Korean Job Discussion Forums

[guinnessmonster]

Hi

I'm a Canadian planning on going over to teach ESL in Korea. My preference is Seoul. Just looking for some advice on a particular school. It is a Reading Town school which I believe is a franchise and it apparently is in Guri (which I am told is part of Seoul). This is supposed to be a new school opening at the beginning of February. I was hoping someone can shed some light on Reading Town in general, Guri, and working at a school just opening. I am a little hesitant as I have heard it may be better to go to a school that has been established for a while. If anyone has some information it would be much appreciated. If I get some more pertinent information I will add it to the thread.

Thanks.

Boomer

[riverboy]

There are two possible scenarios. The new school will be totally inexperienced and it will be very unprofessional. However, I know some guys who work at newly established schools and they only work twenty hours or less a week.
I'm not sure where Guri is though, and you may want to do more research as it may be some distance. I think the most important thing is to look at every word of the contract. Look at the hours and the shifts. Do not sign a contract that specifies volunteer work, you will regret it in the end and the company will make it seem as if you do veryu little at first, but may pour the work on as it goes. If the contract is not sraight forward and is at al vague, then do not sign it.
Remember, this is for a year and you do not want to be stuck in a place that not only treats you as if you are substandard human, but also a company that legally has you boound to do thier every whim. It is a very tricky situation and should not be taken lightly. It could mean the difference between a year of hell and a totally great experience.
Good Luck

[Ilsanman]

Guri is a suburb of Seoul. It is east of Seoul. There is no subway going into it, but there are many buses.

It's not the greatest place to live, nor is it the worst.

If the hagwon is new, your schedule may begin lax and get much tougher as they attract more students.

It may be a good idea. At least this school has a clean slate. It has a high chance of going bankrupt though.

[prairieboy]

As riverboy stated, go through every word in the contract. If it's a new school that is part of a chain, they may have a standard contract from headquarters but that doesn't necessarily make it a good contract.

Pay attention to:

a) Monthly salary

b) Hours of work, days of work. Make sure you time is specifically defined in terms of either total hours every month or total classes every month and the length of each class. For example before I qualify for overtime pay, I must work at 120 teaching hours in a month and a teaching hour is defined as a 50 minute period. This is actually class time that I'm paid for so I have only to work 100 real hours in a month then I get overtime pay.

c) I believe (and I will try to look this up) that overtime rate is supposed to be 120% of your regular hourly rate by law. Again, I'll look that up in case I'm giving you bad information.

Edit: Ooops, according to article 55 of the labor standards act the overtime rate is supposed to be 50% more than your ordinary wages. In otherwords 150% or time and a half. Here's the link:

http://www.molab.go.kr:8787/English/law/sub_Content1.jsp

Here's Article 55:

Article 55 (Extended Work, Night Work and Holiday Work)

An employer shall pay additional remuneration of more than fifty percentage points of normal remuneration for extended works (extended works as set forth in the provisions of Articles 52 and 58, and the proviso of Article 67) and night works(works provided from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), Sunday or public holiday works. [emphasis mine]

At least make sure that your overtime rate is higher than your regular rate or you will be working for a lower rate when you do reach overtime hours.

d) Pay attention to and understand your vacation/time off clauses. Sometimes Hogwons tend to include weekends as part of your vacation time. This is why you need to make sure how many days a week the hogwon is open. You are also entitled to all public holidays off.

For example, if your contract says you will work Monday to Friday; get all public holidays off and 10 additional days, then in my opinion these ten days would be days you normally work and not include public holidays or weekends.

e) Make sure you accomodation clause states that the accomodation must be acceptable to you. If it's a standard "reasonable" accomodation then ask for it to be changed. You may end up in something that the poorest people at home would not live in.

Also make sure that the contract states the apartment/accomodation will be, at least, semi-furnished as you aren't going to be able to furnish it yourself right away.

f) Regardless of whether there is a severance bonus included for the successful completion of a year long contract or not, it is required by law when you have worked for at least one year at one employer.

Make sure it's included in the contract and explain to them that it is required to be paid after one year of employment under the labour standards law. Some new hogwons do not realize this.

Here's the law from the labor standards act:

Article 34 (Severance Pay System)

(1) An employer shall establish a severance pay system whereby an average wage of more than 30 days shall be paid for each year of consecutive years employed as a severance pay to a retired worker; however, if the worker was employed for less than one year, this shall not apply.


g) There should be an airfare and visa cost clause in your contract. They should pay your airfare, at least one-way, but if they are paying for airfare to Korea and return at the end of one year, then you don't really need to ask for anything else, providing you get your visa before you leave your home country.

h) Check the contract for a utility/damage/maintenance deposit. They really shouldn't have it in the contract or ask you for it as there are varying opinions on it's legality (I still not have been able to find a law that says it's not legal to charge a deposit).

If it's a reasonable deposit, then don't fret it. By reasonable I mean upto 400,000 won deducted from your pay over at least 2 months or longer as you will find those months tight for cash especially if they take it all from your first pay. If it's over 600,000 won then this is unreasonable and I wouldn't sign personally. That middle range is a grey area.

My last hogwon took a 600,000 won deposit. I got back 283,000 won after my unpaid bills were taken care of and after they took money for medical insurance and 160,000 won for pension. They could have easily only taken 400,000 won.

i) Make sure that your termination clause is very clear in terms of required notice of termination for either party, valid reasons for termination of your contract by your employer without notice (these should be serious reasons like criminal activity and should be clearly set out so there is not room for interpertation or vagueness here).

Be aware that until 6 months have passed, the termination clause may not mean anything, but after that you have the ability to take any claim of wrongful dismissal or unpaid wages in lieu of notice to the labour board.



Some additional advice if you haven't signed a contract yet and do not have your E-2 issued or approved:

If it's a new school, and if you can afford it, come to Korea on your own ticket and look at the school first before signing. If you have a friend to stay with so much the better. You may be able get your airfare re-imbursed later as part of signing your contract. At the very least, the school should pay for a visa run to Japan, including putting you up in a hotel overnight if necessary.

You can always look for a new school if the one you came to look at just isn't as good as you thought.

If you haven't signed a contract and you haven't had an E-2 visa issued or approved yet then do not go straight to work for the hogwon as soon as you get off the plane. Especially if you paid your way here. Wait until after you get your E-2 stamped in your passport.

If the school and accomodation is acceptable then sign the contract after reading it carefully and comparing it to everything you have discussed or agreed to verbally. If it's not there then don't sign and don't work.



One last piece of advice, a contract does not mean nor have the weight it would at home. In Korea, the contract is a basic framework that is subjected to change, amendment, additional oral agreement and re-interpertation. Check out these threads:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=14216

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=13998

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=14005

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=13388


Also be sure to check out the ministry of labour website http://www.molab.go.kr:8787/English/law/sub_1.jsp

You can link to the Labour standards act from there.

And check out www.efl-law.com for some valuable advice and information.

I hope some of this is helpful...even if it's very, very long.

Cheers