Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lookingtoteach]

I faxed a contract to a school almost two weeks ago and they got back to me today and send that one of the teachers that worked there now had decided last minute to renew their contract and they didn't need me. Are contracts the same there as they are here? They told me that once I sent the contract to Korea that I was legally bound to go. If I was legally bound to go, weren't they legally bound to hire me? What's the deal with Korean contracts?

[wylde]

a contract is just a scrap of paper until you have the e2 visa in your passport

[crazylemongirl]

My of my former co-workers summed it up best.

A contact is just a piece of paper that says you work at your school, far more important is the relationship you build up with your director.

clg

[schwa]

Tough luck, but whatcha gonna do, sue for breach of contract? It was cheesy on their part to lead you along like that, but not untypical hagwon behavior.

A contract here is definitely less binding than youre accustomed to. Sometimes its useful to think of it as a loose agreement. If you get a good boss, mutual respect & verbal understandings will carry more weight than any piece of paper.

On a side note, I question the validity of a faxed contract in any case. I had to courier mine when I signed up.

[itaewonguy]

a contract in korea is just like toilet paper!!!
you can pretty much use it for the same thing...

worthless CRAP! and when the director screws you.. you are holding a piece of paper with s h i t all over it!!!
it aint gonna help you...

you can try EFL law.. they might help you get money back once you get screwed.. but like most teachers will tell you.. GOODLUCK!!!

korea is famous for shitty contracts!!!

[Ilsanman]

In my experience, a contract is something you must honour and your director does not have to.

The exact same thing happened to me. It was a good thing in the long run. I was going to work in the countryside, because I thought I would enjoy it more. Now in hindsight, I know that's not true.

[rapier]

A contract is what they lure you into the job with, only to change it to suit themselves the moment you return from your visa run, and are indentured to work with them.

[hellofaniceguy]

Well, original poster. You get the picture.
Why do you think the major companies in the world are hesitant to do business in korea and those that do have had problems with koreans and contracts!?!

[Butterfly]

The contract means d*ck legally, its just an agreement between you and your employer and this can either work in your favour or against it. The legal contract is layed out by Korean labor law, which is to be honest fairer than any contract I've seen.

[Real Reality]

rapier,

You seem to understand reality in Korea.

Nature of Contracts in Korea
The employer may, indeed, consider the contract a simple working agreement, subject to change, depending upon the circumstances �� and usually after the foreigner has arrived in Korea. Most Koreans do not view deviations from a contract as a "breach," and few Koreans would consider taking an employer to court over a contract dispute.

Instead, Koreans tend to view contracts as infinitely flexible and subject to further negotiation. Furthermore, the written contract is not the real contract; rather, the unwritten, oral agreement with an employer is the real contract. You should bear these factors in mind when you sign a contract.

Negotiating a Teaching Contract
A basic contract for a teaching position should include provisions for the following: salary; housing; working hours; severance pay; income tax; medical insurance; and ticket home.

Korean society is extremely hierarchical, like most East Asian societies. In Korea, the boss is the boss. Keep in mind that employees are not expected to question decisions made by their employers or to challenge their authority, especially in the presence of others.
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/pubs/korea-en.asp

Contracts in Korea
Of the dozens of contracts we have examined over the last month, very few are of an acceptable standard. Most Korean contracts were riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, vagueness, and provided information that breached Korean Labor Law.
http://efl-law.com/contracts.html

Foreigners Give Koreans Low Marks for Ethics
A majority of foreign residents here give Koreans low marks for ethics and rationality, according to a survey released Saturday.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200311/kt2003111618540511990.htm

Illegal corporate cash and Korea�s political life have become so enmeshed that the public is now hard-pressed to know who among the country�s leaders, if anyone, can be trusted.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200310/19/200310192338337309900092309231.html

Transparency International's "Corruption Perceptions Index 2003" lists Korea 10 places lower than what it was last year, meaning the country ranked 50th. It means that in this new government in which civil servants are given lectures about reform and ministers in tune with the government's politics throw their work aside and run around the country, the corruption has gotten that much worse. The reality is that everything from the central government to regional ones, and the private sector, such as between corporate purchasing and subcontractors, are involved. And the food chain of corruption goes on and on.

According to a recent survey, as many as 90 percent of Korea's youth think they live in a country that's corrupt, and a considerable number of them say they're ready to join the club if the occasions calls for it later in life. Our society has become rotten to the core.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200310/200310080034.html

Corruption Perceptions Index 2003
http://www.transparency.org/pressreleases_archive/2003/2003.10.07.cpi.en.html

The stench coming from the Grand National Party these days has broken the people's patience. The mere amount of the dirty money would've been enough, but the people are also shocked at the cowardly means through which it was requested and delivered.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200312/200312110030.html

Korean Contract
Some synonyms for indentured
attached, doomed, enslave, fastened, impelled, limiting, pressed, restraining, tied, tying

[Austin]

This has been done to death...

[rapier]

Austin: i understand that is very good to prove to your employer that you are an asset- so that he will look after you. Makes sense.
However, the standard way the wonjangnim goes about it is to hit you hard with various lies, cheats or alterations right at the beginning, to get the long term advantage. Hardly motivates one to be a good worker.
if you overlook the initial moves made on the disoriented newbie, and stick to being good at the task in hand, they assume you're a walkover and start loading more s**t onto your plate...

[riverboy]

You guys seem to have it figured out.

To Lookingtoteach. There are great things about coming to Korea, but there are several nightmares. One is the dishonesty of Korean directors to thier foriegn employees.
I recently quit a job I did not start. I signed a seeminly great deal with a hogwan in a location not far from my girlfriend. It was 2.1 million won a month and I had every friday off with an 11 to 7 shift. That would have left me with plenty of time to do privates and go skiing on the weekend.
Since I had the money, I paid for my own flight which will essentially save the employer money as I got a return ticket. I had my interview, it went well and I got the job. I asked to sign the contract so I could have the security of knowing I woulkd start a month from the day I signed.

Well, a week before my job was to start, I called about my visa run, my original recruiter was sick and the girl I was speaking to had poor english. She told me that they wanted me to pay for my visa run. I was reluctant to do so, so I told them I could not afford to. Evidently, they thought that they had me between a rock and a hard place, because in the hour or so between my conversation, they informed the recruiting company that they would not pay for my flight from Canada. I asked if I would get the money when I completed my contract and they said "NO" All the while, The Director was now flashing enough money to get me to Japan for my visa run

At this time I thought it was just the supervisors poor English, however, the owner of the recruiting company phoned my while I was in the office and told me what they were trying to do, she told me she was very upset and that I was not to do the visa run. I said sure. I asked the supervisor I she could "tell the Wonjiknob to kiss my Arse for me," Grabbed my diploma, gave them both the finger and left.

[prairieboy]

As basically everyone has stated, time and again, the contract is nothing here but a loose agreement that is subject to change and reinterpretation, usually at the whim of your wongjangnim.

You can use it as a bargaining tool when you are asked to be flexible beyond what is stated in your contract. That is if you do a favour that you technically don't have to, you can use it to lever yourself a favour of sometype in return.

It is useful though in the case you do have to file a complaint against your employer with the labour board, but then that is just something to show what the written agreement was. Usually you will negotiate something you can both live with in case of a disagreement.

I have no idea about taking this to a civil matter and suing for breach of contract, but I tend to think that it would not be worth the time or the money you'd get in the end if you were to prove your case.

Negotiate the best contract you can, then when you come, you'll see that the paper and the reality are not always the same.

Cheers

[Squid]

A contract in Korea means the same anywhere else, it's the enforcement that's non-existent.

Don't get the two mixed up.

Squid