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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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daxdefranco
Joined: 04 Jul 2009
Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju
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 Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:58 am Post subject: contract question/pre-job runner-ish |
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I've recently signed a contract for a job starting 02 March, but tonight I was offered a far superior position at a university. Can I get out of the first contract?
If so, how? |
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Skippy
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon
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| Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:02 am Post subject: |
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Have you been issued a Visa issuance number. If not you golden, just call up the place and say sorry no go. Thru you might have to loose any paper work you submitted. If you have been given the number I think you are screwed.
Good Luck |
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lalartu
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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actually if you've signed the contract already, by law, you are required to start work unless the school agrees to nullify it. that is assuming you are already on a Korean visa. if you're still in your home country, it doesn't matter much.
if you're in Korea and if they are nice enough and say yes, you're good. if they say no, they can either demand a huge penalty payment (up to 2 000 000 won) or sue you for even more.
my wife had to pay something like 500 000 for canceling her contract early a few years back and there was no legal way out of it |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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Nope.
Sign it but there is NO obligation (on your part or on their part) if they have not assumed your sponsorship yet.
They CANNOT legally impose a penalty in an employment contract (prohibited under the labor standards act)
and if they sue an individual for breach of a labor contract (non performance) they can only collect "out of pocket" costs and NOT punitive damages (they can collect airfare costs if they paid for your ticket but not damages "because they couldn't enroll new students due to the lack of a teacher").
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TheresaTheresa
Joined: 24 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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I love runner-ish threads!
I also think I love runners - do your thing! |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:02 am Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
Nope.
Sign it but there is NO obligation (on your part or on their part) if they have not assumed your sponsorship yet.
They CANNOT legally impose a penalty in an employment contract (prohibited under the labor standards act)
and if they sue an individual for breach of a labor contract (non performance) they can only collect "out of pocket" costs and NOT punitive damages (they can collect airfare costs if they paid for your ticket but not damages "because they couldn't enroll new students due to the lack of a teacher").
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If you were hired as a new teacher to teach prospective students, then it would be difficult for a school to prove that it could have filled the seats of your untaught classes with unenrolled students, unless such students have already interviewed and pre-enrolled.
However, if the school is unable to continue teaching students that actually exist due to your breach of contract, you can be sued for all tuition lost. This would include all tuition payments for all students for a period of up to two months that it could take to replace you. It would also include losses for any students lost permanently based on the average total enrollment period of students at the school.
You could be held for damages amounting to tens of millions of won, and the school would win absolutely. Such a large award could then be collected from you internationally including the use of professional collection agencies that could acquire an interest in the award. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:09 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| ttompatz wrote: |
Nope.
Sign it but there is NO obligation (on your part or on their part) if they have not assumed your sponsorship yet.
They CANNOT legally impose a penalty in an employment contract (prohibited under the labor standards act)
and if they sue an individual for breach of a labor contract (non performance) they can only collect "out of pocket" costs and NOT punitive damages (they can collect airfare costs if they paid for your ticket but not damages "because they couldn't enroll new students due to the lack of a teacher").
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If you were hired as a new teacher to teach prospective students, then it would be difficult for a school to prove that it could have filled the seats of your untaught classes with unenrolled students, unless such students have already interviewed and pre-enrolled.
However, if the school is unable to continue teaching students that actually exist due to your breach of contract, you can be sued for all tuition lost. This would include all tuition payments for all students for a period of up to two months that it could take to replace you. It would also include losses for any students lost permanently based on the average total enrollment period of students at the school.
You could be held for damages amounting to tens of millions of won, and the school would win absolutely. Such a large award could then be collected from you internationally including the use of professional collection agencies that could acquire an interest in the award. |
You ARE kidding, right?
As I've asked before, has this EVER happened to anyone? I'm not saying that it hasn't, but so far I've never heard of a single teacher successfully being sued for quitting, running, losing students, or anything else like this. If this has ever happened, I'd love to hear about it. But until then, I think you can rest soundly knowing that your boss/ex-boss is just trying to intimidate you. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:22 am Post subject: |
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| Troglodyte wrote: |
You ARE kidding, right?
As I've asked before, has this EVER happened to anyone? I'm not saying that it hasn't, but so far I've never heard of a single teacher successfully being sued for quitting, running, losing students, or anything else like this. If this has ever happened, I'd love to hear about it. But until then, I think you can rest soundly knowing that your boss/ex-boss is just trying to intimidate you. |
No, not kidding.
However, it is unlikely that any school would find itself in this position. The school has an obligation to mitigate damages. That means if you give them time to replace you, or if they have other teachers to cover your classes, or a way to place students in other classes or any way to reduce the damage caused by the person who quits suddenly, never shows up, or runs, then they must do so. This is also in the interest of the employer since they will be better off if they lose less money.
Once a school takes every step to mitigate damages, which is in their own best interest and legally required, it is unlikely that any remaining damages will rise to a level to make a lawsuit financially viable. The damages would have to be quite large to cover the costs of attorneys and the time cost of such an action.
However, we do see such legal action taken in the case of performers who fail to show for some concert or other event. There have been many published cases in the media with multimillion dollar suits and multimillion dollar judgements or multimillion dollar settlements out of court.
Schools are not in this ballpark in terms of financial damages. It would probably take a loss exceeding 40 million won to approach the level required for any serious legal action. And the school must consider not only the damages, but the likelyhood of success and the ability of some poor teacher with no assets to pay in any reasonable timeframe.
In the hypothetical case of the OP here it is possible that the school could get a replacement in time or take other steps so that there would be no damages whatsoever.
Hypotheticals are fun but real cases would be more interesting. I've heard of criminal cases against foreign teachers here, but none that were solely financial. In criminal cases the government has an interest in pursuing the party charged and the victim can collect financial damages in a separate or sometimes joined action.
The current case against CDI should be interesting. That could take months or years (or be settled out of court, dismissed or dropped).
It must be said, however, that being able to escape responsibility for one's actions does not obviate the moral obligation of honoring one's contracts. It's sad when people want to get away with something instead of having some sense of personal responsibility and honesty. It seems to be the whole world these days. |
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