Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tremazing87]

I recently received a contract from a school and it had a clause I didn't really like.

[koreatimes]

You have a legitimate concern here, but I think Koreans are just more paranoid about people stealing their students. It seems like a really small issue and it would be very hard for the school to prove students left because you are at another school. They would all have to sign up at that other school and join only your class. Do you plan on this happening?

[tremazing87]

I think this place is more concerned with teachers stealing their curriculum rather than their students. This clause was in the confidentiality section of the contract. My main concern is to what the school can actually do if I do take a job with a competitor after i finish my contract. I'm really not in the mood to get sued any time soon.

[different]

I don't know if they could enforce that. Anyone know?

If they could enforce it, it's an offensive clause. The fact that the company contract has such a clause should make you very uncomfortable about working there.

Is this CDI/CDL by any chance?

[tremazing87]

It's not CDI/CDL. I don't really feel comfortable saying what it is but I'll say it's not a Hagwon and it's not a PS so you can take a wild guess.

[littlelisa]

Hm.. is it an immersion elementary school?

I was working for one and moved to another and they tried to stop us/tell us we couldn't, but finally they couldn't, and I switched to another. I wonder if they tried to put in a noncompete clause. I hear last year they also had almost all their staff move to another immersion school. I wouldn't normally give them credit for thinking up an idea like this, but if any place I know would fit this... they'd certainly have reason enough to want to put it in, I guess. They also wouldn't be likely to be recruiting quite so early either, though.

I would be loath to sign it unless it was an opportunity you wouldn't normally get, teachers who teach there and who have taught there and left say they won't screw you around with it, and also have them be more specific about what is a competing school.

[Yucca Girl]

If it's not a hagwon or public school, then it could be a university or an international school. If it's an international school, I would be extremely wary of this clause. I can think of a small, international school that might want to include a clause like that in their contracts due to their issues with high staff turnover. The turnover is partly because people quit and partly because they have a tendency to fire people abruptly without cause. I can definitely see them wanting to prevent people from staying in the country in either of those cases.

Maybe you can have that clause removed from the contract? It seems extreme. If they are reluctant to remove it or clarify it, then I definitely think that is a red flag that would make me think twice about working with them.

[Rocktek]

This is boilerplate stuff for private adults classes (or after-school progs) through agencies or otherwise...... They are obviously trying to prevent you from taking the contract from them directly. Obviously.

I don't know how enforceable it is, but I guess it depends on the parties involved, and how much money is at stake.

I've never signed one of these contracts, and hopefully never will, but I know it has becomes a necessary evil for some.

[tremazing87]

I noticed something else. On the signature page it says,

[smeggysmeg]

I would run away from that contract and not look back.

If the specific line in the contract specifies that it applies post-employment, then the end of employment would not negate the clause.

[nathanrutledge]