Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PaperTiger]

I missed a day of work a week or two ago because I had a fever and got the usual rigamarole for missing but I stayed home and rested anyway, holding foolishly onto this belief that it was not only a legally protected prerogative but also something that is not so much as hinted at in my contract. Sounds like dumb question for a person who's been here for almost 5 years but this is first time someone's served up this particular variety of fertilizer.

Today when I finally got my salary I found that nearly 150,000 won had been deducted from my pay as a penalty for taking a sick day. Assuming I was somehow in the wrong, perhaps overlooking some clause in my contract that covers this issue, I spoke to my boss and our middle-management person and they assured me that this was standard procedure and part of a well-established policy...presumably one that everyone had been apprised of. Well, it's not in my bloody contract and no one informed me of this policy until after they'd absconded with my money.

I'd love to check with the Korean Labor Department but short of going there in person I can't find a way to get up to date and ACCURATE information on what the Korean government does to protect the rights of workers, if anything at all...and if that extends to foreigners.

I know it's not a lot of money, but with things the way they are I can't really afford to have money taken from me, especially not under these spurious circumstances. If I could just go to work with something to substantiate my claims that this penalty clause is not simply something that was previously undisclosed but also illegal, I'd be on firmer footing should I be foolish enough to try discussing this again.

[yingwenlaoshi]

I'm pretty sure you're allowed a certain number of sick days according to Korean law. They sound like a bunch of fkn saddists. And I'd be telling them so. If they can't find someone to fill your place when you're sick, it's their fkg fault. Period.

[thegadfly]

Um...not flaming, but if sick days were NOT specified in your contract, why would you think you have them? I mean, maybe there IS a law, and it will be news to me, and I will be happy to get the info, but if a contract does not specify that I get something, I usually assume I don't get it...so if I want sick days, I make sure my contract states that I have them....

[wings]

I remember reading somewhere that you can have a days pay deducted (if not otherwise stated in your contract, but they can't take off any extra as a penalty than your pay for that day, so do the math and find out if that 150 is what you would have earned on that day.

[PaperTiger]

Well, Gadfly...it's like this, when something is not legally enforceable, such as a policy of no sick-days, it seems reasonable to expect to have sick days with no illegal penalties, which is precisely what happened to me. Had this been in the contract or discussed at the time I was hired it might be a different story, but since I was blindsided it seems a little hard to justify let alone sit back and silently endure.

I didn't have any expectations in regard to sick days because the contract created none. In the absence of expectations...spoken or written, it is difficult to judge what would be but it's safe to say that most people might not jump to the conclusion that illegal penalties would be most likely outcome of taking a sick day, especially if this particularly strict policy was not made known until the payday it became relevant. Are you being deliberately obtuse or do you have some vested interest in defending the actions of unscrupulous hagwon owners?

[ttompatz]

[thegadfly]

OK, Paper, there was a big leap -- how did we get from 150,000 won deduction to illegal penalties? At my school, the hourly rate for classes is 25,000, the salary is calculated at 6 class hours per work day, so a missed day is 150,000 won deducted...so it made sense to me. Earn 150,000 won a day, lose 150,000 won when skipping a day. How is that an "illegal penalty?"

Now, if your daily rate of pay is less than 150,000 won, then certainly it would be a penalty, and probably illegal, but not paying you for a day you did not work? That seems more like common sense.

I have no vested interest in this case, but how is your owner being unscrupulous? I mean, unless MORE than a day's pay has been deducted, why wouldn't it be fair? Sick days are a perk at some jobs, not an entitlement written into the law. You work, you get paid, you don't work, you don't get paid. Your contract mentions paid Korean holidays, right? Prolly has to mention them by law. Prolly get paid for them too, since they are mentioned.

My contract does not mention anything about a company car, a personal masseuse, or free health club benefits...so is it an illegal penalty that my school has NOT given me a company car, has NOT hired someone to rub my sore sore shoulders, and that when I joined the gym, I actually had to pony up the cash myself?

Like I said, if 150k is more than your daily salary, then yeah, jump all over your boss, but if it is your day's pay, then...well...ya didn't work it, and your contract tells you the days you get paid for not working, doesn't it?

[yingwenlaoshi]

Take your salary and divide by the number of days in the month. That's how much they should deduct. That's how they calculate a partial month's pay. You're on salary, I'm assuming. Not hourly.

[buster brown]

We are all contracted here on an hourly basis. If you don't fulfill the minimum number of hours, for whatever reason, then you'll face a deduction. If you worked the minimum number of hours last month but still got penalized...then you have a legitimate gripe. Otherwise, try to look at your job the way the contract spells it out: X number of hours per month for Y amount of Won. The number of days you work never figures into it. I came to this realization when my unigwon kept requiring me to make up classes missed on national holidays. Despite my righteous indignation, I was the one who was wrong and I suspect you are too. Sorry about that, but thems the breaks.

[yingwenlaoshi]

[ontheway]

Long ago, at my very first job in Korea, I asked about sick days. The answer typifies the Korean thinking. The boss said, "Don't get sick."

That would be the best policy for all teachers to observe here. Don't get sick, watch your health, and if you can walk, stand and sit through your classes, even if you can't talk, you should show up for work.

Save your battle over sick days for when you're really sick.

[caniff]

I generally teach at companies, but I have a gig at an adult hagwon during lunchtimes.

Yesterday they asked for my bank info, a copy of my ARC, and presented me with a contract which part-time employees need to sign. I said I would get everything back to them today.

I gave the other stuff, but during an hour this morning with nothing scheduled, I had some sollangtang and edited the contract with a red pen. Although the English wasn't too bad by Korean standards, it would have been considered extremely piss-poor back in the States.

So, it had revisions galore (red ink all over it) when I gave it back to them. Unsigned. The manager hugged me (I have only been teaching there for 2 weeks) and said "Thank you so much for fixing this!"

I wonder when they will figure out I didn't sign it.

Anyway, it also had a stipulation that absenteeim for one day would result in two days' pay being withheld. I circled that clause, and noted further clarification as to exactly what this meant would be required before I could properly edit that portion.

I knew what it meant, but I just want to hear them actually say it. I personally don't really care, as I almost never get sick and don't plan to keep the class more than a few months.

But that shit is wack. Is this common in EFL contracts?

[PaperTiger]

Marvelous. So guess this practice is legal and since my contract makes no mention of sick days I should have automatically assumed that this is the logical outcome of being sick.

So because this is the law my employer is under no obligation to disclose their policy regarding sick days either in the contract or verbally?

[ttompatz]

[MrsSeoul]