Korean Job Discussion Forums

[braindrops]

So I was reading some of the more unsavory contracts on the board, and something came up: is it legal for hagwons to refuse to give vacation days? One of my friends mentioned that she had no days off last year. I didn't even know that that was possible. I have heard that some hagwons give as few as five days off, but zero?

[duke of new york]

[ttompatz]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Just curious-- from a legal standpoint, do those vacation days take national holidays into account?

[EarlGray]

[ttompatz]

[r122925]

[Julius]

[s.tickbeat]

It's not just a problem for foreigners - labor laws and standards are a serious social issue here. One of the biggest problems is that there's no protection for workers who come forward about labor standard abuses (such as withholding vacation time). If a worker complains to the labor board, the employer is perfectly within his or her rights to terminate that person's employment. It's a big problem for those who have difficulty finding work (namely young people, here, or people here as guest workers).

If your director decides to terminate your contract and lock you out of the apartment for going to the labor board, you really don't have any recourse that I know of. Perhaps wrongful dismissal? With the new D10 visa things might start to change. We'll see.

[northway]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Ah, I'm not considering the 2 weeks of home leave that I get at my hagwon if I renew. That brings me up to 20 days. If I don't renew, I work only that one year. Until that year is up, I haven't worked a continuous year, so my 10 days is about right. How would one take vacation after a contract is up, anyway?

Either way, it's not worth arguing for a few extra days because I like my job way more than the public school job I worked before this one for 2 years, and I got 16 days of holiday there. My boss is great, I get the national health and pension that so many hagwon workers don't get, I get plenty of time to do my paperwork and run the occasional errand during off time, have a better schedule than I did at ps, and my boss is flexible with when I take my 10 days of holiday. She's even letting me take my 2 weeks of renewal leave in the summer, because she knows that I take graduate school classes, and can't take my home leave until after the semester ends, even though my contract is up during the semester. I'm treated really well.

She takes, on average, 6-7 days off per year. Now that's dedication.

[ontheway]

There are many Korean workers who work 7 days per week with only 2 weekend days off per month. This comes to 24 days per year which is deemed to meet the labor law requirement.

So, if you have every weekend off, plus red days, plus 2 weeks, you are far beyond the required minimum.

[ttompatz]

[Captain Corea]

[joelove]

Wonder if most employers even know the law seeing many do not abide by it, or just choose to say the hell with it; or employees, as not many would demand their fair amount of days off..