Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bb]

OK here are the changes I made to the contract. Thank you all for the help/

2006 CONTRACT FOR TEACHERS TO GYEONGGI SCHOOLS
This Employment Contract(hereinafter this �contract�) is made by and entered into between the Principals of the respective schools of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education(GPOE), the Republic of Korea (hereinafter �Employer�), and the native speaking teacher, (Name) Belindy L Bonser (hereinafter �Employee�) a (an) American citizen residing at America .

Article 1-1(Purpose) This contract is made for the purpose of setting forth the terms and conditions of employment for teachers who will teach English at an school in Gyeonggi-do (middle, high) schools.

Article 2(Duties) Employee shall perform the following duties.
1.To teach English as an assistant teacher at Daeshin high school in Gyeonggi-do
2.To do lesson planning and develop teaching materials with a Korean co-teacher.
3.To be involved in extra-curricular classes, teacher training, or English camps requested by the school.

I want this clause to be removed. I will be working 9 to 5 and anything which the school desires for me should be within this timeframe.
.
4.To be involved in other activities relevant to English teaching

I want this to be removed from my contract. The use of relevant to to vague.





5.To conduct English Conversational Class(es)/course(s) for Korean teachers and students


6. To participate in campus during the holiday seasons(the number one priority of employee during holiday seasons) when requested by Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education.

This clause makes absolutely no sense whatsoever....delete

7. To perform other duties as designated by Employer.

Delete......duties are to be listed clearly in the contract.

Article 3(Supervision) Employee shall perform the duties specified in the foregoing Article 2 supervised by Principal of your host school designated by Superintendent of GPOE.

Article 4 (Term of employment) The term of employment shall begin on May 8th 2006 and end on May 7th 2007.

Article 5(Airfare and Resignation)
1.The airfare for Employee�s flight, actual purchasing price, to Korea shall be reimbursed by employer based on an economy class airfare of the most direct flight available from his/her permanent residence to Incheon International Airport.

Within 10 days of my arrival.

a.Teacher residing outside of Korea: The Employer shall pay for airfare between the nearest international airport from the Employee's place of residency and a Incheon International Airport in Korea. Airfare will be paid in the following fashion:

Conflicts with the first clause here.


고용자(Employer�s Signature):_______________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature) ________________
A one-way ticket to Korea will be reimbursed after Employee�s arrival in Korea and after the completion of the employment contract a one-way ticket to the airport of departure will be provided

OR cash in lue of

b.Teacher residing in Korea: Teachers hired in country shall have the visa trip to the nearest country from Korea (round-trip airfare) reimbursed by the Employer. After the completion of the employment contract a one-way ticket to the Employee�s foreign residence will be provided.

2.If Employee should decide to resign during the Term of Employment, he/she must give Employer a sixty (60) day prior written notice of resignation stating a date of and a reason for resignation.

Change to 30 days notice which is plenty and no reason needs to be given...

3.In the case of Employee�s resignation, the airfare for his/her return trip shall be borne by Employee, and his/her visa shall be cancelled.

After 6 months I should no longer be held liable for the airfare to Korea.

4.In the event that Employee returns home before completing the contract for reasons beyond his/her control, the airfare for his/her return trip may be provided by Employer.

May or will?

5.In case of the termination of this Contract within six(6) months, Employee shall immediately pay back 100% of the one-way airfare to Employer. If Employee works more than six(6) months during the term of employment, Employee�s obligation to pay back the airfare shall be waived by Employer.

Article 6(Work Place)
1.Employee shall work at a local high school designated by Employer.
2.Upon renewal of a contract, Employee may choose to change his/her school, subject to approval of Employer.

Article 7(Work Hours)
1.Employee shall work eight ( hours per day (excluding lunch hour) for five (5) calendar days per week from Monday to Friday and shall not work on Saturdays, Sundays and Korean national holidays.

2.The Work Hours of Employee may follow the normal work schedule of civil servants of the Korean Government; however, such Work Hours may be adjusted by Director as he/she deems appropriate.

I want to remain with the 9-5 schedule. I want this clause removed.

3. Employee�s regular teaching hours shall not exceed twenty-two (22) hours per week. Employee may be asked to teach some extra classes. Extra teaching should not exceed 6 hours a week without Employee�s consent.

A teaching hour is classified as 45 minutes (or 50)...it really should read 22 classes...not hours

4.Employee shall be paid for the extra working hours (or days). If Employee�s actual weekly class instruction hours exceed twenty two(22)hours, Employee shall be entitled to a supplementary class instruction pay at the rate applicable to Korean teachers for the supplementary class instruction hours.

I want the rate to be clearly stated as 25,000. That is currently the going rate for overtime pay.

Contribution leave may be requested in place of overtime pay.

Contribution leave will be calculated as two hours of paid leave for each hour of extra class taught.

Article 8(Salary)
1.Employee shall be paid 2,200,000 won per month. However, the Korean income tax(*exempted for US CITIZENS for the first two employment years) and the national pension contribution (*refundable) as required under Korean law shall be withheld each month from Employee�s salary.

I want to be paid 2,300,00. I have a masters degree and almost three years teaching experiences at the community college level.

2.Regarding status of employment: Employee shall be hired pursuant to this Contract as a _first____ level English Language Instructor level (ELI).
고용자(Employer�s Signature):_______________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature) ________________
3.Employee�s salary shall be paid on the 25st of each month. If this day falls on a National Holiday, Saturday or Sunday, the salary will be paid on the immediately preceding business day.
4.When Employee has not worked a full month, salary for that month shall be paid on a pro rata daily basis either from the first day or until the last day of work.
5.If Employee should be absent from Work without a prior approval, his or her salary for that month shall be deducted by the amount calculated on a pro rata daily basis for the number of unauthorized absent days.
6.Upon completion of a one-year contract, Employer shall pay Employee thirty(30) calendar days, average wage as a severance pay for Employee�s continuous employment of one year.
7.Employee shall not claim against Employer any compensation and/or payment other than those provided for in this Contract.
8.Employee whose contract is renewed for a second term or subsequent terms, may be eligible for an increase in salary. The increase is not automatic and will depend, in all cases, upon the Employee�s teaching performance and contribution toward the achievement of the educational goals of Gyeonggi Office of Education.

Article 9(Contract Completion)
1.The Term of Employment stated in Article 4 may be renewed by a mutual written agreement between Employer and Employee, provided that each renewed employment term is one(1) year.
2. In the case of renewal of this contract pursuant to the foregoing 1, Employee shall be given a two-week (weekends and holidays included) home leave which is extra, beyond the 14 days vacation. Home leave should be taken in the summer vacation just before or just after the contract year is up.

Change it to paid leave.

3. In the event Employee travels to his/her home country pursuant to the foregoing 2, Employee will be given a free round-trip ticket. The round-trip airfare (which is less than 75% of Korean Air economy class regular price) for Employee�s flight shall be based on the rate provided for in 4 hereafter. In the event employee does not travel to his/her home country pursuant to the foregoing 2, Employee will be given the amount of money equivalent to the round-trip airfare(which is less than 75% of Korean Air economy class regular price). The round-trip ticket airfare for Employee shall be based on the rate provided for in 4 hereafter.
4. The round-trip airfare for Employee�s home leave shall be loaned by Employer based on Korean Air economy class air-fare(less than 75% of the regular price) of the most direct flight available from Incheon to the airport nearest to Employee�s residence.
5.If Employee completes the Term of Employment without the intention to renew and leaves Korea within 10 days from the expiration date, Employer shall pay the airfare (which is less than 75% of Korean Air economy class� ) for Employee�s one way return flight.

Delete all that 'less than 75% of Korean air economy class'


Article 10(Housing)
1.Employer shall provide Employee with housing. All efforts will be made to provide an apartment within walking distance of the school.
고용자(Employer�s Signature):_______________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature) ________________
2.Housing selected by Employer may be, including but not limited to, a leased house, dormitory, or an apartment. A single teacher will be provided with a one-room apartment on or off campus, and a married teacher with dependents will be provided with a residence with at least two bedrooms. Any and all fees, charges, costs, taxes, expenses, etc. incurred in using the housing shall be borne by Employee.

I want a clearly written breakdown of the fees in advanced and included in the contract.

3. Employer may provide temporary housing until the appropriate housing for Employee becomes available. If Employer is not able to provide housing for Employee(or if Employee decides to find housing on their own), Employer shall provide Employee with 300,000 Korean won per month, as a rent subsidy, in lieu of the housing set forth in the foregoing 1.
4.Employer shall decide whether to provide Employee with housing or a rent subsidy. Once decided, Employer�s decision shall not be subsequently changed during the Term of Employment.

5.If Employer provides housing to Employee, Employer may provide appliances and furniture (confer appendix 1). Employee shall not request or demand any other appliances or furniture than those provided by Employer. Employee shall take the responsibility for the maintenance and repair for the appliances and furniture provided by Employer.

Change 'may' to will!


6.Employer will provide Employee with 300,000 Korean won as settlement money after his/her first contract is signed.

I want to specifically listed that within ten days of arrival.

Employee must spend the money to buy basics of life other than those set forth under Article 10, item 5.

I want this clause removed. It is already stated in the contract previously.

Article 11(Other Benefits)
1.Employer shall provide Employee with medical insurance pursuant to The National Medical Insurance Act of Korea(The National Medical Insurance Act states all government employees will be liable for 50% of costs and premium). If Employee has his/her dependents living with him/her in Korea, Employer will also pay for medical insurance premium for them.
2.Employee who is working in a designated rural area shall be entitled to a paid allowance of 100,000 Korean won every month.

Article 12 (Paid Leave)
1.Employee shall be entitled to a paid leave for a total of fourteen (14) working days during the term of the employment. Paid leave may be taken at any time school is not in session, and must be approved by Director at least 15 days in advance. Saturday and Sunday do not count as vacation days. If Employee renews the contract, up to 7 days of unused yearly paid leave may be carried over to the new contract period. This carried over paid leave may be used in the new contract period, but it may not be carried over into any subsequent contract period.
2.During school winter and summer break, Employee may be asked to participate in special classes or English camps, up to 20 hours per week. Such special classes will not occupy more than 40 hours during the winter or summer breaks.

Article 13(Sick Leave)
1.Employee shall be entitled to a paid sick leave if an illness or injury prevents him/her from performing the duties under this contract, provided, however, that he/she obtains Employer�s prior consent.
2.When Employee takes a sick leave for more than seven (7) consecutive days (inclusive of a National Holiday, Saturday and Sunday), Employee shall submit a medical doctor�s report to Employer.
3.Employee�s paid sick leave during the Term of Employment shall not exceed fifteen(15) calendar days. If Employee requires a sick leave for more than fifteen (15) calendar days, Employee may take a longer sick leave without pay.

Standard public school sick days(use them!!!)

Article 14(Special Leave)
1.Employee may take a Special Leave for a number of days as set forth below for each of the following events;
a. Seven(7) consecutive calendar days for Employee�s marriage.
b. Seven (7) consecutive calendar days for the death of Employee�s parents or spouse; five (5) consecutive calendar days for the death of Employee�s child.
c. Ninety (90) calendar days for a female employee�s maternity leave.
d. In case of a damage to Employee�s residence in a natural disaster: the period Director deems necessary according to the degree of damage.
e. If Employee is prosecuted for involvement in a criminal offense, Employer has the authority to put Employee on a prosecution leave.
f. Special Leaves specified in items 1-a,1-b, and 1-d are available with pay. However, the ones specified in item 1-c and 1-e shall be available without pay.

Article 15(Office Regulations and Restrictions)
1.Employee shall faithfully observe his/her Director�s requests on his/her duties defined in Contract.
2.Director shall evaluate Employee�s performance of official duties.
3.Employee shall devote his/her full working hours and occupational attention to the defined duties in these terms and conditions, except for cases specially provided.
4.Employee shall not damage or tarnish the reputation of the teaching profession. Employee shall comply with and observe any codes of conduct acceptable for Korean teachers.

These should be attached to the contract.

5.Without Director�s permission, Employee shall not be employed or involved in other paid business (including a part-time job).
6.If Employee has a contagious disease or other illness as set out in the following items, Director may prevent Employee from performing duties.
a.The fear exists that Employee with a contagious disease is not taking measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
b.The fear exists that labor will significantly worsen Employee�s disease from which Employee suffers.
c. Employee is affected by a disease as determined by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
d. Item a to item c are to be paid for.

Article 16(Termination of the Contract)
1.Employer may terminate or cancel this Contract upon occurrence of any one of the following events;
a. If Employee violates the laws of the Republic of Korea.
b. If Employee fails to perform or unsatisfactorily perform any of the duties stipulated in this contract.
c. If Employee fails to perform continuously his/her duties for more than a week without any excuse.
d. If any of the information provided in Employee�s application is neither true nor accurate.
e. If it is determined that the Employee is prevented from or incapable of performing his/her duties set forth in Article hereof for a medical reason, whether it is a physical or psychological ailment.(If requested by Employer, Employee
고용자(Employer�s Signature):_______________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature) ________________
must be immediately available for a medical examination.)
f. If the sick leave used by Employee pursuant to Article 13 hereof exceeds thirty (30) days.
2.In the event that this contract is terminated pursuant to the foregoing 1, Employer shall pay Employee a pro rated salary based on the number of days Employee actually worked. In this case, Employee shall be responsible for his/her return trip to his/her home country. Employee�s visa will subsequently be cancelled.
3. In the event of termination of this Contract pursuant to any of the provision set forth in the foregoing 1, within 6 months of this contract Employee shall immediately refund the loan(airplane fare) to Employer according to Article 9, item 4. After 6 months of continuous employment, the employee is not required to repay this loan(airplane fare).
4. If Employee is sentenced to a term of imprisonment (or any other more severe penalty), Employee shall automatically be dismissed and Employer will not provide any financial compensation.

If employee's contract is terminated 30 days notice will be given or one months pay in lue of.


Article 17 Matters not explicitly stated in the Contract shall be determined by Employer by taking Employee�s concerns into consideration.

Matters not explicitly stated in the contract shall be determined by both the employer and employee taking each others concerns into consideration.


Article 18(Indemnity)
1.Employee shall be responsible for and protect Employer from any liability or damages arising from or in relation to any negligent, faulty, or illegal activity during the Term of Employment under this contract. For safety deposit, 300,000 Korean won per month will be deducted from Employee�s salary for the first 3 months of employment until it amounts to a total of 900,000 Korean won(even in case Employee finds their own housing). Married couples who are both employed by GPOE, sharing living accommodations, shall also be required to pay the cost respectively.

I want this clause removed. I will not agree to safety deposit

2.Employer shall check the leased facilities and financial matters arising from the use of them by Employee before the Term of Employment is completed. If any liability or damages are found, these shall be confirmed in written form by Employee, who will be indemnified from the security deposit pursuant to the foregoing 1. In the case of the insufficient security of indemnity pursuant to the foregoing 1, Employer shall demand further compensation. In the case of protecting Employer from any liability or damages, Employee shall get refunded the whole amount of money secured in advance before the termination of the contract.

Article 19 (Attending the training program)
1.Employee shall complete a 5 day orientation conducted by Gyeonggi-do Institute for Foreign Language Education immediately before the commencement of the Term of Employment provided under Article 4 hereof.



Article 20 (Governing Law, Language and Venue)
1.The terms of this contract and the rights and obligation of the parties hereto shall be construed, interpreted and determined in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Korea.
2.The Governing language of the contract shall be Korean. The English translation of this Contract is made for the purpose of convenience.

The governing language WILL be English...the Korean translation of the contract is made for the purpose of convenience!

3.If a dispute or disagreement should arise in connection with or out of this Contract, the parties hereto shall first try to resolve it in accordance with a principle of good faith. However, if the parties fail to mutually resolve such disputes or disagreements or come to amicable settlements, their disputes or disagreements shall be finally resolved by arbitration of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board.

고용자(Employer�s Signature):_______________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature) ________________
Article 21(Signature) In witness whereof, the parties hereto sign the Contract in triplicate on the date entered below with each party retaining one copy and submitting the third copy to an immigration office for Employee�s visa application.
<부록1> 주거용 가구 및 비품 구입목록
<Appendix 1> The inventory of the appliances and furniture provided by Employer
NO. Name Number NO. Name Number
1 전화기 Telephone 1 10 전기다리미 Electric iron 1
2 냉장고 Refrigerator 1 11 침대Bed (Queen size) 1
3 세탁기Washing machine 1 12 소파3인용 Sofa (for 3 people) 1
4 텔레비전 Television set 1 13 식탁4인용 Kitchen table 1
5 진공청소기 Vacuum cleaner 1 14 옷장 Wardrobe 1
6 전자레인지 Microwave 1 15 책상 Desk 1
7 가스레인지 Gas range 1 16 의자 Chair 1
8 전기밥솥 Electric rice cooker 1 17 버티컬 Vertical blind 1
9 선풍기 Electric fan 1 1
10) Air Conditioning will be provided.

Summers of ungodly hot and mildew and mold is major problem without AC.




서명일(Signing Date) : __________________
고용자(Employer�s Signature): ____________ 피고용자(Employee�s Signature): ______________
_______(중,고등) 학교장 여권번호(Passport Number) : __________________
Principal
________________(Middle, High) School 주소(Address) : _____________________________

[Zoidberg]

Is this the same job you posted the contract for in this thread?

Either way, the contracts as provided to you are not particularly alluring. Regarding your changes, they may accept the new version. But, considering what they were offering in the first place, I don't know if I would be willing to trust that they would live up to the amended clauses.

Maybe you should be looking at another school, one that offers something resonable first up.

[just because]

I've got some bad news..

You are not dealing with an individual school but with the Gyeonggi Education Board which represents 1000s of schools..

I don't think they will change the language of the contract just for one person as one of the most important values in Korean culture is everyone gets the same thing(in other words "keeping up with the Jones'")...nobody gets a special contract.

If you are demanding these things outsie Korea you have no chance as if you start making demands such as these they will just find somebody else, perhaps if you are here you would have a better chance

[jinju]

Someone seems to think he can demand a lot. Anyway, I see someone in this thread wont be getting that job.

[antoniothegreat]

i agree with the other posters, you wont have much ability to change this contract. but, i have a similar contract, you might not be able to delete that 75% ticket value part, but it is intended to be a definition, meaning you get an economy ticket, and an economy ticket is defined at 75% of a business class ticket. be careful, as my school thought that meant i get 75% of the actual ticket value. big difference. discuss this up front and get this in writing. maybe you cant change the contract, but you can get definitions which will make it easier later on.

[Grotto]

Thats the biggest problem with public school jobs! They rarely change any aspects of the contract(although I know of several people who did get air con added into their contracts).

I word things pretty harshly....not exactly PC...so I would suggest that you simply delete some of the clauses that they have in and send that signed contract back to them....sometimes they dont even check them out...they simply sign them without even looking at them(legend of the pint of Haggen daaz ice cream comes to mind)

[Jarome_Turner]

did somebody actually get a pint of hagen daz in their contract?? funny.

[Grotto]

The story goes(I have it on good authority that its true) that a teacher thought they didnt read the contract so he wrote into it that each Friday he would be given a pint of Chocolate Haaggen Daaz ice cream. They signed it, processed it and hired him.....and were somewhat surprised when he asked for what was in the contract

[Homer]

Yes but was it also in the Korean version of the contract?

[Unreal]

I think the demands made by the OP are completely reasonable. I'm in the same situation with a very similar EPIK contract to the original. I thought there was a lot of garbage in there (too many "may"s on the part of employer responsibility) but I signed it in good faith that things would be worked out face to face...as they have in my last two teaching jobs.

Unfortunately now whenever I have a problem, they pull my contract out, photocopy it (there are now 5 copies of my contract floating around), and tell me exactly what it says. So far I have not received my 300,000 won bonus, nor my airfare (some low-level administrator even tried to tell me that they did not owe me as they were supposed to "loan" me the money and since I could pay for it without a loan, they didn't have to). The school decided to provide me with a housing allowance instead of housing, which was a huge pain in the ass.

All of this stuff is being worked out slowly but sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to force the issue when I signed my contract. I did get lucky with this incredibly vague one though: 5.If Employer provides housing to Employee, Employer may provide appliances and furniture They didn't provide housing but we convinced them to provide appliances and furniture.