Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jeonnam Jinx]

I know I'm going to get blasted for this, but....

Why would anyone really have any problem paying maintenance fees? Yes, if it's in your contract and your boss agreed to pay them, then congratulations.

However, it's really not that much money per month. Considering the bosses pay the actual rent and/or deposit and key money for apartments, that's not a bad deal. I wish I could get a job in my home country where someone else would pay my outrageous rent.

That being said, I know there are a myriad of ways that bosses screw over teachers left, right and center each and every day in this country, and I dislike it as much as the next person. I just think there are bigger battles to fight and more ways in which you should use your negotiation power (better schedules, more vacation time, more paid sick days, etc), rather than something like that.

I keep wishing I had some way to pay what I want off of those maintenance bills, however, and just choose the services I want. Don't need to pay elevator (second floor, so don't use it) or parking lot assignment. I really wish I could deduct the cleaning costs off those bills. Our ajumma takes dirty water out of a big pan, swishes it across the hallway floor and considers it clean.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I'm sure not everyone will agree with me, but maybe someone can understand where I'm coming from. Been here quite a while, it's not worth the aggravation to fight them on this. Use your skills for fighting for more time off at Christmas or Chuseok or your birthday or something.

[Qinella]

Yeah, you're right it's not that much money, relatively speaking. But It's still 70,000 won that, as far as I can tell, goes directly into the building owner's pocket. It isn't a maintenance fee. It's a management fee.

Whatever it's going for, it should be paid for by the rent. In the US, I had a couple different nice apartments, ranging from about $6-800 a month. Never did I pay a "management fee". Those places employed office workers, maintenance crews, landscaping crews, and all that stuff. I assume it was just part of the rent.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a set cost and it's part of the monthly rent, thus it should be covered by the employer per my contract. Next time around, I'm going to specify in my contract that any set costs that are not controlled by me will be covered by the employer. It may be a small amount, but consider it like you have a choice between earning 2.1 or 2.2 million a month. Which one are you going to bid for?

By the way, garbage collection is paid for by your green bag purchases, so I'm told. That's why you have to buy those special bags.

[Kimchieluver]

Yeah... I don't agree with it either. I was choked because at my first hogwan they were deducting it and they essentially didn't do anything. I would have paid double if they had actually had a security gaurd to keep out those fruit sellers blaring at 7AM Saturday morning. There are quite a few threads about this whole maintenance fee.

Now I don't pay maintenance fees because we rent our apartment off the company owner (the big dude). I didn't even have to wait for a parking spot to open up.

I did not re-sign at that first hogwan because he basically tried to cheat me out of everything. I didn't know Dave's ESL existed so I had no idea that deducting employment insurance and several other things were against the law. When I found out, I made him pay it all back. He tried to weasel out of my severance, but I had my F2 and I ended up making him pay through the nose. He tried to black list me, but in this city he is known as one of the toughest and crooked directors around. I actually got a way better job having that academy on my resume.

In short, get it put into the contract that you will not be responsible for paying Apt. maintenance fees. Otherwse it is basically just another thing that a school may deem a "utility" or your responsibility.

[ontheway]

The confusion here seems to be coming from the mistaken idea that you are all living in rental apartments. You are not. Nearly all of the Korean APT. 아파트 are condos - condominiums. There is no building owner. All the units are individually owned. There is a different arrangement with condos than with apartments.

Condos usually come with monthly maintenance fees that include a variety of items. When the condo owner rents out a condo, he charges a monthly rental fee to the renter. All utility costs, including the monthly maintenance fee, are passed on to the renter. This is the system in Korea.

Since you are living in a rented CONDO you pay the condo maintenance fee. If you are living in an older house or one of Korea's very few rental apartment buildings, then you should have no maintenance fee.

[ontheway]

One more related point. Koreans who own condos and live in these condo buildings sometimes feel the maintenance/management fees are too high as well. In my own condo building (actually, it's a complex, a group of buildings) there is an association of condo residents that has been formed to fight the high management fees. The companies that build the condo complexes presell the condos before construction begins and choose the condo management companies. But the unit owners have little control over the complex managers.

[Billy Pilgrim]

[JeonjuMichael]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies... !!

Actually, we got a pretty good deal, paying only W60,000... We were told that electricity is very expensive, and we were running our air conditioner for about 14 hours a day EVERY day last month... and our electricity bill was W8,000! 8 bucks!! We were shocked.. I was expecting a W200,000 bill for the amount of elctricity we use. So, if that 'maintenance fee' covered the electricity, then good!

Our boss is so good.. we were actually promised a bigger place before we got here, and he just laid out the deposit money for a 24 pyong, 2-bedroom unit right near E Mart. He drove us to Seoul from Jeonju to pick up our cats from quarantine (yes, we brought our cats!) and he PAID the W300,000 fee. He also rearranged all of his class schedules so we could have weekends off. We only teach 30 hours a week, no split shift and all at one hagwon. We are the only foreigners teaching in his school, so we are making out very well!

Just hope this new building has a 'maintenance fee' and not a high bill for electricty instead!!

[ontheway]

The newer condo buildings have cheaper heat and hot water (usually gasand A/C (electric) costs because they are new and were built with a little insulation, better fitting windows and verandas that help air infiltration and heat loss in winter/heat gain in summer.

Many older buildings have NO insulation at all. The windows leak miserably, so the heat and A/C costs are higher.

Be careful with your electric usage. The rates here jump as your usage level increases. It is very socialistic and bad for the economy and bad for the environment, but it's the way it is. When your electric usage is low, the rates are low. But, as your usage rises, the rates rise. You might use 50% more energy but see your bill quadruple. If you try to heat your condo with only electric heat, you'll see a massive rate jump.

The result is that many shops, businesses, schools etc. use indoor gas, oil, kerosene, etc. heaters to avoid the high cost of electric heat. These cause massive amounts of indoor pollution and smell. It hurts the people's health. So, they open their windows to let the poison gas escape and let in some fresh air, which lets the heat escape of course. They pollute the air indoors and out, and waste energy. If they allowed market forces to set the electric rates, the incentive would be to shift to cheaper and cleaner elecric heat and to reduce usage through conservation methods such as massive insulation.

[OneWayTraffic]

Concentrate on maximising your income, not picking at 60,000won expenses. If you think that you're getting fairly well treated and the conditions are good, let it slide. I'm in my own place with the wife, and we pay a hell of a lot more than 60,000 for our rent. Flip side is that the marriage visa and the independence of my own place, unbeholden to any employer gives me a lot more earning power than any hagwon.

If you like your job, then keep it and forget the management fee. Just ask for a recipt and a breakdown so you can see what you are getting.

FYI, most villas these days charge a small management fee as well. A way to increase the rent, I guess.

[vandyshannon]

I live in Jeonju as well. I pay a maintenance fee of 37,500 every month. It isn't deducted from my pay though. I'm just responsible for paying it to the apartment office.