Korean Job Discussion Forums

[igotthisguitar]

>. As is the case with myself, i noticed a few teachers out there are in the process of either renewing or working on signing a new contract elsewhere. Well, here's a revised contract agreement i've been busy working on tonight

While i realize there can never be "one size fits all" to too much of anything, it's in reaction to ( among other things ) an all too common policy of "keeping these so easily submissive waygooks helpless & at our mercy", that i've approached this largely with the intent of better empowering foreign ( i.e. native speaking ) english instructors.

Please feel free to post your thoughts or suggestions and remember to CAST YOUR VOTE
Hey, that's what these "direct democracy" message boards are all about.

In closing, i'm hoping of course this process will over time contribute positive results; possibly even going so far as to not only better serving our collective interests, but also strengthening both our rights within Korean society & value of our positions as skilled foreign workers. We ARE don't forget, every day adding long term value to the overall future Korean economy.

Framed in a fair and even-handed fashion, i believe it's high time more of us began presenting our own clear & reasonable terms of employment


Employment Contract
POSITION: English Language Instructor

EMPLOYER EMPLOYEE
School�s Name: _________________________ Employee�s Name: ����
Address: Address:
______________________________

(Hereafter to be referred to as the Employer) (Hereafter to be referred to as the Employee)

The parties agree as follows:
TERMS OF CONTRACT
i ) This contract will be valid for a period of 12 months beginning / / 2003 and ending / / 2004.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
i ) The Employee will act in an appropriately professional manner and be responsible for conducting
professional English Language classes.
ii ) The Employee will be required to work his or her regularly scheduled hours from Monday to Friday
( no Saturdays or Sundays except at the Employee�s discretion), with a full 25 working hours per week and
100 thereby per month. ( Here teaching hours means actual hours the Employee is
expected & required to be in attendance at the school ).
iii ) While in attendance at the school, the marking of report cards & tests, lessoning planning, staff meetings
and the like shall be included as part of Employee's overall teaching hours.
iv ) The Employer is for their part required to provide the Employee with a brief orientation and training program
before starting Employment.
v ) The Employer will promptly deal with any and all problem students in a direct, professional and effective manner.
In the event students continue to misbehave & disrupt the presentation of the school's English language classes,
the Employee reserves the right to withhold his or her services until such time whereby more completely effective disciplinary
action is taken.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE EMPLOYER
1. PAYMENT
1.1 The Employer will pay a monthly salary of W2,300,000 ( less deductions ) for regularly scheduled hours worked.
( Payment of salary commences the first day of teaching )
1.2 Overtime ( i.e. anything in excess of five working hours per day ) The Employer may ask the Employee to work over time ( the Employee has an option to refuse and will not be forced ), and if the Employee chooses to do overtime, the Employer will pay a wage of W25,000 per hour.
1.3 Pay period begins on the first day and ends on the last day of each month and the monthly salary is to be made on 10th of the following month.
1.4 Income tax will be deducted from the Employee's monthly wages in accordance with Korean Tax Law
(currently 5% of gross salary).

2. HOUSING
2.1 The Employer will either provide the Employee a single furnished apartment at no cost to the Employee, with the exception of maintenance and phone bills, OR the employee will select his or her own accomodations. Regarding the latter, the employer will contribute W300,000 per month toward the employee's lodgings. The employee will be responsible for paying any excess difference in rent which may occur.

3. AIRFARE
3.1 A round-trip airfare (standard economy ticket) from the Employee�s designated city to Korea before departure will be provided only for the Employee who will be fulfilling a 12-month period and who has been hired outside of Korea.
3.2 In the event when the airfare is provided by the Employee before his or her departure, then half ( i.e 50% ) of the round-trip flight ticket or the one-way flight ticket to Korea from the Employee�s designated city will be reimbursed to the Employee who will be fulfilling a 12-month period after the issuance of an E-2 Visa from Korean Immigration Office.

4. MEDICAL INSURANCE
4.1 Two-thirds of the insurance premium will be paid by the Employer with the remaining portion the responsiblity of the Employee. ( Participation in a health plan is optional )
5. SEVERANCE PAY
5.1 The employee will be paid their due severance on a quarterly ( i.e once every 3 months ) basis.

6. VACATION
6.1 The Employee may use "X" working days as paid vacation per year ( days in which the Employee does not regularly work i.e. Saturdays, Sundays and National Holidays are not to be considered as part of the vacation period ), only after the initial 3 months, with no vacation exceeding "X" working days per one segment.

6.2 The Employee must notify to the school at least 2 weeks in advance. One vacation segment can be used anytime the Employee wants. However, the other vacation segment must coincide with the school�s summer / winter break.
The vacations will be administered through the Academic Director.

7. SICK DAYS
7.1 The Employee may use up to 6 paid sick days per year with a doctor�s note. After the 6 sick days have been used, it will be counted as absent and the pay will be calculated according to the Daily / Hourly Rate.
7.2 Paid vacation days can be substituted for sick days once the 6 paid sick days have been used by the Employee.
7.3 In the event the employee does not fully use their entitled sick days or holidays, they will be fully reimbursed for any outstanding amount vis a vis regular daily wages.

RENEWAL & TERMINATION OF CONTRACT
1. RENEWAL
1.1 The Employer must give the Employee a written 60-day notice before renewal or non-renewal of
the Employee�s current contract.
1.2 Both the Employer and the Employee reserve the option to renew the original contract.

2. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT
2.1 Both parties will give at least a written 60-day notice prior to the termination date of the contract.
2.2 The Employer retains the right to terminate the contract immediately in the event that both :
a. The Employee is seen as unable to effectively discharge their responsibilities or contractual requirements.
b. After two formal written warnings & subsequent joint party discussions, Employee and Employer are unable to resolve their respective differences.

2.3 If in accordance with these terms of due process, the contract is terminated before a full 10 month completion
of the contract period:
a. The Employee will not qualify for benefits such as outstanding severance pay and return airfare.
b. The Employee will be wholly responsible for any utility and phone bills remaining for
the duration of their housing lease.

2.4. Within 14-days the Employee is required to sign a notice of termination and accompany the employer to the Korean Immigration Office to notify the Korean Immigration office of the termination.

GOVERNING LAW & JURISDICTION
1. This contract is subject to the application of the laws of the Republic of Korea.
2. This contract is made final and firm unless any material modification or amendment to this contract is executed with the full knowledge and consent of the undersigned and incorporated into this contract.

In witness thereof, we have hereon affixed our signatures.

Employee: ___________________________ Date: ______________________

Employer: ___________________________ Date: ______________________

2 Witnesses offer their signatures and the date here as well

[igotthisguitar]

>. I'm actually rather surprised noone has bothered to comment on this one yet. Only a small number of viewers have even registered their "anonymous" votes. Is this thread really THAT radical, over the top or "out there" ???

Hmmmmmmmm .. maybe i'm missing something here

[W.T.Carl]

What you people don't realize is that contracts in Korea are for the sole purpose of locking you into a school. If you are treated well, consider yourself lucky, if not, well, do what you gotta do to survive.

[Zyzyfer]

My contract was entirely in Korean. Rock on.

[igotthisguitar]

[Real Reality]

Why are contracts only for one year? Why not two or three?

What do the annual contract system and renewal limits really mean?

From a recent university ad:
Period of Contract: One (1) year, with the possibility of renewal(s) three times at the end of the contract.

If you are considering coming to teach in a Korean university for the first time, you may wish to consider the following quotes.

Your coming here will only enable the universities to substitute a fired long-termer with a neophyte, and thus perpetuate the cycle. Your arrival, I'm sorry to say, will in fact weaken the bargaining position of those already here. For our sake as well as your own, I recommend you do not come.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?p=57039&highlight=#57039

Foreign professors tend to be treated as hired hands, without academic standing, and lacking the possibility of career advancement or tenure. They must submit to yearly contracts (compensated at a rate only 60 percent of their Korean peers) while walled off from the permanent Korean faculty who benefit from travel, research funding, sabbaticals, etc. Moreover, when hundreds of Korean scholars enjoy such perks at American and other foreign universities, something is obviously amiss.
JoongAng Ilbo (Joongang Daily)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200206/14/200206142349223599900090109011.html

The Ministry of Education report said that just 368 of the 21,434 full-time professors at 40 universities are foreign faculty members.
Few foreign faculty members at Korea's universities
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2001/09/27/200109270044.asp

[igotthisguitar]

>. You raise a number on interesting points here Real. Thanks for posting. Anyone have any further insight they'd possibly like to add ???

[VanIslander]

My contract specifies that I am not to work mornings nor weekends yet on day one, when I arrived, I was told that since they were closing the kindergarten the previous foreign teacher in my shoes had taught in the mornings, I'd be expected to teach on the weekends instead.

Huh? I thought, but smiled and accommodated from the onset. Why? Because I'd heard that building a good relationship with your director was more important than getting angry about the details of a contract.

So I built up a good relationship with my director and now, in my second year, I don't work weekends either (and have had enough free meals, tours and freedom in the classroom to make up for the one contract violation - which, for all fairness, was negotiated with a recruiter anyways).

So, avoid obsessing over a contract. Make sure money issues are specified in case everything goes sour and the courts are required. But focus more on asserting your greatest needs in a clear yet tactful and indirect manner.

Don't sweat the details.