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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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fiveeagles
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: Vancouver
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 Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Fresh Prince wrote: |
Just to clarify, most companies back home neither make the potential employee pay for the criminal background test nor do they make the employee responsible for managing the task of ordering it and sending it to the parties that want to look at it. Instead, in the job advertisement states that employment is on the condition that a criminal background check is passed. If the company wants to hire someone, they simply provide a form for the potential employee to sign. The form gives the company the authority to order and pay for the background check.
The issue that I think a lot of people would have with the background checks is that there is no regulation to protect foreigners from misuse of the information. A background check as part of the visa process or for a public school is one thing as it is part of a government body and has checks and balances to make sure the information is safeguarded however there are no protections for foreigners from predatory hokwons or recruiters that want to misuse this highly personal information. |
What kind of information can a criminal check provide? I use an online source and it gives a breakdown of criminal activity. Nothing else.
However, this is where I agree with the teacher that emailed me back. There has to be a way of protecting the individual rights, while protecting the kids. Especially since most molesters don't have criminal records. What is the best way of catching the ones without criminal records. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
I'm all in favor of doing criminal background checks for teaching jobs. I think half the people who object to them don't even know why they are objecting. It's like a knee-jerk reaction. They haven't thought it through.
It's like the people who whine about CCTV camera's. If you're not a criminal then these things don't threaten you. Indeed, they may even protect you one day if you're mugged or in a debated traffic accident.
In fact, being able to show a clean record should be something that people are proud to put in their resume.
As far as teaching in Korea goes, if I was in charge, mandatory criminal checks and some kind of certificate relating to TESL/TEFL would be required.
I'm getting tired of the Korean government allowing schools to fly bums into Korea for free, setting them up in apartments, giving them a job with children, not giving any job training.....etc..........then the Korean media finds these bums and gives all ESL teachers a bad name.
(BTW, I really believe that at least 90% of foreigners teaching English in Korea are well-meaning people trying to do their best. Qualified or not).
It has always been too easy to get a teaching job in Korea. Why can't even degree's be checked?
I'd like to see much tougher vetting of teachers and qualifications which show some kind of commitment to teaching English.
Maybe, just maybe, one day, ESL teachers will get some respect in Korea. |
Completely agree with all of this. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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| fiveeagles wrote: |
What kind of information can a criminal check provide? I use an online source and it gives a breakdown of criminal activity. Nothing else.
However, this is where I agree with the teacher that emailed me back. There has to be a way of protecting the individual rights, while protecting the kids. Especially since most molesters don't have criminal records. What is the best way of catching the ones without criminal records. |
Out of curiosity, fiveeagles, what items that would appear on a criminal background check would make aperson ineligible for hire? Drunk driving? Theft? Or only physical safety-related actions such as harassment, molestation, rape, or battery? Would only felonies nullify one's hiring potential, or misdemeanors as well? (Do misdemeanors show up on those?) |
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Bondgirl
Joined: 26 May 2007
Location: in my Aston Martin
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| My buddy applied for a job in Japan that required he produce a police report. He sweated it out for ages because he does have a bunch of drunk- driving offences listed on it. They accepted him, however, because as dopey as he is not a danger in the classroom, just outside it. If your heart is set on being a teacher and you aren't behaving like a responsible citizen and the school denies you a job, fair enough. And even if that fellow who wrote the letter didn't have a record, as he insinuates he doesn't, his language and hostility made him sound a bit unstable- Not the sort of person I'd want to teach me. |
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Fresh Prince
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: The glorious nation of Korea
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 5:34 am Post subject: |
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| fiveeagles wrote: |
What kind of information can a criminal check provide? I use an online source and it gives a breakdown of criminal activity. Nothing else.
However, this is where I agree with the teacher that emailed me back. There has to be a way of protecting the individual rights, while protecting the kids. Especially since most molesters don't have criminal records. What is the best way of catching the ones without criminal records. |
It really depends on what you have access to and whether the person gives permission to access that information, as well as the local laws of the person's country. In some places it's possible to access personal financial records, social insurance/security records, etc, as long as someone has signed a document providing a release of that information.
Another issue is who will the recruiter provide the information to. I know from experience that in Korea, medical records are not a private issue. It is not only possible for a hokwon director to obtain private medical information without the permission, it is easy to share that information with parents, co-teachers, or anyone they see fit. How will this lack of privacy affect the dissemination of foreign teachers' criminal records?
One factor that should be considered is that the recruiter/hokwon may not have the English skills to properly interprete the criminal backround check. Will they be able to properly interprete the complex legal jargon of the various English speaking countries? If not, how useful would the criminal check be? |
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