Korean Job Discussion Forums

[marista99]

Hi all,
I've been offered this contract. If those of you who have experience with these things could look it over and give me your overall impression, potential problems, or issues I should raise with the school, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!



These parties agree as follows:

I) Description of services provided by the employee:

1) The employee will be responsible for conducting professional, well-planned English language classes, in any and all phases of the instructional program, and will be expected to perform all duties related to the classroom work, such as Student Evaluations, Monthly Schedules, new student interviews and lesson plans, as well as any other administrative duties assigned by the academic supervisor.

2) The employee will dress and behave in an appropriately professional manner.

3) The employee may be required to work split shifts and some Saturdays as the situation demands. The employee may be required to teach outside and apart from the place of employment.

4) The employee must attend all teachers�� meetings and staff training sessions.

5) The employee will work for the employer only. Any other employment is contrary to Korean law, and will be considered a breach of contract and is the cause for immediate dismissal.


6) Unless otherwise agreed to in writing, the employee understands and accepts that the rights to use, sell, distribute or publish all original material produced by the employee during the course of employment and for which the employee is compensated as either regular pay, overtime or in an agreed-upon lump sum, remain the sole property of the employer.

7) The employee understands and agrees that at all times during the term of this agreement, the employee will strictly adhere to and obey all laws, regulations, provisions, instructions and guidance from the Government of Korea (ROK) or any local government or officials thereof. Furthermore, he/she will conduct himself/herself in a manner that does not detract from the reputation or the good name of the institute.

The employee will accept, follow and strictly comply with the instructions, supervision, guidance, training and discipline of the Academic Supervisor (or any other manager as the employer shall designate) and will carry out such assignments such as planning the lessons, attending staff meetings and workshops, leaving records of the lessons, etc. as directed. The Employer is responsible for establishing performance standards relative to the employee and is empowered to take all reasonable steps to assure that those standards are met. This includes the establishment of curriculum and the approval of all-teaching materials and aids that the employee shall use.

9) The employer has the right to dismiss the employee for neglecting their duties after being warned or for criminal or other conduct inside or outside the place of employment that would, in the opinion of the academic supervisor, seriously jeopardize any student or staff person, reputation of or financially harming (by misuse or destruction of school property or housing) the employer. The employer also has the right to dismiss the employee should teaching hours of the institute not be sufficient for the employee��s retention. In such a case, the employer will retain sole discretion as to which employees will be terminated.

10) The employee will indemnify and hold harmless the employer and the employers�� representatives from any damages which the employee may sustain, in any manner, through the misconduct or willful negligence of the employee or through the refusal by the Government of Korea to permit entry into the Republic of Korea.

11) Should the employee voluntarily resign prior to the termination of the term of this agreement, or breach the contract in any way, the employer will not be obligated to pay the cost of return transportation to the employee��s point of hire. The employer may also require the employee to reimburse the employer for costs of airfare from the employees�� point of hire to Korea and for any other costs associated with the recruiting of the employee.

12) The employee will pay any cancellation charges or other expenses the employer incurs due to the premature cancellation of the lease of the apartment the employer originally provided for the employee, if any, if such a cancellation is the result of the employee��s premature termination of this contract or eviction of the employee from the apartment caused by the employee��s negligence or misconduct. These expenses will be deducted from the employee��s salary.

13) The employee must give written notice if he/she is not able to teach a class, at least one day in advance. Should the employee not teach an assigned class (without notification), the employee may be dismissed and this agreement terminated.


14) The employee cannot take any days off during the teaching year unless the employee requests this well in advance to the employer and the employer approve in writing and provided that the employee finds a suitable replacement to teach the lessons. In such a case, the employee should not take more than 5 working days off a year and will not be compensated. Furthermore, the employee will reimburse the difference between the employee��s pay and the replacement��s pay and the amount will be deducted from the employee��s salary. In addition, the replacement must be approved and interviewed by the School��s academic supervisor.

15) In case the employee is late for classes, refuses to teach a lesson, or disobeys any order or instruction given by the academic supervisor, the employer will warn the employee, and if the employee persists in his/her misconduct, the employee will be dismissed.


II) Description of benefits provided by the employer:

1) The employer shall provide an economy airfare ticket from the employees�� point of hire to Seoul. The employer shall also provide the employee with a ticket for an economy seat from Seoul to the employee��s point of hire upon the satisfactory completion of this contract. Should the employer purchase the return ticket prior to the start of the contract, the employee is required to submit it to the employer.

2) The employer shall pay 50% of the premium for the employees�� health plan which is administered through The English Friends Foreign Language Institute.

3) The employer will select and provide furnished living accommodations for the employee. The accommodation will be in a three bedroom apartment or house which the employee will share with another employee. The employer shall provide basic furniture items and appliances such as a bed, a kitchen table and chairs, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a gas stove, a television and a telephone device (not service). The employer will pay the rent for the apartment. The employer will not pay for utilities such as power, water, gas, and heating costs.

4) Utilities, high-rise service charges (if applicable), and telephone charges for the accommodation provided will be immediately shared and paid by the employees living together.

5) In the event that the employee does not choose to live in the apartment or house thus secured by the employer after the first month, the employer will, instead of providing the apartment, pay the employee an additional 200,000 won per month as a housing allowance, and provide 5,000,000 won as a deposit for an apartment (which must be returned to the employer at the end of the contract). The employer shall not be responsible for finding an alternative apartment, nor for furnishing such an apartment.

6) The employer shall pay the employee a salary of 1,900,000 won per month for 30 hours per week of classroom instruction (1800 minutes) and for the activities described in Section I1 at the beginning of this contract. Specific teaching hours are not guaranteed under this contract and the employer retains the sole right to schedule the employee based upon the requirements of the business. If the teaching hours exceed one hundred and twenty hours in any given month or exceed thirty hours in any given week, the employee will receive 15,000 won per hour as overtime pay. Should the employee participate in curriculum development, creating teaching materials, or administrative activities (assigned by the supervising teacher) over their regular schedule of thirty hours, the employee shall receive 10,000 won per hour. The employee must work for an average of thirty hours and may be required to perform administrative duties as a part of those thirty hours. Korean income taxes, health plan, and pension will be with held from the employees' salary.

7) The employee must allocate sufficient time each day to plan their daily classes. The instructor is free to plan at a location convenient to the instructor. If a performance evaluation determines that the instructor is not properly preparing for classes, the manager will discuss this with the instructor and develop a plan for addressing the manager��s concerns. The school retains the right to require that instructors plan their classes at the school for up to one hour per day if necessary.

7a) A bonus equal to one months salary (conditional upon performance as assessed by the academic supervisor) will be paid to the employee, once all outstanding utility bills and obligations are paid, after the successful completion of this contract. If this is not the case, such expenses may be deducted from the bonus, and/or the employee��s salary.

7b) The employer agrees to review the employees' performance after 4 months of employment. If the employee has performed exceptionally well, the employer may give the employee an increase in salary. This increase and the amount is up to the discretion of the academic supervisor.

The employee is entitled to two weeks of paid vacation, one week which must be taken when the school is closed, generally during the months of December/January and a second week which can be taken at anytime with advance notice of at least 45 days. The school will attempt to provide, but not guarantee, vacations of one week in length. The employee will have a maximum of three paid sick days. Thereafter, such days will be unpaid. The employee must be able to provide proof of illness to receive a sick day. The employee won��t be expected to work during National Holidays, as well as Sundays, since the School will be closed. Korean election days are not considered National Holidays and the employee must work on those days.

9) The employer will not be obligated to reimburse the employee for any expenses incurred for the employment application procedures.

10) The employer will undertake all the pertinent steps and measures in order to obtain a residence visa and work permit (E-2) for the employee. For this purpose, the employee will furnish the employer with all the documents that the employer requests, such as the original or certified copy of their University degree, transcripts, etc. The employer will not be held responsible if the Korean authorities refuse to grant the visa. The expenses incurred by the employee will not be reimbursed.

11) Three months before the expiration of this contract, both parties should notify each other as to whether or not they will renew this contract for another year. The parties will then renegotiate the salary and terms of employment for the 2nd year.
12) The laws of The Republic of Korea shall govern this agreement.

13) This contract is valid for one year and shall commence with the first day of employment.

[Grotto]

It sucks...BIG TIME

1. You are responsible for all curriculum development...it appears they neither offer or supply a curriculum.

2. Split shifts and Saturdays NO freaking way

3. Way too much paper work being asked for (record of lesson, multiple managers)

4. You 'may' also be required to repay airfare.

5. Written notice one day in advance for absence Dear sir I plan on being struck by a car tomorrow on my way to work please excuse my absence.

6. Holidays, you have to find your own replacement PLEASE not your job they have to do something.

7. Can be fired for lateness or refusal to teach a class. Refer to #2 split shifts, one at 7 am another at 11 pm?

8. Shared accomodations

9. Only 200,000 won living allowance? Should be a minimun of 300,000.

10. Low pay 1.9 for Saturdays and split shifts? Only if you are stupid.

11. 30 hours of classroom instruction can make 37 hours a week at the school without split shifts.

12. Employer can arbitrarily force overtime on teacher

13. Two rates for overtime? 15,000 and 10,000.

14. Plan for your classes for 1 hour per day....paid or unpaid?

15. Bonus is conditional No it isnt it is required by Korean law

16. Korean election days are National holidays and you should not have to work.

17. You have to pay for your own visa costs Every institution I have seen reimburses the teacher for those costs.

18. 3 months before contract is expired you have to state whether you are staying? Iffy. They could use this time to drive you out or terminate you. They could also use this time to actually find a replacement.

19. You can be forced to work at other locations. This is illegal unless your E-2 has been modified to okay it.

On the all in all it is a crappy contract worded entirely in the schools favor. You have to work when and where they want you to. 6 days a week sucks. 1.9 sucks.

I would walk away from this nightmare.

[marista99]

Would anyone be willing to post/link to a good contract? It would be nice to have something generally deemed to be reasonable, to compare.

[CanadaCommando]

Now, I may not be the contract guru some people here are, so I will only list the top three reasons why I think you would have to be INSANE to sign this contract.

[Juggertha]

[marista99]

Wow, this scares me, because I didn't think it seemed that bad.

Are good contracts out there? How do you get one? Grrr, back to square one again...

[peppermint]

[mog]

[oneiros]