Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dcrespin]

Hi friends!
I am sooo excited to move to South Korea- now for just one pesky problem- I have three contracts and I need some advice on which one to choose!

Avalon in Incheon
L Bridge in Ilsan
AND
LCI kids club in Gimhae

PLEASE PLEASE help

[icnelly]

Post the contracts for people to knit pick through.

Sorry, forgot to mention the contract sticky: I think the mods moved all your contract posts there, so don't repost them; just check the contract sticky for replies.

[wylies99]

[garykasparov]

Questions to ask foreign teachers at the school

( 1 ) Work hours:

( a ) When does your workday start?

( b ) When does your workday end?

( c ) How many hours of preparation do you work before the first class?

( d ) Does your employer force employees to work at other schools even if they don't have permission from Korean Immigration Officials? Yes - Red Flag

( e ) Does your employer provide you with time to take a break during working hours that you may use freely? How long are your breaks?

( f ) Does your employer count time spent teaching in class as a "work hour" or time spent teaching in class including preparation between classes as a "work hour?"

Note: If your employer does not count preparation time, you WILL NOT get paid for all the additional hours you spend at your place of employment throughout the workmonth.

( 2 ) Wages:

( a ) Are you always paid on time? No - Red Flag

( b ) Does your employer pressure you or force you to give access to your bank account as well as your cash card? Yes - Red Flag

( c ) Does your employer pay you in cash or deposit your monthly salary into your Korean bank account? Cash - Red Flag

( d ) Does your employer provide you with a pay receipt on payday stating the nature and amount of all deductions, taxes, and salary? No - Red Flag

( e ) Does your employer give you a holiday bonus that is actually the deductions made from your monthly salary for income tax, pension or medical insurance? Yes - Red Flag

( 3 ) Overtime wages:

( a ) Does your employer force employees to work overtime hours? Yes - Red Flag

( b ) Does your employer pay you overtime wages or avoid paying them with creative book keeping? Yes - Red Flag

( 4 ) Paid annual leave:

( a ) Does your employer make deductions from your monthly salary on or during days of paid annual leave? Yes - Red Flag

( b ) When do you use annual paid leave days?

( c ) How do you use annual paid leave days?

( 5 ) Korean National Holidays:

( a ) Does your employer make you work on Korean Nation Holidays?

( b ) Does your employer make deductions from your monthly salary during or on Korean National Holidays? Yes - Red Flag

( c ) Do you get credit for classes on national holidays or do you get the day off but still have to work your 120 hours before you get overtime?

( 6 ) National Health Insurance Plan:

( a ) Has your employer provided you with a health insurance card? No - Red Flag

( b ) Has your employer respected your medical privacy? No - Red Flag

( 7 ) National Pension Plan:

( a ) Does your employer pay into pension? No - Red Flag

( 8 ) What extra stuff do you really have to do mentioned or not in the contract?

( 9 ) Is the school having financial troubles? Yes - Red Flag

( 10 ) Paid sick days:

( a ) Has your employer let you take a paid sick day? No - Red Flag

( b ) How easy was it to take a paid sick day?

( c ) Did you have to make it up later?

( d ) Did your employer deduct from your monthly salary for the time you took off? Yes - Red Flag

( e ) Did another (native) teacher have to cover your class?

Note: You may have to teach twice as many students in your class if someone else is sick. If a teacher does a runner, you may have to teach a double schedule of 12 hours per day in addition to weekend classes. This has happened to many teachers in Korea.

( 11 ) Does your employer have a history of firing employees for the sole purpose of not providing severance pay, wages and a plane ticket home? Yes - Red Flag

( 12 ) Does your employer have a history of being verbally or physically abusive? Yes - Red Flag

( 13 ) Does your employer have a history of "pocketing " deductions for taxes, pension and medical insurance? Yes - Red Flag

( 14 ) Housing & accomodations:

( a ) Did your employer provide you with ALL the furnishings stated in your contract when you moved in? No - Red Flag

( b ) What were the overall conditions of your apartment including the furnishings when you moved in? Poor - Red Flag

( c ) Does your employer make deductions from your monthly salary for housing deposits provided you signed a labor contract without a housing deposit clause?Yes - Red Flag

( d ) Are the utilities in your name or your bosses name?

( e ) Were all the utilities paid from the prior teacher before you moved in? If they were not, did you pay for them? Yes - Red Flag

( f ) Does your employer walk into your apartment when you are in your apartment without your consent or do apartment searches when you are not in your apartment? Yes - Red Flag

( 15 ) Did you get your passport, degree and transcripts back after receiving a work visa from Korean Immigration Officials?
No - Red Flag

( 16 ) What are the English speaking abilities of the Korean Teachers and your employer like? Work elsewhere if you are going to be the only foreign teacher at the school AND the Korean Teachers including the employer cannnot speak English.

( 17 ) What are the main attractions?

( 18 ) Are there banks, train stations, bus terminals and subway stations near the school?

[ajuma]

garykasparov: Everyone thinking about coming to Korea should read this!!! Great post!!

[sconner]

Kids club has a very bad reputation and Incheon is not a great area, maybe you should keep looking, maybe a public school job would be good.

[garykasparov]

In my opinion scooner hit the nail on the head. Look for a public school job. You will not have the issues you would have with benefits that you would normally have at a hagwon.

[Cerriowen]

Kids Club = Bad news

broken promises. not paid on time. contract they offered me was not the one they wanted me to "resign" when I arrived.

[pavement burns]

I concur with ajuma, that was a great post of questions. However I wonder if I would have come to Korea in the first place after having rolled through with so many of those red flags under my collar.

[some waygug-in]