Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Thermo]

Hi, I'm a qualified and experienced Aus/Kiwi teacher looking for my first Korean job. I was just offered this one with these conditions:

Working Hours PM 2:00 ~ PM 9:00
Salary 2.5-2.9(including housing allowance)
Overtime Pay KRW20,000 / Hour
Number of students in a class 10
Number of foreign teachers 6
Paid vacation 10 day(s)
Full Benefits Housing : No / Furniture : built in / Working distance : (They will help you finding a housing with built-in furniture and provide you a key money)
Round-trip Airfaire : Yes- reimburse limitted price 700,000won
Medical Insurance(50%) : No
Pension : No
Severance Pay : No

Despite the higher than normal salary (which includes housing allowance), the lack of medical insurance, pension and severance all look like red flags to me. Aren't such things mandatory?

Should I steer clear? Thanks for any advice.

[modernseoul]

The short answer is Yes, it's really not worth the hassle.

[Thermo]

Thanks. I just spoke with the recruiter, who was trying to push it. I also found out the tax rate was 3.3%, so I'd be considered a contractor. I'll keep looking.

[le-paul]

maybe someone can correct me if ive been misinformed but i thought it was illegal not to pay into the national pension scheme every month? thats why brits do it even though they dont usually get any return from doing this
???

[nicwr2002]

Yea, not paying into the pension is illegal. I received a letter in the mail about it the first time I came to Korea and didn't know the rules very well. Plus it looks like you have to pre-pay the flight yourself and the reimbursement is only 700k? You've got to be kidding. I've seen ticket prices well over that amount to get here.

[vaticanhotline]

Apart from the illegality of the no tax/insurance/pension thing, the fact that your housing allowance is included in the salary artificially inflates it. You'd be looking at 2.5 max gross salary (the allowance is usually 400,000), and probably closer to 2.1 than that.

If you're experienced and have qualifications then you should be able to do much better, both in terms of pay and legality. If your recruiter is pushing it, tell them to take a run at a wall.

[Thermo]

Right, I thought so. Thanks very much.