Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hagwonnewbie]

I spoke with someone who worked for them in Bundang, who said they were really good. Can anyone else vouch for them?

[lorenchristopher]

JLS is awesome!! PM me if you'd like more info, sorry for the late reply.

[hagwonnewbie]

People said good things about JLS, but I went to their website, and it stated that their tax is 6%. That's too high. I'm thinking hey that's another 100k they take illegally from your salary each month. After a year, you're out a thousand + bucks. I guess it's OK if they tell before hand you how they screw instead of surprise you later.

[Konglishman]

Overall, JLS is not a bad hagwon to work at, but you will want to make sure that you are working at an established branch and not a new one.

I worked there briefly before. If you have any questions, PM me.

My advice is find a public school to work at. You will be much happier.

[quilter]

I've worked for JLS for going on 3 years. All in all a solid school. Not sure what the above poster means about working at an established location. When I started working for them it was at a new location. This was great, as it took about 3 or 4 months for all the classes to get up and running, so in that time we had really light schedules. If you start at an established school then you will be busy from the get go.

[Konglishman]

[quilter]

Hey Konglishman,

If you were working for JLS in the past three years then it is probable that we attended a few of the meetings together. Not sure if we met though. Hope the new job is working out for you.

[JiH]

JLS,

As it's become a publicly traded company and is aggressively expanding, the quality has gone down. Talking to the old timers, it seems at one point, JLS provided some of the most generous contracts with favorable working hours amongst hogwons.

But as a recent employee, I find the benefits and pay to be slightly above average or average to the competition. The only positive point would be that even though you are contracted for 30 contact hours, it is normally between 20-23 hours a week.

As to the atmosphere and unity of the Korean/Native teachers, it varies from place to place. I've heard some places have meetings to get native/Korean teachers on the same page, gatherings, etc. Other places, you check in, you check out, and unless you don't show up, they don't acknowledge you exist.

As far as hogwons go. Not bad. But it is still a hogwon.

[Toon Army]

[Konglishman]

[Mirabilis85]

Im about to start at JLS (branch in Seoul) in December. Anyone else starting there soon? Anyone currently working there that wants to comment about the curriculum/atmosphere at their branch?

[jellobean]

So, if they take of 5.5%, make sure they turn it in to the tax office. If they don't, just take your pay stubs (make sure you get them) down to the tax office and the tax office will get the money. If it's too much, then you get the extra back from the tax office.

All this takes is making sure the employer intends to give you pay stubs detailing deductions. After that, it's easy.

[Mirabilis85]

bump

[afp120]

I've seen a lot of people complaining about the 5.5-6% tax deductions taken out of the paycheck at JLS. I am not sure I understand why this is so terrible.
First of all, isn't it true you get much of it back when you leave the country at the end of your contract?
And secondly, I'm wondering if this 6% is in addition to other taxes that are withheld. Because working in the US, a heck of a lot more than 6% was withheld from my paychecks from the state and federal governments, so I fail to see how this practice by JLS is so horrible. Can someone explain this to me?
Thanks.

[Mirabilis85]

This seems like an old thread in need of an update: JLS now taxes at the regular 3.3% rate (and has for at least the last 8 months). Great company, loved my time there.