Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sam.i.edelstein]

Hi there!
So I was offered a job here and was wondering if you all could take a look at the contract and warn me about anything. Also any help as far as information on the school or city would be great as well! The recruiter said they would fill out the contract once I give them and answer.
Thanks!!!

AGREEMENT
THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (�this Agreement�) is made by and between TOPIA English Zone, a private learning institution in the Republic of Korea (�the Employer�) and (�Employee�).


WHEREAS, the Employer desires to employ the Employee for the position of English Teacher in the TEZ institute located in Name of City, South Korea, and the Employee desires to accept such an offer of employment.


Definitions
As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings stated:
�Employment Date� shall mean the actual date that the employee begins work at TOPIA English Zone.
Employment Date : _________________
�Termination Date� shall mean the date ( ) month / year from the �Employment Date�.
Termination Date : __________________
The above written period (Employment Date ~ Termination Date) will be designated as �Contract Year� from here and on.

Employment, Term, Duties, and Exclusive Employment

Duties and Responsibilities of the Employee; Place of Performance of Service; Obtaining Visa in South Korea; Requirements of the Employee

The Employee shall have the duties and responsibilities for the teaching of the English language overseas, in the physical premises located in South Korea to students of Korean origin, by complying and following the academic programs set forth by the Employer.

Duties may include, but are not limited to;

teaching
substitute teaching
supervision of students
preparation/production of teaching materials
curriculum design and implementation
attendance at teachers� meetings and workshops
writing evaluation comments and preparing evaluation reports
essay and journal correction
execution of duties as an assistant Homeroom teacher
implementation of teachers� policy
participation in micro-teaching group presentations
being at work on time and leaving work after assigned working hours

The Employee�s duties and responsibilities, as well as the academic programs, may be modified, from time to time, after being agreed upon by both the Employee and the Employer. Any modification(s) in the Employee�s duties and responsibilities, and/or academic programs, shall not constitute a termination of the Employment, constructive or otherwise if not agreed upon before hand by both parties.

The Employee�s schedule will be different during the summer and winter sessions of the school year. Each session will be 4-6 weeks long, and will take place in January and July/August of each year. During these sessions, overtime will be required. The Employee may work longer than the usual working hours with a class load of 10 classes. Overtime rules will apply and the Employee will be compensated as outlined within this agreement. Due to the way the Korean education system works, this schedule is unavoidable. The Employer understands that this is a heavy load and the Employee�s appreciation is greatly appreciated.

There is one main area where the Employee may be asked to come in on his/her off duty time.

It is for student placement testing. In this case, the Employee will be asked to assess students� English ability to determine what level the student is at. Additionally, the Employee may need to correct the written placement examinations. These tests will be approximately 2 hours long and may take place a couple of times a month. Time required to conduct these tests will be considered overtime and paid as such. These events may occur on any day of the week or on an Employee�s day off. TOPIA management will seek volunteers first for these occasions. If sufficient participation is not volunteered, the management will need to assign these duties, evenly throughout the Employees, to meet the needs of the school. Taking days off from the Employees will be as limited as possible.

The Employee by entering into this Agreement attests and warrants that he/she is the holder of at least a Bachelor�s degree and has a valid passport enabling him or her to travel freely in and out of his/her country of citizenship.

The Employee agrees to supply the Employer with a copy of his/her University Degree and to allow such degree with a copy of his/her alien registration card to be posted at the school, as per Korean Labor Regulations.

The Employee must also supply the Employer with 3 passport-sized photos upon his/her arrival. The photos will be used in TOPIA�s advertising flyers and the TOPIA website. Additionally the Employee must provide an email address to be posted on the TOPIA website. This email address can be one designed specifically for said purpose
Term of the Employment

The Employment shall begin 1-3 days after the Employee�s arrival into South Korea. The first 1-3 days will be considered as unpaid leave allowing the Employee to adjust and settle in a bit before beginning employment. �Employment Date�, and unless sooner terminated, as provided below in Section 6 of this Agreement, the Employment shall continue for a period of the �Contract Year� from the �Employment Date� and unless renewed, shall automatically terminate on the �Termination Date�.

No Other Competitive Employment or Activities

During the Employment, the Employee shall diligently and conscientiously devote the required professional/business time, energy, interests, abilities and attention to discharging his duties to the Employer, and shall not, without the express prior written consent of the Employer, render to any other person, corporation, partnership, firm, Employer, joint venture or other entity any services of any kind for compensation, or engage in any other activity that would in any manner whatsoever compete with the Employer, be adverse to any interests of the Employer and/or in any manner whatsoever interfere with the performance of the Employee�s duties for the Employer.

Dual Employment Prohibition

The Employee, after signing the agreement and receiving a work visa, can only legally work for the Institute designated by the Employer. If the Employee works for any other institutes, companies, or individuals without the written consent of the Employer and the Korean Immigration Office, the Employee shall face legal consequences which will/may include a fine and possible deportation.

Compensation and Benefits

During the Employment and subject to the pursuant to Section 8.D (Early Termination by Employee), the Employee shall receive:

Monthly compensation in the amount ___________ Korean Won will be paid based on 30(50-minute) classes per workweek during the described working hours and days. In the event of 60-minute classes during summer special sessions, the Employee will be paid the monthly salary for 25 classes per week. The Employee shall perform his/her duties for 40 hours per week, 5 days per week, Monday through Friday. The Employee will be paid on the 10th of the month for the previous months services rendered. For example, the employee will be paid on September 10th for his/her work in August. Additional classes taught beyond the agreed upon 30/25 periods per week will be compensated as outlined below under letter F.

Salary paid for a partial month�s work will be calculated as follows: Base monthly salary divided by the # of days in the month, multiplied by the number of days worked. For example, if your last day of work is March 19th and your base salary is ___________won, you would divide ___________won by 31 and multiply by 19, for a salary of ___________ won.

Training: the Employee will receive up to 1 week of training. During this training period the Employee will be paid at a rate of 50,000 won per day. The training schedule will follow the normal duties hours outlined within this agreement, 8 hours a day for 5 days.

C. The Employer shall pay for a round-trip ticket between the teacher�s point of departure and In-chon Korea.

Housing

TOPIA has 2 housing options as outlined below. The Employee and the Employer will agree to a housing option prior to the Employee�s arrival and a letter of agreement will be signed by both parties prior to the Employee�s departure from his/her home.

Single housing with furnishings will be supplied by the Employer.

Shared housing may also be provided at the request of the Employee. In this case, the Employee will receive a 200,000 won housing bonus. The Employee will share a 2 bedroom apartment with 1 other Topia Employee. Each Employee will be provided his/her own private room.

In the event the Employees sharing the accommodation do not get along, they must put forth a genuine effort to cohabitate. If the problems are irreconcilable, the Employer will move one of the Employees if possible. This will depend on the availability of other apartments at that time.
The Employer is not responsible for utility charges such as electricity, gas, internet service, telephone charges, and etc.

The Employee will have to share his/her apartment for up to 15 days a maximum of 1 time with a new incoming teacher.

There is a 100,000 won pet deposit. This is not refundable and will be collected from the housing deposit outlined in section �vii� if the Employee arrives with a pet OR buys a pet while here in Korea..
Normal wear and tear maintenance needing to be accomplished on the apartment or furnishings will be paid for by the Employer. In the event the damage is due to the Employee�s negligence, the Employee will be charged for the accomplished maintenance.

The Employee agrees to pay (500,000won) as a housing management deposit. This deposit is to cover unpaid monthly services, utility, and telephone charges. Employer agrees that the deposit will be returned, in full, to the Employee in the event of no outstanding charges. The Employer will deduct 250,000 won per month for the first 2 months where the Employee makes their total base salary (ie. a full month�s work).

This deposit will be paid back to the Employee after all bills that he/she is responsible for have been paid.

The Employee is responsible for paying all utilities and must submit the receipt of payment to the school, no later than the 5th of each month. Failure to do so will result in the withholding of the Employee�s monthly salary until receipts showing payment of utilities are submitted.

Employer agrees to pay the Employee overtime wages for any classes taught in addition to the agreed upon per workweek using the following guidelines:

45 Minute Classes: The Employee will teach 33 classes per week for the base salary. In the event the assigned class load exceeds 33 classes per week, overtime pay will be 16,000 won per class during normal working hours, and 19,000 won for classes falling outside of normal working hours as well as extra classes taught during the winter and summer intensive sessions.

50 Minute Classes: The Employee will teach 30 classes per week for the base salary. In the event the assigned class load exceeds 30 classes per week, overtime pay will be 20,000 won per class during normal working hours, and 23,000 won for classes falling outside of normal working hours as well as extra classes taught during the winter and summer intensive sessions.

60 Minute Classes: The Employee will teach 25 classes per week for the base salary. In the event the assigned class load exceeds 25 classes per week, overtime pay will be 24,000 won per class during normal working hours, and 27,000 won for classes falling outside of normal working hours as well as extra classes taught during the winter and summer intensive sessions.

Teachers scheduled for their base number of classes will be paid their base salary regardless of holidays. Any additional classes taught (i.e. substituting) will be paid at the contractual overtime rate regardless of scheduled holidays.

Teachers scheduled for less than their base number of classes will be paid their base salary regardless of holidays. Additional classes will be paid as overtime if the number of classes taught and the classes missed for a holiday exceed the contractual base.

Teachers scheduled for more than their base number of classes will be paid their base salary regardless of holidays. Their overtime will be compensated on a weekly basis. Holidays cannot be used when calculating overtime. However, any classes taught in additional to regularly scheduled classes (i.e. substituting) will be paid as overtime regardless of holidays.

Medical Insurance; 50% of the premium is paid by the Employee and 50% is paid by the Employer. The premium costs will start from the Employee�s arrival date into Korea. Once you are registered for Korean insurance, you must keep it for the entire term of employment. If you decline your insurance benefit with TOPIA and elect to use this benefit with another school after the employment with TOPIA, TOPIA is not responsible for any of the premiums that you may due upon your acceptance of Korean Insurance.

If both the Employer and the Employee agrees not to register for the Korean Insurance, neither side has any legal responsibilities to pay or to maintain the insurance. However, within the equal range of physical injuries and illnesses the Korean Insurance covers, both the Employer and the Employee will pay 50% each, of the total amounts spent to recover from such physical injuries or illnesses.

Bereavement leave; Bereavement leave will be available and dealt with on an individual basis, as this is not a foreseeable circumstance. Leave taken will be considered unpaid vacation time.

Sick Leave; any days taken off on account of any physical injuries or illnesses will be considered unpaid working time.

Early Leave; If the Employer requests to leave work early, not being able to perform his/her job of teaching, due to severe physical illness, the Employer may leave early only under the approval of the English Department Supervisor.

Paid Vacation; The Employee will be granted 10 days paid vacation when the �Contract Year� is for a �Full-Year�, and 2 days when the �Contract Year� is �less than 3 months�. The Employer will schedule all 2/10 days of paid vacation to coincide with the school�s operating schedule.

In addition to the Employee�s paid vacation, there are also 13-15 Korean National holidays observed in Korea, depending on the calendar year, which the Employee will be granted off.

Severance Pay; Severance pay amount will be equivalent to one month�s salary. It will be paid to the Employee upon the successful completion of this contract.

Late Fine; When the Employee fails to be at work on time, the sum of all missed hours will be considered as an untaught class hour, and 30,000 won will be deducted from his/her monthly payment. For instance, if the employer was late for work 4 times for 30 minutes each time, the Employee will be considered as being an hour late, and for every hour 30,000 won will be deducted from his/her monthly payment.





Termination of Employment.

Early Termination for Cause.
The Employer has the unrestricted right to terminate the Employment at any time for cause. Upon any termination for cause, the Employer�s sole obligation to the Employee shall be to pay the Employee through the date of such early termination his/her earned monthly compensation, and no other benefits such as return trip airline ticket or reimbursement of shipping expenses shall be paid. The Employee shall reimburse the Employer, as liquidated damages, all expenses incurred in anticipation of the Employment of Employee. These expenses are the airfare (as outlined below), and the recruiting fee on a pro-rated basis.
Termination for cause is restricted to:

The Employee�s deliberate and intentional refusal to perform his duties owed to the Employer as provided in this Agreement (Employee�s breach of contract);

The Employee fails to make corrective actions based on written and oral feedback provided by the Employer based on the Employee�s performance and evaluations.

The Employee�s dishonesty and moral turpitude with respect to his relationship with the Employer;

Gross negligence or reckless behavior by the Employee which may result in demonstrable material harm to the Employer; or

Any breach in this Agreement resulting in or which may reasonably be expected to have, a substantial adverse effect upon the Employer, or as may be reasonably expected by the Employer to affect adversely the Employee�s duties pursuant to this Agreement.

The occurrence of any event constituting cause for termination shall permit but not require the Employer to terminate the Employment. The decision to take any other action or no action at all, in response to any such occurrence shall be in the sole and exclusive discretion of the Employer.

Early Termination by the Employer and Employee

The Employer and Employee may terminate this contract with a written 30-day notice. Anything less than 30 days will be considered a breach of contract by the Employer or Employee unless the contract is terminated for cause.
In the event the Employer enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employer shall pay the Employee for the 30-day period after an official termination of employment intent has been given to the Employee.

In the event the Employee enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employee shall reimburse the Employer as liquidated damages all expenses incurred in anticipation of the Employment of Employee which include airfare, and the recruiting fee on a pro-rated basis.

The air fare will be paid back using the following guidelines;
If the Employee has not completed 6 months of the contract, the Employee will pay the Employer for the full amount of the ticket, one-way or roundtrip.
If the Employee has completed 6 months of the contract period, and a roundtrip ticket was purchased, the Employee will reimburse the Employer half the cost of the original price of the ticket.
If a one-way ticket was purchased and the Employee has completed 6 months of the contract, the Employee will not pay the Employer any money and will forfeit a return ticket home.
If the Employee has completed the �Contract Year� and requests to receive the ticket in cash, the Employer shall pay the employee in cash at the exact cost of the air fare to the Employee�s native country, where the Employee originally departed from, and the fare will be set to the exact air fare of two days before the actual Termination Date.


Effect of Termination

Upon termination of the employment after the satisfactory completion of the contract year, or upon any early termination of Employee�s Employment and this Agreement, the following shall occur:

Within two days after the Date of Termination or early termination, the Employer shall pay Employee all earned but unpaid monthly compensation.

Immediately after the Date of Termination, Employee shall deliver to the Employer all of the Employer�s personal property, documents, records and other items in Employee�s possession or custody.

Sole and Entire Agreement.

This Agreement is the sole, complete and entire contract, agreement and understanding between the Employer and the Employee concerning the Employment; the terms and conditions of the Employment; the duration of the Employment, the termination of the Employment and the compensation and benefits to be paid and provided by the Employer to the Employee pursuant to the Employment. This Agreement supersedes any and all prior contracts, agreements, correspondence, letters of intent, understandings, and/or negotiations, whether oral or written, concerning the Employment; the terms and conditions of the Employment; the duration of the Employment; the termination of the Employment and/or the compensation and benefits to be paid by the Employer to the Employee pursuant to the Employment.
Applicable Law and Venue

This agreement and each and every provision hereof shall be interpreted pursuant to the laws of the Republic of Korea without regard to any conflicts of law principles, and the venue in which a claim, action or lawsuit may be brought shall be exclusively the Republic of Korea.




IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Employer and the Employee have each duly executed this Agreement on the dates set forth below their respective signatures.
TEZ Representative

(The �Employer�) (The �Employee�)

Signed____________________________ Signed ___________________________

Dated:__________________________ Dated:_________________________