Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rpat8453]

I just got an e-mail from my potential employer
I had some problems with the contract and reworded some of the contract
(ie 2 sick days and any additional would be deduced from my wages)
She just told me that these new stipulations were unacceptable by the manager and since they were a chain, this is the standard contract they use.
WTF? Is this normal? Was the reworking of my contract so off the wall?
Sorry just ranting

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Yes it's very normal. Tell them they can find someone else and move on.

[rhinocharge64]

keep looking, there are plenty of jobs to choose from who will meet your request.

[icicle]

Yes ... it is perfectly normal for Korea .... And the decision that you need to make in this situation ... is whether or not you feel like you can live with the contract as it stands OR if it is simply something you can't live with ... Do other aspects of the job or contract outweigh the things that you don't like? if not then just walk away and wait for the next job to come along ... There are many out there

Icicle

[tob55]

This time of year you are likely to have many more options at employment, so don't cave in to the first administrator who will most likely have other things up their sleeves once you accept the conditions of employment...the market is way too big to settle for something you know is going to cause trouble for you in the near future...

[sojourner1]

Yes, they will give you only what they intend to give you. You might re-negotiate a contract, but those changes probably will be forgotten or disregarded.

One example might be if you negotiate extra vacation time to be written into the contract, I would find it hard to believe they would honor that if the hagwon only takes 2 weeks a year at set times when the hagwon is closed.

Even though I have 3 sick days and one co-FT negotiated 5, neither of us will actually ever see a paid sick day, becuase we are expected to work sick unless in event it were really impossible for us to come in. (i.e. hospitalized due to car running you over)

[I-am-me]

Don't put much weight into contracts. It's obvious they dont mean much to korean employers. This forum is full of examples. It's pretty much luck with finding a good school. I wish I could rewrite my contract to just work 2 weeks a month. But that's not going to happen. Start work, and if they school just doesn't work out for you, leave and find another but do it profesionally. The world doesn't revolve around english teachers.

[Ilsanman]

They are playing hardball with you. If you put your foot down and say it's unacceptable, they might give in.

If the current contract conditions are that bad, it's not worth working there anyways.

[Bibbitybop]