Korean Job Discussion Forums

[boogle]

Hi everyone,

Apologies if this has been asked before - I've tried the search function but cannot for the life of me fathom how to make it work. It's my first post so please be kind!

From what I've seen so far, it seems that if you leave an EPIK contract after six months you're not responsible for paying back your enrty allowance of 1.3 million won and your 300,000 won settlement allowance. If you give the 30 days notice required by EPIK, does this six months mean either:

a) You work six months then give 30 days notice, meaning you actually have to work seven months before you aren't liable for your airfare.

b) You can work five months, then give 30 days notice and work for another month, at the end of which you won't have to repay the settlement and entry allowances.

The sample EPIK contract on the website seems unclear as to which of the two is the case, so I wondered if anyone had any experience with this.

Some context for those who are interested - I'm looking to come to Korea, probably with EPIK, from March 2009 to March 2010. I have however applied for a master's degree starting in Sept 2009. I intend to defer this until Sept 2010 as there is no way I can currently afford it (hence Korea!), however there is a very slim chance that I will be awarded a bursary for 2009, in which case I would want to leave Korea and take up my place on the course.

If I did get the bursary, I would only find out about this in July, and would have to be back in the UK by the end of September. If I therefore gave notice in mid-August and worked until mid-September, would I have to pay back the EPIK entry allowance of 1.3 million won?

Muchas gracias!

[cruisemonkey]

If you complete six months you do not have to pay back anything. In other words, you can give notice 30 days before your resignation takes effect.

Do not think in terms of months - the contract states "30 days" and not all months have the same number of days - they'd love to 'hang' you for the tune of W1,600,000 on a one-day discrepancy.

P.S. Should you decide not to honour your contract, your last 30 days will probably be Hell.

[boogle]

Thanks cruisemonkey for your helpful reply.

If I do get the bursary I will be very careful to ensure I am at the school for over six months - I won't have to be home until late September so can easily do six and a half months and avoid paying back 1.6 million won.

I understand that the last 30 days will be hell if I quit halfway, and I can thoroughly understand them being unpleasant to someone who's left them in the lurch - but if someone had decided to give me money to do my master's rather than me having to eke it out in K, I probably won't care

The matter is probably entirely hypothetical anyway as bursaries for master's degrees are like gold dust....

[CentralCali]

The OP is honoring the contract. There is a provision in both the contract and in labor law for either party to terminate the employment agreement early. Not honoring the contract would be bailing without notice.