This One Will Make You Want to Spit

In this new, "I'm scratching my eyes out" work environment that is all brag with no substance, a new and more serious issue has arisen than my normal rants about nice but racist coworkers and the lack of crayons in the classroom. Brace yourself, people: We now have a serious case of the blatant, disgusting and egregious violation of the rights of women. Specifically the right to have a baby, the right to have maternity leave, and the right to be a working mom.

Now before there is panic on the family front, let me start off by saying that this is not my story. I am not pregnant. But it is quite personal because it is my workplace and the woman is a good teacher, an honest person and well, 7 months pregnant. AND this is the employer who fired me 6 months ago for requesting part time work, and who has since re-hired me at the new school she owns (oh, it's all so complicated). So you can see where this is going right?

So my preggie coworker, let's call her Susie, informed our director last week that she is 7 months pregnant. Well, I know that most people would have already noticed pregnancy at 7 months, but Susie is a heavy girl and and there is no noticing a baby underneath her big hoodie sweatshirts and her ample body. The first reaction from the boss was a positive one: she didn't see any problem; there would be maternity leave, the timing wasn't actually so bad....

The second meeting re: Susie's pregnancy was slightly more scary: the supervisor thought the parents of our kindergartners would be angry because she had promised them the same teacher for the whole year. So her solution? Lie. Tell everyone that Susie needs EMERGENCY HEART SURGERY. And then miraculously, Susie will recover and return to work in August... Uh weird, right? It gets better.

Third meeting: Director and supervisor inform Susie that they had not been deducting the proper amount from her paycheck for pension and health insurance so starting in April, they would be taking out a lot more. Now I'm not sure what this is all about. But I'm sure that it means that at some point, they have been/are in some pretty major violations of basic Korean laws... And so quite unexpectedly, her paycheck is going to be smaller by some $200 every month.

And I bet you are wondering about the supervisor's personal opinion about the pregnancy? Well, she has been editorializing against working moms privately while grinning at us publicly. But let the record show that she told Susie how "worried" she is about Susie finding child care; about Susie's income; about whether or not Susie could be a good mommy and a good teacher (for freakin babies). Yes, the supervisor has expressed many concerns about the well-being of Susie and soon to be son.

The fourth meeting, Susie didn't attend. It was between the supervisor and Korean teaching staff. What made it's way back to us is that actually, Susie would be leaving at the end of April and would not be returning. EVER. And so the Korean teachers were informed about how to lie to the parents and when. And were given plenty of time to think about how to do it well.

Well, needless to say that Susie was more than stressed out when she heard that today. It was certainly news to her that she wouldn't be returning after April. It was definitely a shock to discover that actually, there is no maternity leave in our job...

So Susie, in her 7th month of pregnancy, is gearing up to fight the sexist powers that be in Korea. Because unfortunately, this is not an isolated problem. And unfortunately, there aren't tons of Korean women fighting the man on this issue. And unfortunately, the sad fact remains that just because you have laws, doesn't mean you have justice. And just because you have democracy, doesn't mean you have fairness. And just because everyone else in the world does it, doesn't mean we have to....

Oh Korea, some days, you really make me want to spit.