Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TiGrBaLm]

Ive got an offer from a school in Changwon (30 mins or so north of Pusan)

they want to give me 1.8 (net)

pros: small school, small class size, set curricula, great director, 2 bedroom apartment

cons: small city, 5 vacation days, 3 sick days, all my korean friends live in Seoul/Incheon

Is 1.8 little for someone with a year of teaching experience abroad?

Should I ask for more or just wait out for a better offer in a bigger city?

What would you folks take on this be?

[zappadelta]

that's a terrible deal. low money, almost no vacation. it's a joke.

[Qinella]

Agreed.

Hold out for 2 million won. Also, I'd think twice about a small city if you are hoping to have fun with your friends.

[YoungLi]

[just because]

i have lived in Changwon for nearly 4 years so i know most of the schools very well...Pm me the name of the school i will tell you if it is any good..

In regards to your questions...

Ive got an offer from a school in Changwon (30 mins or so north of Pusan)
It is actually to the west of Busan and that 30 minutes is on a good day - on sat/sun it would be an hour just to the western most subway station and another 20 minutes to the middle of town

they want to give me 1.8 (net)
if it is net then it is not too bad - average

pros: small school, small class size, set curricula, great director, 2 bedroom apartment
Pm me the school - i'll let you know, as regards to the city the foreign community here is awesome, very close knit but there are some fantastic guys here plus an Irish bar actually owned and run by a very friendly irishman

cons: small city, 5 vacation days, 3 sick days, all my korean friends live in Seoul/Incheon
The city is really nice - it is the only planned city in the country and it is very pleasant to live and you can make plenty of new friends

Is 1.8 little for someone with a year of teaching experience abroad?
yes and no - what sets you apart from the rest, 1 years teaching in seoul won't cut it

Should I ask for more or just wait out for a better offer in a bigger city?
PM me the school

[ontheway]

You didn't state hours, so we have to assume a standard 30/week or 120/month. Be careful, some places will count up all your 10 minute breaks between fifty minute classes (for example) as free time and expect you to teach more. Look for that.

1.8 million net. Net of what? If it's after deductions for taxes, retirement and health insurance, then that's good. It's worth about 2.0 mil. What about housing, utilities etc. ?

For me, it would take at least 2.8 million in Seoul or another big city to equal 2.0 million in a smaller city or town. That's only the financial difference.

Your desired lifestyle is another factor. These are economic factors in your decision even though they are not financial factors. How do you want to live?

If it's really a good job, great director and great housing then it's a good deal. You may hold out for more and really get less (even if the cash is nominally higher).

[TiGrBaLm]

the hours are 3-9pm

yes 1.8 after all deductions

I taught for a year in Japan on JET

holidays are paid

sorry i missed that info, i have till monday morning korean time to make up my mind

hope this helps

[just because]

Check your PM Box

[zappadelta]

I suggest asking for more money and more vacation time, at least 5 more days is pretty standard.

[YoungLi]

[the eye]

[TiGrBaLm]

ok here is a sample contract

message from the director to the foreign teacher that is doing the hiring:

(names have been changed)

Dear Billy Bob,

I am attaching a sample contract to this message. Please tell the applicants that all contracts are not perfect so we seldom enforce the contract terms. The contract terms are to secure the minimum. First, we negotiate for mutual benefit with trust. If it fails, then we apply the contract terms. Sometimes we can reach a better solution without applying the contract terms. Thank you.

Hungnim



Memorandum of Understanding

This memorandum sets forth the agreement reached between Hagwon of Changwon, South Korea (hereinafter called Hag) and

Ms. *************(hereinafter called "Instructor").

hag engages Instructor as a teacher of English Language at hag facilities in South Korea for a term of 12 months from the date on which Instructor teaches the first class assigned to her, such date being ************** Instructor will arrive in Changwon no later than ************* .

hag will

1. Provide Instructor with a one-bedroom in two-bedroom apartment or equivalent accommodation.
2. Pay Instructor ******************* per annum, such sum to be paid monthly.
3. A. Salary will be calculated as follows;

For 30 hours per week Instructor will be paid *********** won monthly.

An hour is defined as 50 minutes of teaching and a 10 minutes break.

2. Overtime will be calculated as follows;

First multiply by a factor of 6 the total of number of paid work days and paid holidays during the pay peried. Subtract this number from the actual number of hours worked to get the overtime amount.

4. Pay Instructor at the rate of ********** won per hour for all required overtime as stated in 3) above.
5. One additional month's compensation pay is given upon successful completion of twelve months' work.
6. Provide transportation from the point of embarkation for Korea and, upon satisfactory completion of this agreement, return-transportation.
7. Compensate Instructor for all Korean national holidays falling within the term of this agreement.
8. Provide paid vacation at the rate of 5/12 of one day vacation for each full month of service (approx. 5days for 12 months). These vacation days will be provided at the recess of hag or at the end of the one-year-contract. The unused vacation days may be taken during the last days of the contract or in the form of extra pay at the end of the contract. Six-month-contract doesn't provide paid vacation days and paid sick days. Each sick day used reduces vacation pay by one day. The maximum reduction to vacation pay under this article will be 2 days.
9. 3 paid sick days are granted with proper notification.
10. Provide paid medical insurance.

Instructor will :

1. Teach the English Language in a professional manner to the classes and/or individuals assigned, following prescribed curricula, as well as perform ancillary duties normally associated with the teaching profession.
2. Teach five consecutive days a week.
3. Refrain from teaching outside of hag without obtaining approval from hag.
4. Refrain from engaging in any employment, self-employment or consulting arrangement with any person or entity other than hag without first obtaining approval in writing from hag.
5. Agree to required withholding from wages of all local taxes.
6. Observe all local laws and ordinances and hold harmless hag, its employees, students, and assigns for infractions perpetrated by Instructor.
7. Reimburse hag for transportation expenses in the event he/she voluntarily terminates this agreement or is dismissed for cause before the completion of six months/ one half the length of this contract. The Instructor will provide a minimum of fifty days notice prior to termination of this agreement. The Instructor agrees to withholding of reimbursement from the final pay for the cost of airfare if less than six months of the contract have been completed.
8. Be liable for all financial losses caused to or occasioned by hag by her/him unproper or illegal conducts of Instructor.

This agreement becomes effective upon acceptance by a representative of hag.

Signed this day of , 2005.

By Instructor

Signed this day of ,2005 for hag

By (name) of hag, (title)





Also the director is leaving for Canada for a year to help his son and some other kids aclimatize to their environment (theyll be studying there) so thats why they tell me they are in a sense "downsizing" so they will only be taking in one waygookin this year and the hungnims wife will be running the show.

[ontheway]

There are two glaring problems with this contract.

1 You are really getting no sick days, they are deducted from your minimal vacation. The 5 day vacation is low, but necessary for many hogwans. But, you should understand this and plan to never be sick.

2 This, for me, is a deal breaker. They are planning to screw you out of your overtime. Of course, if you agree to this then it's an honest screw job. I'd say "NO WAY!"

They plan to deduct holidays and any other time you don't work from your actual hours before computing overtime. So, if you teach 3 extra hours per week and have two holidays in a month, you should have 12 hours of overtime pay (by my thinking) but under this contract you'll get zero.

The base pay is low, and I don't see any indication of the Net Pay you talked about either. You either need to renegociate or move on.

[ontheway]

One more thing regarding Overtime.

This is hard to put in a contract, but at my current hogwan, the basic principle is this: if the students paid for the class time then the teacher gets paid for the class time. If all the students cancel or skip a class, or the class is on a holiday, even overtime classes on holidays, the teacher gets paid.

[YoungLi]

"hag will

1. Provide Instructor with a one-bedroom in two-bedroom apartment or equivalent accommodation."

There's a red flag right there. I wouldn't sign this contract because if you do they CAN give you shared housing.

Sick days? By law they are required to provide 3 paid sick days. For the life of me I cannot see why so many Korean employers are so reluctant to include this in their contracts. Humans are NOT immortal and with the Asian Bird Flu expected to spread like wildfire they have to expect millions of people getting violently ill. Three days is a joke. Do they expect you to work when you have something so contageous that you give the virus to everyone at the school. Sorry I just need to rant about this. This past year my boss kept coming to work with a flu virus and she gave it to everyone in the company then we all spread it to our familes and wherever we went. I gave my bug to an entire car dealership. This was a horrible flu that took 6-8 weeks to get out of the system. The first two weeks was a living hell. We all thougt we'd die it was so bad. I still hate my exboss for giving me that flu. Hence, my tangent here. [/quote]