception of some other foreigner on a message board. You want Koreans to have a higher opinion of you, then you earn it yourself. It's not up to us to earn it for you. Afterall, it's the hogwan that has started to act illegally, not the OP. So why not put the onus on the hogwan to create a better image of Korean business? Because I'll tell you, foreigners in Korea have a much better rep than Korean businesses around the world.
Second, "You don't know for a fact they are treating you badly." I would agree with this sometimes because there does seem to be a lot of entitled 22 year olds running around. However, the OP has already stated how he is being treated not only in conflict with his contract but also with common sense. Sure, maybe that's how the company expects all its employees to work, but maybe the company expects its employees to stay till 2am scrubbing the floors. That doesn't make it right. It also doesn't matter if no one else is speaking up. Again, the OP has a responsibility to himself, not the other employees.
Third, "It doesn't matter if they are treating you bad." Yes. Yes, it does. We are not poor destitute slaves beholded to the glorious corporate leader that has generously bestowed upon us employment. A contract is supposed to benefit both parties. We offer our labour for their capital because both of us only have one. If the employer witholds the capital why should we continue to give our labour? Should the boss still pay us when we leave? It's a really strange point of view.
Fourth, do you really believe the hogwan owner just plum forgot to pay the OT and will do so immediately once the OP points it out to him? "Really? I had no idea! Well, here's a stack of manwons! I'm so sorry! BRAINFART!" The OP already requested his vacation days and was refused.
In sum, I don't know if you've ever had to deal with a hogwan owner. I have had to fight for every last penny and holiday, and often still came out on the losing end. And they'll do it with a smile on their face the whole time. It's a for profit business and they know they have almost all the power over you. The only thing we've got is the ability to just leave. The justice system, the rental system, the job market, the visa process, the police, the banking, everything is stacked against us except us just picking up and leaving. If the OP believes that is his only option to alleviate the situation then that's his decision. Koreans leave their jobs here everyday and people in our home countries quit every minute of every day. Why should it be different for foreigners here, especially when we're being ripped off. In fact, I might even go as far to say that the OP has a duty to screw them over in an effort to put them out of business.
