Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rookies]

Ok I think we are going to sign this contract. Any major flaws we should adjust before signing?

Thanks again to everyone



The following contract is an employment agreement between ___________________to be referred to as the (instructor), (employee) or (Party A) and the school to referred to as the (institute), (employer) or (Party B) from this point forward.


Ⅰ. Period of Employment
The instructor will be employed by the institute for the following dates.
From . 2004 To . 2005

Ⅱ. Schedule
The number of regular teaching hours will be 30hours per week, 6 hours daily.
Contractual class hours will be held from Monday to Friday. (N.B.: class preparation time is not included), class and teaching are scheduled in accordance with the needs of the Institute but reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate Employee's requests .

Ⅲ. Salary
Party B (Institute) will pay a monthly salary of __2.3___ million won (Korean currency) to Party A (Instructor).
A tax about 3~5% will be withheld by the Korean Government.
Over time rate for each hour will be 18,000won but Party A has the right to refuse overtime
Party A�s first pay check will be paid one month after his first day of teaching and pay day will stay the same day of each month for the duration of the contract. Also Instructor (Party A) will be paid an extra one month salary as a severance pay upon successfully finishing the 1 year contract.

Ⅳ. Airfare
Employer agrees to provide a round trip economy ticket to Korea. Also employer agrees to pay for the cost to obtain proper E-2 visa for visa run if employee is locally hired.


Ⅴ. Accommodation
Employer agrees to provide a rent-free furnished single housing or 2 bedroom housing for a couple. Employee is responsible for a payment of a monthly utility bill including gas, water, electricity, telephone and maintenance fee. (How much is the maintenance fee?)

Ⅵ. Insurance
A medical and accident insurance plan from an insurance company or Korean government will be offered to the instructor. Employer further agrees to pay 50% of the monthly premium. Employee is responsible for the other 50%, and Employee's portion of the monthly premium is made through deduction from salary. Dental and pre-existing conditions are not included.

2 OF 3

Ⅶ. Instructor's duties

A. English teacher/ Instructor:
Employee as an English teacher, will direct and guide the students in conversational English, and as such, minimal class preparation is required. Employee will be provided with the books and using the provided books employ will develop teaching materials necessary to conduct the class. Employee is expected to conduct the class without assistance.

B. Native English speaker:
Employee, as a native speaker, will instruct the students in pronunciation exercises. Employee will be provided with the necessary material to conduct such exercises. Employee may be assisted by a Korean English teacher.

C. The instructor will set a good positive example at all times. The instructor will follow set class schedules and will not dismiss class, cancel classes, start classes late without the approval of the director. The instructor should be good health and will submit proof of his/her health condition check up before or upon arrival.

Ⅷ. Holidays/annual leave/tardiness notification procedures:
A. Holidays:
There are 13 to 15 Korean holidays per year. Employee is not required to work on these days.

B. Annual Vacation: Employee is permitted 10 working days of paid leave per year. Employ shall take his or her vacation accordingly with the school�s vacation 5 days in summer and 5 days in winter.

C. Unpaid leave: Unpaid leave is permitted only under extreme and unusual circumstance. Extreme and unusual circumstance includes, but not limited to, death or serious illness of self or immediate family member. Upon presentation of proper notice and proof to the Employer, Employee may be granted up to seven days of unpaid leave.

D. Sick leave: Employee is permitted up to 3 days of paid sick leave per year. Unused sick leave may not be taken as annual leave. In order to be eligible for paid sick leave, when Employee is unable to attend class due to illness, he or she shall notify Employer, with an accompanying proof of illness from a physician, at least a half an hour prior to the commencement of the class. If Employee fails to notify Employer with proper of illness, the employer has the right to deduct one day's pay for every day the employee is absent from work.

E. Tardiness: If Employee is more than 10 minutes late without notification, equal number of min. of pay may be deducted.

3 OF 3
Ⅸ. Release from contract
Both parties have the right to make the contract null and void under one of the following circumstances:
A. The health of the Employee (Party A) is such that it is deemed impossible for the Employee to continue work
B. Blatant misconduct by Employee either professionally or otherwise. (For Example?)
C. Employee, employer or dependants violate Korean law.
D. In the event of war, civil strife, or other disturbances or matters that are deemed by either the Employee's government or Korean government as being unusual and of adequate reason for leaving the country, provided that official document from respective embassies presented.

Notification Requirement: Employer or Employee may annul the contract by giving a minimum of one month advance notice in writing. In the case of Employer or Employee seeking annulment, reasonable and adequate grounds must be provided in order for the contract to be dissolved. Reasonable and adequate grounds for annulment includes, but not limited to, persistent blatant and gross misconduct(For Example), conducting classes under the influence of intoxicants, continual absence and/or tardiness for classes. If Employee or Employer desires arbitration, a mutually agreed upon third party must be provided to settle the matter. Employee or Employer may seek annulment in cases where, employer or employee does not complete the terms as they are required to complete according to the contract.

Ⅹ. Legal action
If there is a dispute between the parties involved in this contract, parties agree to the final judgement of a Korean civil court, or Korean civil law, whatever the final decision may be. If at anytime Employee leaves Institution without giving prior one month notice and without going through the appropriate procedures listed above, Employer has the right to pursue legal actions, for damages and attorney fees, against Employee. If Employee has left Korea altogether, Employer has the right to pursue legal actions outside of Korea.

Signature of Employer :
Name of Institute
Employer� full name
Signature of Employee :
Employee� full name

Date / / dd/mm/yy

[panthermodern]

Hi, I wish to help:

[hellofaniceguy]

Nope. First find out the EXACT times for teaching.
If it's split shifts, 6:30 am and late evenings....forget it!
Legal action outside of korea if you cause a problem! What a joke!
If you leave korea...what...they going to sue you in your home country?

[jajdude]

[Saxiif]

Happy to serve, happy to serve...

[prosodic]

I think you should sign it as is. It's the first time I've seen a posted contract that doesn't significantly violate Korean law, at least not as far as I know. With other contracts I've seen posted here, I usually notice two or three clauses minimum that would be ruled invalid by the Ministry of Labor.

Hellofaniceguy makes a good point about split shifts and times, but having a legally valid contract can contribute to your peace of mind. The one thing I would perhaps discuss changing is the wording of the severance clause. I would rewrite it as:

"Upon completion of the one year contract, the Employer must pay Severance Pay prescribed as one month��s salary calculated as the average of the Employee��s last three months salary. Severance Pay must be paid as a lump sum at least 3 working days prior to completion of the contract."

Read the recent thread on severance for the details. I wrote a long post on the details of how severance is supposed to be calculated. I'm not going to write it again.

http://www.eslcafe.com//forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=24474

[FUBAR]

Everything looks fine except for the schedule.

Get them to put one 50 minute class = 1 hour teaching. (it seems self explanatory but sometimes it isn't)

For prep time, does that include monthly reports and phone calls. If so, that prep time can add up.

Get the specific working hours listed, just to make sure you aren't doing split shifts.

Otherwise it looks ok. That being said, a contract is only as good as the director's word. If the person is honest, then you will have no problems.

[rookies]

Thanks for all the help guys.