Korean Job Discussion Forums

[makemischief]

How to put it briefly:

My friend, a good teacher (a friendly public school teacher from the states) but a bit overeager to sign a contract, goes and does so without a full perusal of the various clauses.

Fast Forward: The job is nasty, etc. You've heard it all before. Nothing that would qualify as an official "breach of contract" on the part of the school, but more than enough to make him try to find other employment.

But his contract has some bad bits that make it hard to leave.

Here is the clause:
"In case of termination of contract before the completion of this one-year service by the INSTRUCTOR (except for unavoidable reasons such as the Instructor��s serious illness or accident) the INSTRUCTOR is to return to the INSTITUTE the cost of the airfare thus incurred and one month��s salary."

I figure he will have to pay the airfare, but paying back the one month's salary- is that type of punitive measure even legal?

If it is, well, he's SOL.
If not, what steps would you reccommend so that he can:
a. not pay it (legally). no runners.
b. get it so he can move to a new job, preferably without waiting till the intial contract time period expires (ie a release letter- unlikely to be given in this situation without the payment of a month's salary/bribe)

any ideas would be much appreciated. many thanks.

Joshua

[bellum99]

Best thing to do...finish the contract. Unless you can't do it. The person really should just try to finish the contract. (Learn for next time.)

Second best thing.....talk to the boss about things and try to fix the problems. Sometimes talking to the boss can cause more problems.

Third best thing...try to get a fair release from the contract.

Fourth best thing....go back home.

[kprrok]

If I were your friend and the boss wouldn't let him/her leave on good terms, I'd start teaching really crappily until they found reason to be fired. Then they'd be free to find a new job and not have to pay anything back.

KPRROK

[Grotto]

considering that the punitive parts violate the labour laws I would suggest he contact the local labour board and get them to mediate it.

Labour boards have previously ruled that the paying back of airfare should be pro-rated....IE you dont have to pay back anything for the ticket here after 6 months and if you havent recieved your ticket home there is nothing to pay back.

One month punitive damages its called a midnight run if it comes down to that

[ontheway]

Bellum99 got it right. Since you didn't give us a good reason to quit, except that it's "nasty", your friend should finish the contract. "Life's a 'beach' and then you die" is the old saying.

If the situation is really impossible, he/she should try telling the boss that certain specific things need to change or he'll have to quit. Pick only the most important thing or things to complain about. Then be calm but adamant about changing or quitting. But, if taking this approach, it is imperative not to back down. Some compromise is possible, but if you cave in after demanding changes then things will only get worse.

[Demonicat]

Agree with Kprrok, If the contract is truly horrible (salcious details please), but he/she enjoys Korea- then he/she should attempt to get fired WITH A LETTER OF RELEASE.

[babtangee]

[tzechuk]

what is SOL?

[some waygug-in]

[Hater Depot]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[kprrok]

[makemischief]

if he gets fired (detailed in a clause above the one i posted) he does not have to pay. it doesn't guarantee him a release letter if he gets fired though either and that is the tricky thing. hypothetically if he is fired he will get it, but in practical terms..... hmmmm. difficult? or not?

thanks again for any thoughts on this. if he ever wants to leave this job and teach before the end of his contract without a big bribe this seems like the best option.

my only other thought (well, not mine really- more pieced together from different pieces of advice from the efl website forums):

what about resigning, paying airfare and officially noting that he disagrees with the salary payment, but paing it nevertheless and then just filing claim when he has his new job and the time to go to court?

[bellum99]

Hahaha.....do you know how many teachers in Korea have said these stupid words "I will get a lawyer and take you to court." I will talk to the labor board is also a very popular one. One thing is fact...neither you nor anyone you know will ever take anyone in Korea to court and win.

The costs of even getting a lawyer that will take the case is expensive as hell. The lawyer would be double whatever the money owed to you is. The truth is that the lawyer wouldn't even take the case....they don't have to you know.

We have so little power over here. We don't know the language, the culture and we for sure don't know the legal system (most Koreans don't know it). On top of all of these things is the fact that most teachers are poor...and I mean really really poor.

So the talk about filing a legal suit against the school sounds stupid since it has never produced a win for the teacher. The legal system is not designed the same way as in western countries because we aren't in a western country.

This is to counter the comments about the labor board that I made. Yes, they can convince a boss, who is foolish, but not a boss who knows the system. The labor board has no teeth...they can only bark.

So if the teacher you are talking about just takes whatever money he or she is offered and thinks about using the effective legal system to recover the rest of the supposedly owed money, they should think again. They will not get the money.

[Grotto]

bellum99...you posting drunk again?

I know several people who have taken hogwans, uni's and even one public school to the labour board and won.

Ps. You ass is for sitting on...not talking out of!