Korean Job Discussion Forums

Ck10n3 · Joined: 20 May 2009 Location: Bundang

In my contract it states: "5. If the INSTRUCTOR is late for class by ten minutes or more, the INSTRUCTOR shall be penalized nine thousand Korean won(KRW 9,000).

6. If the INSTRUCTOR is absent from class with a valid excuse, fifteen thousand Korean won (KRW 15,000) shall be deducted from the INSTRUCTOR's next pay. If there is no valid excuse, thirty thousand Korean won(KRW 30,000) shall be deducted.

At the discretion of the Academic Director, greater deductions for consistent lateness or absenteeism may be imposed."

Is this legal under Korean employment law?

Also... does anyone know what the current income tax rate would be for a 2.2m paying position?

andrewchon · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:13 pm Post subject:

When students are late for class they get corporal punishment. Would you rather prefer that for yourself? It's the Korean culture of arriving before the boss does. Teacher coming late to school sets bad example to students and will be punished whether it is lawful or not. Know this: in Korea the Principal is oyabong, big cheese, top dog, god of thunder, etc. Do not cross his path or earn his displeasure by coming to school late.

Tax is around 3.0-3.5%

DJTwoTone · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject:

Drop that contract and never look back...

lifeinkorea · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: somewhere in China

fraukoch · Joined: 25 Jul 2009

You can be sure that the previous foreigners who have worked at that school set a stellar example that left no problems for subsequent teachers.

FistFace · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:53 pm Post subject:

Look at this contract from HIEnglish:

...

5. Payment
Agent will pay the Instructor the total of KRW per hour for the contract period. 3.3% of tax will be deducted before money transaction. The payment will be paid in the following fourteen business days after one month of teaching and the hour payment can be renegotiated and agreed by Instructor when Agent asks. The teaching hours will be recorded and calculated by Agent. In addition, 20% of the instructor�s first pay check will be held as a deposit. If for any reason the instructor leaves the company without notification, it will be put towards advertising in finding a new instructor But if the instructor does give us notification in advance and finds a replacement instructor it will be returned

6. Dress code
Suits are allowed in the classroom for Instructors. Casual clothing is strongly prohibited in a classroom.

7. Dismissal
Any time, Agent will have the right to dismiss Instructor for a clear and neglect of his/her duties under this agreement, including but not limited to, absences without approval of Agent or inability to perform his/her duties, dissatisfied teaching and others.

8. Class Instruction
1) Class Absences
Notify the program coordinator one-business-day in advance of any absences. If not, you need to provide one hour teaching to the students without payment.
TC (cancellation by teacher) will be granted just once a month. If TC is more than once a month, instructor must do a make-up lesson adjust student�s schedule. If Instructor is not able to, the agent will deduct 30% of 1hour payment.
TX (cancellation by teacher without notice) is not acceptable for any case. In this case, the agent will deduct 50% of 1hour payment.
SC (cancellation by student) is the event that the students cancel the class with prior notice before starting class, we do not provide tuition, However, we provide the half of the payment to instructor if the students cancel the class last-minute on the appointed day.
2) Late
The class will be cancelled (=absence) if Instructor is late for his/her class more than 15 min. If Instructor comes to the class late more than two times in a month, you need to provide one hour teaching to the students without payment
3) Neglect of instruction
Instructor shall respect and follow the instruction from Agent. Every instruction from Agent shall be performed under guideline of Agent. Any decision on the class including students, course materials, teaching method, and other must be announced by Agent. If Instructor communicate on this issue with students and client�s company of Agent without approval and confirmation from Agent, Agent will have right to deduct two-day payment for each time.
4) Resignation of Instructor
In the event that the Instructor has to resign prior to the termination of the term of this Agreement, one-month advance notification is required.
5) Communication with client corporations
Every communication between Instructor and the client company of Agent shall be controlled by Agent. Instructor must refuse any direct requests of teaching from company and students and shall notify it to Agent immediately. If Instructor violate this agreement, Agent will have right to deduct two day payment.

10. Sexual Harassment
The Instructor is committed to provide students with a learning environment, which is safe, comfortable, and productive. Sexual harassment in any form or any other relationship with student inside/or outside of class will not be tolerated. If this event affects Agent financially, Agent will have the right to dismiss Instructor and Instructor must reimburse for Agent�s financial lost (2X).

...

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

FF: That's quite the sweep of the labor laws that outfit's urinating on, isn't it?

FistFace · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:03 pm Post subject:

Yes.

HIEnglish advertises all over worknplay.

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

Carla · Joined: 21 Nov 2008

There is a lot of confusion about the tax rate, and I am no expert. This is what I have gathered from everyone else. So, true or not, this is just a summary of everyone else's experiences.

Most of the time, the tax is ~3.5%. This is the tax rate for independant contractors. This is how a lot of the schools apply it, nothing dishonest about it.

Now, normally, the tax rate would be about ~1.7% for an employee (which you see if you go to the tax website and input your figures). So, there are people who have went to the tax office with their employer and the contract to prove they are "employees" and not "independent contractors." Then, their taxes were changed and they received a refund for the difference, and their director learned something.

This is just what I have gathered from other people. This is not my personal experience, yet. I will of course be trying this later.

But for the record, the people who changed their taxes did say that the entire 3.5% was paid to the tax office. Their boss was not pocketing anything, everything was legit, just filed incorrectly.

Ck10n3 · Joined: 20 May 2009 Location: Bundang

Haha well I have yet to actually partake in the contract which is listed. I was told by UrbanMyth under the contract thread that this was quasi-illegal so I took steps to find out why.

Big Mac could you give me the link to that site? I tried to find it earlier for about an hour and could not find exactly that statement.

I'm no Picasso · Joined: 28 Oct 2008