Korean Job Discussion Forums

kscouse · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

The contracts are terrible - the money and hours are decent (12-5).

Anybody have some first hand knowledge or experience of a good ASP????

Cheers

citizen erased · Joined: 06 Apr 2008

what is wrong with the contracts? i am considering an ASP but I havent seen a contract yet.

Mr. BlackCat · Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Location: Insert witty remark HERE

I was considering a couple of different after-school positions a few months ago. The contracts are vague. Lots of 'ifs'. There is confusion on who is responsible for what (pay, housing, cirriculum, etc.). The major problem for me was the requirement for you to open a bank account and then hand over the book/card to your agent. That's stupid, and I think anyone doing that, especially in a foreign country, is just asking for trouble.

I think people are blinded by the seemingly easy hours. Anything that looks too good to be true probably is, especially in Korea. No one is doing you any favours.

Having said that I do know personally a few people who have held ASP jobs and nothing horrible happened. But with that bank account you could end up being screwed in any number of years by the tax office.

I went full time PS instead, and although I "work" more hours, I have less teaching hours, more days off, more vacation, I'm treated better, I get the same pay and didn't have to pay my own airfare. Plus I have no worries about being screwed over financially.

citizen erased · Joined: 06 Apr 2008

skconqueror · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

citizen erased · Joined: 06 Apr 2008

this isnt good, i was planning on taking one of these.

is it possible to just have no money in that bank account? as in, you get paid and then withdraw that money and put it somewhere else?

i really dont understand what the logic is, especially if this is a government job. why dont they ask the other public school teachers to do this.

also, why would the vacation time or working hours be different from the other public school jobs? it seems like they would be more connected than this.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Standard public elem job. 40,000 won a month to eat at the school cafeteria. This is deducted from one's BANK ACCOUNT each month. Every Korean teacher allows this. I said WHAT? No way, just pull it out of my pay. Apparently they tried to pull 40,000 out but the account is based in a branch in another town (last city I worked), different system. It amazes me that Korean teachers tolerate/allow the school to withdraw $ from their personal bank account. That the school tried to do this without asking me. Astounding.

aarontendo · Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Location: Daegu-ish

Eh I would say that's a school by school case. At least for the foreigner. At my school last year and my this year it's taken off from my monthly pay, and not my bank account. Having said that, I did watch my co-teacher call up my school and ask for my bank number when we were at KTF to set up my automatic withdrawl system.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject:

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

citizen erased · Joined: 06 Apr 2008

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

They need to do the double bank account thing because of laws regarding payment of funds to 3rd parties (contractors) by schools. They are supposed to pay you directly.

SO... the contractor sets up 2 bank accounts in your name.

THEY keep the passbook, ATM card and password from the 1st account (so YOU can't get into it).

They set up another bank account for you to use.

The school pays the 1st bank account (which is in your name so they must be paying YOU.

The contractor takes the money from the 1st accounts and pays you then keeps the rest for himself.

We won't get into the details of the creative book-keeping that you are likely to be faced with. It also leaves you on the hook for the outstanding taxes on the salary the school has paid to you (in your 1st account).

To give you some idea....
Taxes on 2.3 mil per month (assuming this is your real salary) = 44,290.
Taxes on 5.0 mil per month (what they may be paying your boss in your name) = 435,940.

When the tax man comes looking... who do you think they will be looking for (to the tune of some 5 million in unpaid taxes over the course of a year)?

You also (because of the tax dodge) will NOT be enrolled into the national medical or pension plans. If they are deduction anything for taxes you can rest assured that the tax man won't be getting it (again because of the tax dodge).

Sign on at your own risk.

.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

OP, it's a bad situation. If you have a genuine diploma, go for a better job.

hogwonguy1979 · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: the racoon den

dont forget what happened to the guy in haebongchon (Kapoun??) who was working at an after school program and the hell his family went through after finding out he didnt have medical insurance when that fire occurred

stay away from these programs like the plague

sineface · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: C'est magnifique

So I'm going to stick up for them. Here's why.

ASPs aren't legit. But neither are a hell of a lot of "legit" hagwons. Sure, the bank account thing sucks because the school may well pay the company but they might not pay you. But that's no different from any other situation in which your employer doesn't pay you. As far as all the extra money the company makes on me, good on them. I signed the conract for an amount I was happy with (2.2 back in September, now it's about 2.5), and it's ridiculous and greedy to start fretting about how much your boss makes off of the deal. He's the boss, that's the point.

I'm not signed up for health insurance because I have my own. I think that's just common sense when living in a foreign country, but that's irrelevant. I was asked when signing my contract if I wanted it, and I opted out. I'm British and therefore don't get my pension back when I'm done in Korea. Because of this I'm perfectly happy that I'm not enrolled in it. Regardless, I was given the option.

I work mon-fri, from 1pm- 5.25pm, and I think that's fantastic. I don't get any fewer days off than I have had in my two previous hagwons. I wouldn't expect the PS holidays because I didn't sign a contract with a PS. I've been paid on time, in full since I started here 6 months ago. The 2 previous teachers were also happy. The friend who got me the job and completed a year's work had no problems. The other FT has had no issues. My manager, like the middle man between the school and me, is friendly, helpful, and always accomodating if there's an emergency and you can't get to work/you're sick/you need time off for something. When I took this job I was transfering ( with a letter of release) from my previous job. They arranged everything, liased with my sometimes tempestuous ex boss and walked me smoothly through all the immigration hassles. My manager personally moved my furniture for me, in his car, on a 2 hour drive, on a weekend, to an apartment on the 5th floor with no elevator. The boss of the company personally travelled 2 hours north to help me find an apartment when there proved to be obstacles in the search.

My point: Yeah, they might screw you over, but you could be screwed over working 9 hour days for less pay at a legal institution. You also have a bigger stick to hold over their heads when they're illegal and they know, and a call to the labour board over unfair treatment would draw attention they don't want, and can't have. Make sure your company is stable, the contract sound, and you can find yourself in a really sweet job.