Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Pulgasori]

This morning I received an email from the recruiter I've been contacting containing a contract for a position in Daejon.

Yes, yes...I'm a novice, but a loosly-prepared novice. I've spent the last 8 months (finishing my degree) studying up on the acceptable yea's and nea's of the typical Hagwon contract.

Couple things struck me as off here:

b) Annual Leave
The Employee is to teach no more than 20days per month. There is no official annual leave.

Well, some quick math shows that equating 240 working days per year.
125 non-working days....subtract 104 sat/sun's....thats's 21 to go. With 13-15 national holidays, that leaves just 6-8 more days.

Vacation days aren't the be-all-end-all for me personally, yet I've never seen a contract without.

. The Employee agrees to furnish all curricula, textbooks, and other teaching materials for free-talking classes and should prepare tests as needed

^A little bemused by this snippet as well.





Well, that's my only real query for now. Might as well post the whole she-bang in case anyone has some free time to set me straighter.


[EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT FORM]


This contract is made on ________________ by and between Good Morning Foreign Language Institute, located in Daejeon, Korea (hereinafter called the "Employer") and ___________________________, residing in (hereinafter called the "Employee"). Both parties agree as follows:

GOOD MORNING FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE.
6F Sunwoo B/D, Doonsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon. South Korea.
Tel. No. : 82-42-488-6112
Fax No. : 82-42-488-6131



Article 1. Employment
The employer wishes to employ the employee for as an English teacher and the employee agrees to work for the said employer in Korea.

Conditions of Employment
The employee's job description is primarily the following:
A. ESL instructor in any and all phases of the employer's program to classes
That range from elementary school students to adult level
B. Curriculum design and implementation
C. Development of the employer's educational program and materials
D. Field activities for and with students
E. Grading and evaluation
G. Attendance at teacher's meetings and workshops
H. Other related activities



Article 2. Period of Employment
The period of this contract is one year, from until
beginning from the date of the employee's first working day at the institute in Korea.



Article 3. Salary and Working Hours
The employee will teach classes for 30 hours a week. (Monday to Friday). 1 hour is organized 50 minutes�� teaching with 10 minutes�� break.
The employer will pay a monthly salary of 2,000,000 won in Korean Currency. Payment will be made once a month. Payday is the 10th day of each month.
Korean Income Tax will be deducted from the employee's salary.
The tax rate is 3.3 %, in accordance with the Korean Tax Code. Income tax shall be deducted from the salary of the employee each month.



Article 4. Over-time Pay
If the employee teaches more than 120 hours per month, he/she will be paid 20,000 Won per hour.
(Once the employee teaches less than 120 hours, monthly payment will be prorated. In any case, the employee will be
guaranteed 100 hours)



Article 5. Benefits

a) Housing
The employer will arrange and pay for furnished accommodation for the period of the contract, and the employee will pay living expenses including electricity, water, gas, oil, phone bills, etc.
Meals are not provided.

b) Flight
The employer will reimburse the Employee one-way airfare from employee's origin to Korea within one week of the employee��s arrival at the institute. But if the employee leaves the institute before 6 months, the employee must pay back the one-way airfare to the employer. The employer will provide a return ticket to the employee from Korea to the employee's point of origin upon successful completion of the one-year contract.

c) Severance pay
The employee will be given one month��s salary for severance pay upon successful completion of the one-year contract. This amount will be paid at time of, and is dependent upon, completion of the full contract term.

d) Insurance
A medical and accident insurance plan from an insurance company or the Korean government will be offered to the employee. Employer further agrees to pay 50% of the monthly premium. Employee is responsible for the other 50%, and Employee��s portion of the monthly premium is collected through deduction from salary. Dental and pre-existing conditions are not included.



Article 6. Holidays / Annual / Sick leave / Tardiness notification procedures :

a) Holiday
There are 13~15 Korean holidays per year. Employee is not required to work on these days.

b) Annual Leave
The Employee is to teach no more than 20days per month. There is no official annual leave.

c) Unpaid Leave
Unpaid leave is permitted only under extreme and unusual circumstances. Extreme and unusual circumstances include, but are not limited to : death or serious illness of self or immediate family member. Upon presentation of proper notice and proof to the Employer, Employer, Employee may be granted up to seven days of unpaid leave.

d) Sick Leave
Employee is permitted to 3 days of paid sick leave per year. Unused sick leave may not be taken as annual leave. In order to be eligible for paid sick leave, when Employee is unable to attend class due to illness, he or she shall notify Employer, with proof of illness from a physician (doctor��s note), at least a day prior to the commencement of the class. If employee fails to notify employer of illness, the employer has the right to deduct one day��s pay for every day the employee is absent from work.

e) Tardiness
Employee has to be at school 30 minutes before the first class. If Employee is more than 10 minutes late without notification, one hour of pay may be deducted, depending on the circumstances. Acts of God and accidents are excluded.



Article 7.

[1] Basic Policies
The following policies have been established to assist instructors in the execution of their duties.

a) Professional dress and grooming in the work place are essential to maintaining the desired reputation of the Institute. The employer shall establish guidelines for professional dress.

b) All instructors must behave in a professional manner during class and when socializing with students outside of class. Instructors should be aware of the cultural background of Korean students and their expectations of teachers.

c) Instructors are required to attend all staff meetings as requested by the Director.
If an instructor must be absent, he must inform the Director or Assistant Director prior to the meeting.

d) Instructors are required to interview new students and evaluate their placement level.

e) If the employee is more than 10 minutes late or is absent without notification, a day or an hour of pay may be deducted.

f) The Employee will prepare teaching materials for each class beforehand and will be honest and diligent in teaching students in all classes. The Employee agrees to furnish all curricula, textbooks, and other teaching materials for free-talking classes and should prepare tests as needed.

g) The Employee will teach at any place (Public school, company or other institute) designated by the Employer. The Employer will be responsible for all transportation expenses.

h) If the learners or students complain about the methods of instruction, the Employer or other teachers will counsel to the Employee as needed.

i) All new teachers in Good Morning should arrive at least 3 or 4 days before beginning teaching and should observe senior teachers' classes for the minimum of 2 days before start teaching. For these days (training days), all new teachers will be paid 10,000 won per class.


[2] Special Policies
The employer will have the right to dismiss the employee for clear and frequent neglect of duties under this agreement, and:

a) If the employee makes sexual advances toward students or if questionable inter-personal relationships with individual students result in the loss of other students.

b) If the Employee teaches at any other Institute or privately without the permission of the Employer.

c) If the employee exhibits persistent blatant and gross misconduct, conducts classes under the influence of intoxicants, or is continually absent and/or tardy for classes.



Article 8. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
Any dispute arising in connection with this contract will decided by a Korean court of law according to Korean Regulations and Codes. The parties agree to comply with all applicable laws in their execution of the Agreement.


IN WITNESS HERE OF the parties have agreed upon the stipulations above as of the date this Contract.


------------------------ ------------------------
Employer's Signature Employee��s Signature

Park, Han-Seok
------------------------ ------------------------
Employer's Name Employee's Name


------------------------ ------------------------
Date Date


Danke.

[prosodic]

The vacation clause violates article 59 of the Labor Standards Act, which states that you are entitled to ten days of paid vacation time per year.

The part about preparing materials and tests for the "free-talking classes" is no big deal. I would rather do that than work with a lame textbook. Often it's as simple as bringing in a newspaper article and preparing a list of questions to stimulate discussion.

Still, I recommend that you don't sign this contract because of the vacation clause.

[TheUrbanMyth]

Article (g) bothers me. That could lead you to work illegally. Have it taken out. As for vacation, I wouldn't worry about it. On most months most employees work 21 or 22 days sometimes. Basically you get at least one free day in addition to weekends every month that has 31 days. Probably why there's no vacation. He figures that the free days you get add up to ten days or so.

[Son Deureo!]

[Pulgasori]

[gang ah jee]

[denverdeath]

Pulgasori,

You may want to check about Article 7.1.a, the one referring to "proper dress and grooming," as well. Your employer may expect you to wear monkey suits and name tags everyday the way Pagoda does. If you're into that kind of thing, fine. The contract seems, more or less, to be okay to me. Get Article 4 changed as well. That part is trying to ding you because they fail to get enough students. That's their responsibility, not yours. You should be entitled to a set monthly wage, not a prorated one. Article 7.1.g, about working other places set by the employer, may be a problem but it may not be one. Maybe they contract you out with a stamp on the back of your immigration card through immigration? At least Article 7.2.b says that you can work elsewhere with the employer's permission, which is unlike Pagoda's crock-of-s$#t contract that says it's "contrary to Korean law." Best of luck.

[darrin312]

Where is Grotto when you dont need him?

Gord?

[Gord]

[Zyzyfer]

I don't know about all of this contract mumbo-jumbo, but my school operates on a 20-day work month. Trust me, with long months and short months, you're working full-time.

[prosodic]

[zappadelta]

Where's Grotto? I know he's licking his chops on this one.

[Grotto]

Nope. As much as it pains me to say it...aarrrggghhhh

"gord is right this time"

Blech yech ich that left a foul taste in my mouth!

[funplanet]

This contract sucks...don't sign it, you can do better

[Gord]