Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Natasha Compagnon]

Hello! I applied to a recruiter - Koreana Teachers Center - who had an ad up on the Job Board here. Soon thereafter, he got in touch, we sent a few emails back and forth, talked on the phone, and he's sent me info on Daejeon and a contract to look over. If I'm interested, I can have a phone interview tomorrow.

So! This is moving quickly and I have to do a lot of serious thought and research tomorrow, but I wanted to ask for opinions on this contract now. It looks decent to me, though there are a few things I think I'll ask him or the school about tomorrow.

Thanks for any commentary or advice!


EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
This employment contract has been made between Jungchul Language School, Shindoan,Daejeon, Employer (hereafter referred to as ��Employer��) and new employee (hereafter referred to as ��Employee��). Other articles that don��t exist on this contract will be followed by Labor Laws and employment regulations of Jungchul Language School..
<New Employee>
Name:
Date of Birth:
Passport No:
�� Present Address:

I. Period of Employment

The total agreement term is ___ 12____ months, commencing from the date of arrival in Korea and finishing on ____________________.
The term of this Agreement includes an orientation period, five (5) consecutive teaching sessions, and all scheduled vacations and holidays that fall between or during teaching sessions.
The Employee will discontinue residence in Korea under the visa status sponsored by the Employer upon the completion of this contract unless the both parties agree to renew the contract.
II. Conditions of Employment
Employee��s Duties:
During the term of this Agreement the Employee will perform the following duties:
1.1. EFL instruction in any phase of the Institute's program.
1.2. Curriculum design and implementation.
1.3. Development of educational programs and materials.
1.4. Extracurricular activities for/with students when needed.
1.5. Grading, evaluating and counseling of students.
1.6. Attendance at teachers' meetings and workshops.
1.7. Class preparation and lesson plans
1.8. Cooperation with the Vice-President in all aspects of employment.
1.9. Other related activities.
2. Working hours
2.1. Classes will be held from Monday to Friday during regular sessions.
2.2. The Employee will be required to work at the times the Employer shall direct.
(2:00 P.M ~ 9:00 P.M) But during intensive summer (July-August:4weeks) and winter (January-Febuary:5weeks) sessions, will be changed time table to 9:00AM – 7:00PM(The employee will be paid over time charge.)
2.3. Working hours may be modified from time to time at the sole discretion of the Employer depending upon a session and needs of the Institute.

3. Salary and Overtime

3.1. The Employee will be guaranteed (2,000,000) Won per month (before taxes) for teaching ( 120 ) hours per month. This is to be considered as the Employee��s contract hours.
3.2. Only the time worked in excess of contract hours will be considered as overtime. The Employee��s overtime pay will be (18,000)Won per (50) minutes. Attendance at scheduled staff meetings, workshops and class preparation (which is mandatory) will not be considered as overtime.
3.3. The salary will be paid on the first day of actual teaching every month.
3.4. Computation of the initial (first month of employment) salary will commence from the 1st day of actual teaching at the Institute and, therefore, will not include the orientation period necessary for familiarization with the Institute��s curriculum and the Employee��s duties.

4. Severance Pay

Upon successful completion of a full contract period (12 months), the Employee will be given severance pay which is equivalent to his/her monthly salary of (2,000,000)Won.

5. Benefits

5.1. Housing
The employer will provide the employee with a furnished apartment consisting of, but
Not limited to, base appliances.( TV, refrigerator, washing machine, bed, linen, kitchen
Utensils, telephone, internet, air conditioner,��) The employee will pay the cost of utilities.( water Gas, telephone bill, TV��). The employer will ensure that the apartment is clean. In return for a furnished apartment, the employee agrees to respect and care for the apartment , with the exception of normal repairs..

5.2. Vacation, Holidays and Emergency Leave
The Employee will have (a) public holidays detailed in a yearly calendar (in total approximately 14 days) (b) 10 days paid vacation( Summer 5days/Winter 5days) But paid vacations have to follow institute schedule, If the Employee wishes to take different dates from institute��s, he/she must get a permission from the Employer at least a two-month notice before taking a vacation; (c) up to 3 days of paid emergency leave in a year in the event of a death or serious illness of an immediate family member, such as grandparent, parent, spouse, children, brother or sister. The emergency leave will be granted and/or extended after a close consultation with the Vice-President. The Employee will bear the cost of transportation.

5.3. Health Insurance
The Employee will be provided with health insurance coverage from the designated public health insurance corporation with 50% of the premium paid by the Employer and 50% by the Employee.

5.4. Transportation
The Employer will purchase for the Employee a one-way economy class air ticket to Korea from a main international airport in the country/city where the Employee resides and from which he/she was hired. After completing a one-year contract the Employee will be provided with a return economy class air ticket.


III. Taxes and Other Deductions

The following taxes and deductions will be withheld from the Employee��s monthly salary:
A. Income tax required by the Korean Tax Law.(Currently 5%)
B. Health Insurance( 50% paid by the Employer, 50% by the Employee)

IV. Employee��s Conduct and Dress Code

1. During the term of this Agreement the Employee is expected to conduct himself/herself in a professional manner that would project a good image of the Institute. Therefore, the following forms of behavior will NOT be permitted:
Coming to the Institute and conducting class under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs and while smoking;
Making sexual advances towards or entering into relationships with the students or employees of the Institute;
Using bad language in class that would offend or discredit students, the staff and the Institute.
Not following scheduled class timetables, canceling, starting classes late without the prior approval of the academic director.

2. The Employee should present himself/herself to students as a professional. Casual attire, provided it is clean and neat, is acceptable. However, NO blue jeans, sneakers and T-shirts will be allowed (unless otherwise instructed).


V. Duty of Confidentiality

A. The Employee shall not disclose information relating to the contents of lectures, teaching material and business operation of the Institute to any third party.
B. The Employee shall not disclose information regarding his/her salary, overtime payment, and contract hours to any third party, including other Employees of the Institute.


VI. Outside Employment and Conflicts of Interest

A. According to Korean Immigration Law, foreign workers are allowed to work legally in Korea ONLY for the Employer/Institute for which they have received a work visa.
B. By signing this Agreement, the Employee agrees to devote his expertise, time and attention to discharge his duties to his legal Employer and not to engage in any other activity that would in any manner whatsoever compete with the Employer and pose any conflict between the interest of the Employer and the other party and/or interfere with the performance of the Employee��s duties.
C. If the Employee wishes to accept any other employment, such as private or part-time teaching, editing and so on, he/she must get the Vice-President��s approval before doing so. Failure to comply with this rule may result in immediate dismissal.


VII. Dismissal, Voluntary Resignation and Liquidating Damages

1. The Employer will have the right to dismiss the Employee if or when:
The Employee repeatedly fails to perform his/her duties stated under this Agreement including but not limited to frequent absences from the place of Employment/Institute without approval of the Vice-President.
The Employee fails to conduct himself/herself in a professional manner (as described in Employee��s Conduct and Dress Code section of this Agreement) resulting in damaging the image of the Institute.
The Employee places any student or a staff person in jeopardy or causes significant material damage to the Employer as a result of his/her negligence or reckless behavior.
The Employee commits any criminal act inside or outside the place of employment/Institute. This will result in immediate dismissal with neither warning nor time for remedy being given to the Employee.
The Employee has already received three (3) reprimands (warnings) from the Employer of dissatisfaction with the Employee��s performance, and the Employee has not rectified the situation.

2. The Employee may not earlier terminate this Agreement without a good reason. If required, 45 days prior notice must be given to the Employer before termination of the contract.


3. In any case of dismissal or voluntary resignation, the Employer will not provide a return ticket and will not give the severance pay. In addition, if the Employee voluntarily terminates this contract before the end of the contract, he/she will have to reimburse to the Employer the initial airfare and other expenses that the Employer has incurred in the process of hiring of the Employee, such as housing utilities deposit and other expenses (if applicable).


VIII. Understanding

Both parties have read the above terms and conditions and agree to fulfill them in good faith and will resolve any dispute in a reasonable manner.
All issues that cannot be solved by the two parties above will be solved in accordance with the appropriate laws of the Republic of Korea.
C. The contents of REI branch Teachers�� Manual are to be incorporated to be part of this employment contract.



The Employer and the Employee have executed this agreement and appended their signatures on the date below:


Employer Employee


Signature Signature

Date Date

[Grotto]

[Rather_Dashing]

Gj grotto. Indeed, that looks like a pretty fucking shitty deal.

[peppermint]

Actually guys- that seems like a reasonably fair contract. There are questions to ask about what duties exactly are required, but this clause here was the only thing that raised my eyebrows:

[Grotto]

Peppermint is right. There are much worse contracts out there. I just highlighted the ones that tick me off.

The biggest problem with Korean contracts is that they are almost always poorly written, totally in favor of the school and usually violate Korean labour laws on several levels.

Some of the items I highlighted werent neccesarily critiques just questions that I would be asking. Prep time? Meetings?

If you have one meeting a month for an hour thats not a problem. If you have 4 meetings a month for an hour or more each then thats a problem.

If they require you to come in to the school an hour or more before your class starts thats a problem(in my books) If you have to put in more than an hour of prep a day(including marking, photocopying, preparing etc... then thats a problem IMHO

This is starting to sound like a Jeff Foxworthy show.

If you have to wear a tie and a dress shirt then thatss a problem.
If you have to work Saturdays, then thats a problem.

[Rather_Dashing]

I don't mind wearing a shirt and tie to class

I have a billion of them

[peppermint]

Yeah, Grotto- you don't in the public school system?

The dress code here is tight enough that I get disapproving looks if a collar is unbuttoned ( or worse a co worker attempting to fix it!), an absence of nylons in summer, or my skirt is too short( you can see kneecaps).

I don't really mind the dresscode, though- it's just Koreans idea of professional.

[Grotto]

My dress code is pretty slack.

No sweats.

Thats basically it.

I can wear t-shirts, jeans, pretty much whatever I want. When I first started here I dressed pretty snazzy, after a couople of weeks though I noticed alot of the Korean teachers were wearing t-shirts and jeans and figured 'when in Rome'

[Natasha Compagnon]

Thanks, guys. I'm going to ask for some clarifications on the contract. The teachers I talked to sound alright, though they had to go before long to give a test. The foreign teacher said the director doesn't speak much English but is good about paying on time and listening to concerns.

The area also sounds okay, it's outside the city but not that far, and the foreign teacher says it's clean and pleasant.


Edit: I have some relatively professional clothes; button-up shirts, non-jeans pants, a long skirt or two ... I bought a couple of jackets recently, I have some sweaters and whatnot. I'm not used to dressing at all professionally, though! I've spent twenty years in casual dress for school, and my jobs were pretty casual too. Could some of you elaborate on dress codes or what you wear, please?

Oh, I remember reading about shoes, about how ones large enough for foreigns were (are?) rare. I have a few pairs to bring over, but I think I'll need better ones. Where would I go to get them? Costco and Walmart, or would I have to have them sent in or made?

[Natasha Compagnon]

I've spoken with the foreign teacher there, and things seem to have been worked out well. I've accepted the contract and may be coming over to Korea in late February. Depends on when I can get a flight.

Thanks for your help!

[Bunnymonster]

Welcome aboard the good ship Korea, god bless all who sail in her.........

[tzechuk]