Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jennad]

I've been here for ten months and had to do the whole health check/drug thing my first week or two.

Randomly last week, my boss tells us all that we have to go AGAIN the very next morning. Whatever, no big deal. I have nothing to really be worried about. I was more concerned that they were making me pay the 70,000 fee for the second time in ten months.

When I asked why we had to go again, they gave me some vague answer about the government making a new law requiring all foreign teachers to have it done again. I think it has something to do with the drug ring bust-up at the Avalon school in Seoul.

But if it was a new law, then all foreigners should have done it. Is that the case? Did you have to?

[tgrear2008]

I did. It was a new health check to comply with the new MOE regulations. I made my boss pay the bill.

[mzeno]

They should just turn it into a national holiday and call it..."Urinalysis Day"!!

Otherwise,...In your most polite and respectful voice, Ask them to show you the part of the contract where it states specifically that you have to submit(and pay for) random health/drug tests.

[transmogrifier]

Perhaps they should just say *beep* it and make it compulsory for all foreigners to wear ankle bracelets showing where they are at all times and make them install 24 hour a day CCTV cameras in their homes, just in case.

[rowdie3]

I did it this week. Super annoying. Blood/pee/general dismay. lol

Company paid for it for all employees.

[Skippy]

Once again yet the same question crops up.

This is likely for MOE. The Ministry of Education wants copies/or originals depending of what kind of visa you are on. So this is normal.

Still I wonder if MOE would not be satisfied with a copy of the original done 10 months ago. But if you need to get a fresh one done, then do it.

Ask your school to pay for it. That would be the polite thing to do. Also, they are to give the time off needed to get it done. Plus no complaining or hoop jumping either. You will not do it Saturday morning if you can get it done Friday morning. Sorry of you miss some Kindergarten classes, them the breaks. No fines or make up classes either. You will do your best to get it completed quickly and efficiently.

Also people to make it a smooth a possible, remember not to eat 12 hours or more before the test. You may want have a record of what drugs you are on to provide if needed (false positives). If need do a short detox before going in. Do this yourself if you can. It is nice to have a coworker help but be responsible for yourself is better. Maybe a simple letter explaining what needs to be done is useful.

Last little rant. To any worried about privacy or indignation of freedoms and rights. Tough shit, you made the choice when you signed the contract and decided to BE A VISITOR to Korea. I can understand complaining about illogic but somebody wanting to hide some illegal drug use. No!

Edited: because I keep making so many annoying spelling mistakes. Damn legal but so good caffeine pills.

[transmogrifier]

Well, I don't have to do any drug testing of any kind, so I'll keep complaining about it as much as I want.

It may come as a shock to you, but just because you are in a certain place at a certain time doing a certain thing, it doesn't mean that you can't point out general inadequacies of the system within which you operate. Otherwise, what's the point of having a brain if we are going to follow Skippy's advice and go "Baa" whenever anyone asks us to do something stupid.

I agree that you should do it if you want to keep any job that requires it (otherwise, why take the job in the first place), but that doesn't mean you can't point out how dumb and pointless it is.

In other words, I find people who come on messageboards getting all indignant about people having opinions about things to be humorless scolds with some sort of chip on their shoulder about something.

[ssuprnova]

Yup, had to get it done a little while ago. At first my boss wouldn't pony up, but I persuaded him to cover it.

As for Skippy: no, we are not guests. We've been asked to perform a certain job in exchange for monetary compensation. Also, it's not a free ride: we're paying taxes here, so we should at least have similar rights. Last I checked none of my Korean co-teachers had to subject themselves to a drug/STD/HIV test.

[Who's Your Daddy?]

I'd say no, but then I'm a "bad foreigner." Actually a permanent resident "bad foreigner" who doesn't agree with race-base testing (i.e. the Korean staff aren't required to be tested for HIV or drugs).

[12ax7]

[TheUrbanMyth]

None as yet (2 months to go).

[brickabrack]

Sounds like a hagwon thing.
Are some of you PS?

Either way, it probably has to do with the recent bust
in Seoul. Silly, paranoid MOE folks.
If I get asked to do it, all 40 of the staff are doing it too.