Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rainsong23]

I am looking at a contract from a school. There is something that doesn't seem quite right about the severence pay. Isn't Korean law such that you are given equivalent to one month salary as severence. The article about severence reads . . .

S. Severance pay amount will be equivalent to one month��s salary divided by 12 and multiply by 11. It will be paid to the Employee upon the successful completion of this contract.

Now it seems to me if you divide a month's salary by 12 and then multiply by 11 you are getting less than one month equivalent. Is this method of calculating severence within the scope of the law?

Also when I asked the recruiter (RBI) the name of the school I was told the name of the school is Masan Cham. But one area of the contract reads "THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (��this Agreement��) is made by and between Jang-Ho English School . . .located in Masan, South Korea"
then in the section about housing the same contract reads . . .

"M. Housing
Topia has 2 housing options as outlined below."

Now is Topia a housing company? I don't know where or what Topia is, since the school is supposedly called something else.

The rest of the contract seemed fair and straight forward enough but should I be getting a red flag about these aspects of the contract? Any input would be appreciated.

The final thing. I asked about the director's english and this is question and the response.

"Who is the director? Does the director speak english well? I find this is very important if one needs to discuss issues with the director.
-The director's English is uncertain, but you will have a head teacher/manager at your school and her English is very good. She runs the school completely so all issues will be discussed with her. "

Is this a red flag or pretty normal? My last director didn't have great English and at times it made things a bit difficult. Is it common for the director to be hands off while someone else runs the school. My last hogwan was run by the director and their were no head teachers or anything like that who I dealt with. I don't want to be too distrusting as the salary and some other aspects sound ok. But I don't want to get into a bad situation either.

[J.B. Clamence]

[oneiros]

In regards to the "Topia" clause..

It's possible that your school doesn't have an English contract, so someone decided to recycle a contract from another school, and failed to edit all references to the other school name out.

I'd still ask about both clauses, though.

[the eye]

you are entitled to 1 full months severence pay. if the company is willing to duck employment law and cheat you on that...well...
the lack of care in the contract regarding the company name is also a red flag to me.

have you talked to any teachers there on the telephone? how long has the present owner been in control of this business? how many teachers work there...less than 4 total? how many students?

[Grotto]

negotiate.

In two of my contracts I simply changed the sections I didnt like, signed the modified copy and sent it back. If they dont check the contract for changes before they sign it, tough noogies!

[tomwaits]

Summer 03 I worked at a school that seemed to be called both Topia and something else. I asked around . Apparently Topia are a huge corporation--the Korean Revlon or something. I'm sure someone knows more. If true you won't have to worry about going belly-up. They were OK and had an axcellent manager...

Don't know about this 1/11th stuff. Is the contract less than a year? Just ask them outright,,,

[rainsong23]

I did speak to a teacher, but it seems the school they want me at is not the same as his. He was honest, said he was paid on time but did butt heads. He did say that it was not a good idea to sign at the other schools since he has a coworker that works at both schools and it is not good. Now I kind of suspect they are trying a bait and switch to get me to a not so good school by letting me talk to a teacher at a slightly better school. He didn't even know I was not being sought out for his school until I asked him about the different names on the contract and who the director was. He had to ask someone else and then found out they wanted me for a different school.

I am pretty sure I am not going to sign (at least not this contract with this particular school), there have been too many suspicious things. About his own particular school he said pay was good and on time but it was not stress free. Lots of responsibility that other hogwans don't have, phone calls and essay checking or something. He said he was not going to resign and was a little confused why they asked him to call me since he was not going to give a nice shiny account. He did say it would be a half decent first position in Korea and the pay was alot better than my first place, but it definately seems to come with headaches. And it my case it might be worse than his since I seem to be getting deceived as to what school I am actually going to.

[prairieboy]

The severance calculation is supposed to be based on your average monthly wage during your final 3 months of employment. That is supposed to be your gross (including overtime payments), not just an extra month of pay at your normal salary.

This is in the labour standards act, but may not apply to your situation if the school has less than 5 full-time employees.

Search the board, this has been covered before.

Cheers

[sadsac]

Too many inconsistencies. You need to clarify them or you will surely have a very unhappy experience. Ask the questions, if they are not forth coming with the answers then don't accept the position.

[Grotto]

Prairieboy wrote

[just because]

Topia in Masan....don't sign.

I know a guy who works there quite well, good guy but having lots of problems with just mismanagement and low student numbers.

Having lots of problems there and they are illegally shipping the foreigner out to different hagwons without immigrations approval. hence the inconsistencies in the names in the contract.

The head teacher does speak good english(and French) though.

Bad news.