Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blunder1983]

Changed

[ilovebdt]

Shared apartment man. Just say no!!!

ilovebdt

[jacl]

What a stupid contract. "If the teacher doesn't faithfully do make-up work for cancelled classes then teacher will only be paid for hours taught, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah shared accomodation, blah, blah, 1.97 million, blah, blah, 19,000 OT, blah, blah 104 hours/month, blah, blah, show up and hour and a half early, blah, blah, give 2 months notice, blah, blah, get paid 90% of salary after notice is given, blah, blah."


Whatever.

[Qinella]

Really awful contract, my friend.

The part jacl highlighted... wtf is that? They're gonna be running you around non-stop, and then if you don't do some menial task, they're gonna prorate your pay based on an hourly rate of teaching hours? And, the salary is less than 2.0? And shared apartment?

There's no definition of working hours. There's really nothing specific at all about what your expected to do.

I'd say keep looking.

[alabamaman]

Period of Employment
The institute will employ the Instructor for the following dates.
From: July 1st, 2006
To: June 31st, 2007

*I've always advocated for people having contractual language stating, "The employee shall work for the employer when Korean Immigration Officials have issued the employee and E2 Visa." It's very common for employers to pressure, or force employees to work on Tourist Visas. It's illegal and you could face penalties from Korean Immigration Officials if caught.


A. Salary: A monthly salary of 1,970,000 Won will be paid for 104 actual teaching hours per month externally coexisting with Korean holiday dispensation.

Change: A monthly salary of 1,970,000 Won will be paid for 104 actual teachings hours per month to "A guaranteed monthly salary in the amount of 1,970,000 Korean will be paid for 104 classes worked per month throughout the contract period. If the employer is unable to provide 104 classes to be worked per month throughout the contract period, then the employee shall be paid a monthly salary in the amount of 1,970,000 Korean Won throughout the contract period. "

An hourly wage of 19,000 Won will be paid for each additional class exceeding the contract classes. If the instructor teaches less than 104 per month because of the situations of the school, the instructor will be assigned to other classes or tasks.

If the instructor teaches less than 104 per month because of the situations of the school, the instructor will be assigned to other classes or tasks. *This is innapropriate! If they cannot provide you with enough classes, then under no circumstances shall your established working hours be tampered with. Insist this is thrown out.

B. Pay Day: Compensation will be paid monthly (from the first or starting date to the last day of the academic month excluding Korean holidays) along with other instructors by the seventh of the following month. Any errors in compensation shall be reported to all parties affected within a week from the day the instructor�s salary is paid.

If you arrived in July then you have to get paid in July according to Labor Laws. Ask to be paid on the last working day of every month.

C. Insurance: A medical and accident insurance plan from an insurance company will be offered to the instructor. The annual premium (current amount is 285,000 Won) will be split equally between the instructor and the institute.

Stick with the Korean National Health Insurance Plan. The employer's responsible for deducting 2.24% of your monthly salary (44,128 Korean Won) from your month salary throughout the contract period. Your employer will pay lump sum payments every 3 months in the amoutn of 132,384 Korean Won (Both parties pay 50/50).

http://www.nhic.or.kr/wbe/faq/faq.html

D. Tax: Korean income tax will be deducted from the salary according to Korean tax law (which varies between 3.3% - 5%).

Your employer will be deducting 27,520 Korean Won from your monthly salary throughout the contract period.

http://nts.go.kr/front/service/refer_cal/gani/refer_gani_eng.asp

That's monthly withholding tax deductions between 65,010 Korean Won and 98,500 Korean Won. They're trying to hustle you for some money.....

E. Airfare: The budget for the round trip airfare provided by the institute is 1,200,000 Won. The institute will reimburse 600,000 Won to the instructor on his/her arrival and will reimburse the rest of the 600,000 Won upon completion of the one-year contract. But, if the instructor fails to complete the one-year contract for any reason, the rest of the 600,000 Won will not be given to the instructor.

They pay for your ticket! The airfare is waived after six months for the most part in the event the employee resigns. If you terminate your contract due to the employer violating the contract, then you shouldn't owe him a single nickle!

F. Accommodations: The institute will provide a rent-free apartment with another instructor. The instructor will pay their fair share of the utilities including charges incurred during their contract period and agrees to leave on deposit any anticipated changes incurred during their contract sojourn.

Say no to shared housing! The employer should provide bed, bedding, television, air conditioner, table, chair, washing machine, refrigerator, eating utensils, cups, bowls, plates, and everything should be in working order.


G. Sick days: The instructor has three paid sick days for a year. Sick days have to be used only when she or he is really sick. If the instructor misses any classes for any other reasons such as travel, hangover, etc. The missing teaching hours' salary will be deducted from the instructor's full monthly salary.

I haven't see hangover before in any clause


C. The instructor should be in good health and will submit proof of his/her health condition check up before arrival. If the instructor develops prolonged ill health through accident or negligence resulting in prolonged disability which damages the institute's ability to provide quality education, or fails to follow the director's orders regarding health issues, the institute reserves the right to terminate this contract after two weeks notice.

30 days

G. If the instructor seeks release from the contract for personal reasons, the instructor will give two month advanced notice to the institute and will receive 90% of the monthly salary from that time until a replacement instructor is found. The instructor agrees to work until the new instructor arrives.

100% of monthly salary and 30 day notice

I. The instructor has read and agrees with the information published on the Yale Foreign Language Institute�s Web Page (http://www.jejuyale.co.kr).

This information should be in the contract if they're asking you to agree to information on an institute web page. This contract is not worth signing!

[schwa]

Hey blunder, have you lost your mind? This sounds terrible.

Aside from the substandard pay & getting housed with a random stranger, after having worked (only) in a public school youre setting yourself up for a huge letdown in terms of autonomy & respect. With your smarts & sincerity you could do much better.

I'm not against hagwons. With the right director & decent benefits, you could have a good run in a friendly operation with small classes. But this job just seems entry-level borderline-shady blah.

Contracts arent everything of course, but this one has micromanagement written all over it. My favorite line, one I've never seen in a contract before, was this:

[ontheway]

"... externally coexisting with Korean holiday dispensation..."


?????


You can stop right there.

[blunder1983]

Hmm,

All my prior research shows the school to be a good one though, I've been given 4 contacts of current native speakers and searching on daves only brings up good responses.

Should I negotiate the leave and housing, would it then be ok?

[jacl]

[Grotto]

Job Position: English Instructor

Period of Employment
The institute will employ the Instructor for the following dates.

From: July 1st, 2006
To: June 31st, 2007
Conditions
A. Salary: A monthly salary of 1,970,000 Won will be paid for 104 actual teaching hours per month externally coexisting with Korean holiday dispensation. An hourly wage of 19,000 Won will be paid for each additional hour exceeding the contract hours. If the instructor teaches less than 104 actual teaching hours per month because of the situations of the school, the instructor will be assigned to other classes or tasks. The instructor should do his assignments at Yale at a fixed time. If the instructor doesn't do his assignments faithfully at school, she or he will not be paid the full monthly salary, but she or he will be paid according to the actual teaching hours. The monthly salary includes the basic salary, yearly retirement stipend, and severance pay. One month’s salary will be paid at the end of the contract term as a bonus. The bonus will be paid only when the instructor completes the contract. No part of bonus will be paid when the instructor doesn't finish her contract.

right here is where you walk away laughing! Salary is salary and has nothing to do with assignments! If it contains all these things why is it so low? I still dont see a list of teaching hours!


B. Pay Day: Compensation will be paid monthly (from the first or starting date to the last day of the academic month excluding Korean holidays) along with other instructors by the seventh of the following month. Any errors in compensation shall be reported to all parties affected within a week from the day the instructor’s salary is paid.

C. Insurance: A medical and accident insurance plan from an insurance company will be offered to the instructor. The annual premium (current amount is 285,000 Won) will be split equally between the instructor and the institute.

thats bull! NHIC is required by law...looks like they would just pocket your cash!

D. Tax: Korean income tax will be deducted from the salary according to Korean tax law (which varies between 3.3% - 5%).

1.5% for that piddly salary!

E. Airfare: The budget for the round trip airfare provided by the institute is 1,200,000 Won. The institute will reimburse 600,000 Won to the instructor on his/her arrival and will reimburse the rest of the 600,000 Won upon completion of the one-year contract. But, if the instructor fails to complete the one-year contract for any reason, the rest of the 600,000 Won will not be given to the instructor.

they should pay for it in full!

F. Accommodations: The institute will provide a rent-free apartment with another instructor. The instructor will pay their fair share of the utilities including charges incurred during their contract period and agrees to leave on deposit any anticipated changes incurred during their contract sojourn.
? what the hell does that mean?

G. Sick days: The instructor has three paid sick days for a year. Sick days have to be used only when she or he is really sick. If the instructor misses any classes for any other reasons such as travel, hangover, etc. The missing teaching hours' salary will be deducted from the instructor's full monthly salary.

great they are defining what constitutes sickness


Director’s initials: ___________ _ Instructor’s initials: ___________ _




INSTRUCTOR'S DUTIES

A. The instructor will set a good positive example at all times with due regard for Yale Foreign Language Institute Language requirements and Korean cultural norms. The instructor will make every effort to accommodate local cultural difference.

screw that! typical hogwan bullcrap...'this is how things are done in Korea' 'you must be more Korean'

B. The instructor will follow set class schedules and will not dismiss classes, cancel classes, or start classes late without the approval of the director.

C. The instructor should be in good health and will submit proof of his/her health condition check up before arrival. If the instructor develops prolonged ill health through accident or negligence resulting in prolonged disability which damages the institute's ability to provide quality education, or fails to follow the director's orders regarding health issues, the institute reserves the right to terminate this contract after two weeks notice.

D. The instructor will use textbooks provided by the institute and is encouraged to supplement these with other materials. All materials given to the instructor by the institute will be returned when they are no longer needed.

E. The instructor will not partake in the following activities since they may damage the reputation of the institute.
1. Conducting class while under the direct or indirect influence of alcohol, while smoking, or while under the influence of illegal drugs.
2. Making sexual advances towards, or entering relationships with students and/or employees of the institute.
3. Conducting any private classes directly or indirectly including accepting any funds without permission from the director. Any instructor found engaging in these activities will have their contract immediately terminated. (The immigration office doesn’t permit any foreign instructor to conduct private English language classes outside the respective school sponsoring their E-2 visa without specific approval from the immigration office.)
4. Borrowing or lending of funds to students or conducting any sales of items to students.

F. Any damages that are the direct result of negligence on the behalf of the instructor, either at the institute or residence, will be paid for by the instructor. But the institute will pay for damages caused by nature or temporal deterioration.

G. If the instructor seeks release from the contract for personal reasons, the instructor will give two month advanced notice to the institute and will receive 90% of the monthly salary from that time until a replacement instructor is found. The instructor agrees to work until the new instructor arrives.

and they wonder why people do midnight runs

H. If the instructor fails to conduct him/herself in a professional manner, which includes failure to arrive at least 90 minutes before the start of classes, and to thoroughly prepare for the classes of the instructor (which results in the damage of the institute’s image, or fails to follow the director's orders) the institute has the right to terminate this contract after two weeks notice. But, if the institute violates the contract, the instructor also has the right to terminate the contract, but two weeks notice must be provided as well.

coming in 90 minutes early Fxck that!

I. The instructor has read and agrees with the information published on the Yale Foreign Language Institute’s Web Page (http://www.jejuyale.co.kr).

Both parties have read the above conditions and agree to the terms in good faith and will agree to resolve any disputes in a rea

run away screaming...the alternative is to work there and scream for an entire year!

[joyinjeju]

Hello, I am a current employee at Yale and have the same contract you have, word for word, have been here for 11 months and can honestly say that this is an ideal place to work. I don't know what kind of contracts these other people have, but for working in Jeju, Yale is one of the best places to be, the bosses speak fluent English, we get a 3-day weekend here and there, you DON'T have to come in 90 minutes early, even though that's what the contract says. Everyone here works 6-hour days, 5 days a week, no Saturdays. No kindergarden, and 8 other foreigners for coworkers. It's awesome.

Anyway, we are still hiring, so if you change your mind, there's a job for you here. And for future reference, the best way to find out about a hogwon is to talk to people who actually work there. Korean contracts aren't really worth crap anyway, so you can't tell too much about a hogwon just by reading the contract. My email is on the job posting in the "Job Board" section.

[joyinjeju]

By the way, the salary is low compared to the mainland because this is Jeju, white sand beaches, mountains, etc., at least that's the justification the hogwon owners use - you don't get paid a lot, but you have huge benefits because your'e on the island. You won't find a hogwon job in Jeju that pays more than 2.0 mil/month. Most of us don't really care, though, because we get to go to the beach for like 6 hours every morning before work if we want. Plus, you don't spend a ton of money here like you would in Seoul, there are pretty much no foreign restaurants except for McDonald's, so the lifestyle is less expensive.

[jacl]

[joyinjeju]

[cypher]

If they are reputable, they should have a reputable contract. It may be peachy while things are rosy, but what happens if you get on the owner's bad side or things go sour? You're leaving yourself open to be screwed...though it is true that most contracts with hagwons are good for toilet paper and that's about all. But it's all about good faith.

Nobody's mentioned the part about following the director's orders regarding your health...you've gained weight, you're too fat, exercise, diet, lose weight or I fire you, take these drugs, you don't need to know what they are.