Korean Job Discussion Forums

[naanq2]

I was offered a job at Golden Bough. After I received the contract and finished laughing, I voiced my concerns to the owner, Mr. Park Jin-young. Needless to say, I have not heard from him since. Without getting into a long discourse, I am a licensed attorney in the US and the points of clarification I asked for are standard labor terms in any jurisdiction, even to the seemingly arbitrarily-applied laws of Korea. That said, I have attached the contract for your persual and enjoyment. Good luck Mr. Park Jin-young. By the way, if anybody is considering this place, do NOT sign this poor excuse for a contract....you will have few to no rights.

Employment Contract

This agreement (hereinafter referred to as �contract�) is made between Joongang Ilbo EduLine Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as �contractor� or �employer�), and ________________ (hereinafter referred to as �contractee� or �employee�).

Employer:

Employee:

Employee�s date of birth:

Employee�s nationality:

Employee�s permanent address:

Employee�s telephone number:

Employee�s passport number:

Employee�s position: Debating/Writing Teacher

Period of contract: One year (may be extended upon mutual agreement)


The parties agree as follows:

I. TERM OF CONTRACT
This contract will be valid of a period beginning and ending

II. TEACHING DUTIES

1. Regular Duties: During the term of this agreement, the contractee will be required to prepare for teaching and caring out all required administrative duties connected with classes assigned by the contractor. Hours spent in office preparing lessons, photocopying materials, student counseling or evaluation, and other work related to the Institute. No regular schedule of work hours can be guaranteed to contractee. Payment made for assigned teaching periods is inclusive of payment for preparation and administrative duties connected with those assigned classes. The purpose of meetings and workshops is to inform contractees of matters relating to contractees� duties and the institutes operation, or to assist in contractees� professional development. No payment in excess of or in addition to contractee�s monthly salary will be made for attending meetings or workshops scheduled by the contractor.

2. Teaching Hours: The contractor shall perform regular teaching duties and class instruction. The minimum teaching requirement is an average of thirty (30) hours per week, such average being calculated over each month. Monday through Friday are teaching days except for scheduled public holidays and vacation days. Summer and Winter Intensive sessions are exceptions. You may be requested to teach on some Saturdays during these two sessions.


III. TRANSPORATION
The contractor will provide for the contractee a one-way ticket when he travels to Korea. On completion of the full one-year contract period, the contractor will provide for the contractee an economy class return ticket for passage from Korea to U.S. if the contratee doesn�t cause any problems during the period of contract. The return air ticket will be provided when the one-year contract expires and the contractee returns to his home country. In the event that the contractee continues agreement under subsequent agreement with contractor; the return air ticket will be provided at the time of completion of the subsequent contract period(s). Air tickets provided cannot be exchanged for cash equivalents or transferred to persons other than the contractee. The contractor does not agree to, and is not liable for, compensation to contractee, whether in cash or otherwise, for air tickets which are not used by the contractee. If the contractee makes the contract with other schools in Korea after termination of the contract with J Eduline, then J Eduline will not provide the return air ticket.

IV. COMPENSATION

1. Salary: the contractor will pay the contractee the base salary of Korean won for the minimum teaching requirement mentioned above and won for editing students� journals for two months of probation period. After his performance proves satisfactory during this period, the contractor will provide the contractee with million won of base salary and won of journal compensation. Teaching salary will commence from the first day of teaching. Korean income taxes will be deducted from the contrate�s monthly salary. The contractee will be paid at the rate of won for each teaching period in excess of the minimum teaching requirement .

2. Severance payment: Dependent upon completion of at least one full year of employment with the contractor, the contractee will be given one month base salary

3. Holidays and Vacation: the contractee will be entitled to observe Korean national holidays and receive one 10-day vacation during the one-year contract term according to a yearly schedule provided by the contractor before the commencement of the year to which the schedule refers. The contractee cannot ask for vacation days before 6 months of service and during the summer and winter intensive sessions. And the contractee shall submit his/her schedule two months before the desired time.

4. Medical Insurance: the contractee will be covered by medical benefits. The costs of this coverage will be half by the contractor and half by the contractee. The contractor will provide half of the insurance fee to the comtractee in cash and the contractee is responsible for buying insurance.
5. Accident Compensation: In the event that contractee sustains injuries from an accident or mishap which occurs outside the course of normal work duties; contractee understands and agrees that contractor will have no responsibility for, nor obligation to pay, medical and hospital costs which are in excess of these covered by medical insurance.

6. The contractor provides 4-day sick leave to the contractee during the contract period. Pay, shall not be deducted from the monthly salary for these four days in which the employee does not attend work due to illness. This sick leave cannot be compensated in cash after the contract expires, even though the employee has used no sick leave during the contract period. Any day missed which exceed the four day limit shall be deducted at a pro-rate based on that month�s salary increment. The employee shall at all times, in case of missing work days due to illness, obtain and deliver a legitimate note from a licensed medical doctor to the appropriate supervisor before returning to school. If the employee is sick for a total of six consecutive days, the employer reserves the right to terminate this agreement and the employee�s E-2 visa sponsorship. In case of termination due to extended illness, severance pay will not be paid to the employee and return airfare may or may not be paid depending on human consideratin.


V. TAX REPORT
The contractee, as an independent contractee, should report individual income tax or related tax to the Tax Office by May every year according to the Korean Tax Law.

IV. HOUSING

1. Housing: The contractor will select and provide a single apartment with furnished living accommodations for the contractee for the tenure of this contract. The contractor will pay deposit (5,000,000 won) to the owner and will pay a monthly rent. When the contractee wants housing allowances instead of housing, the contractor will pay 350,000 won of monthly allowances. .
2. Furnishings: Furnishings provided by the contractor include: A desk and a chair, a gas stove, a refrigerator, , a television, a washing machine, a mattress, and a hanger.
3. Utilities: The cost of monthly service, utility, and telephone charges for accommodation provided by the contractor will be the contractee�s responsibility.
4. In the event that the contractee vacates contractor-provided accommodation during the contract term, and the lease for the accommodation must be canceled, the contractee agrees to pay any cancellation charges or other expenses, if any, incurred by contractor due to the cancellation of the lease of the accommodation contractor originally found for the contractee.


V. DISMISSAL OR VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION

1. The contractor will have the right to dismiss the contractee for unwillingness or inability to meet conditions of working as set out under this agreement, for conduct seriously jeopardizing any student or staff person, or for criminal activity.
2. In the event that the contractee is dismissed, or in the event that the contractee voluntarily resigns prior to the termination of the term of this agreement, the contractor will pay salary due to date of termination. Contractor will not pay the cost of return transportation to point of departure for contractee, nor will contractor pay any compensation. Further, the contractor will be entitled to withhold 500,000 won.

VI. DATE OF PAYMENT
The contractee�s payment will be calculated based on Part II and will be given on the of the following month.

VII. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTOR TO THE CONTRACTEE
1. The contractor will provide its education business under the license assigned by the Government.
2. The contractor will provide all the necessary facilities for education.
3. The contractor will be responsible for all the various administrative affairs.
4. The contractor will be in charge of all the duties related to the managing students and advertising for new comers.
5. The contractor will be auditing class from time to time and maintain a certain level that class.
The contractor will be the one to decide upon the cancellation of a class.

VIII. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTEE TO THE CONTRACTOR
1. The contractee shall be assigned mainly debating and writing classes along with some language arts classes.
2. The contractee will establish a teaching schedule/lesson plan that meet Golden Bough�s program criteria and purposes.
3. The contractee must hand in all the materials needed for running each class to the contractor and must carry out all the requests (related to the lecture) by the contractor.
4. Joongang Ilbo EduLine will have the copyright for all the contents other than the lecture itself. However, contents used for local publication or on-line will be mentioned further on.
5. The contractee must not leak information on Golden Bough�s publication and educational aids.
6. In order to cooperate with Golden Bough�s policy, the contractee must receive permission, discuss or notify the contractor on the following cases.
a) The contractee must receive permission for absence or substitution of a class
b) In case of an emergency and cannot but miss out a class, the contractee must contact the contractor so that the latter can lessen the loss on the class. The contractee will not receive the payment for that class.
c) The contractee must immediately notify the contractor in case of any change in their address or telephone number.
d) The contractee will work at Golden Bough according to the class schedule. The contractor does not pay compensation for office hours.
e) The contractee will behave in a professional and civil manner in an unfamiliar or stressful situation.
IX. CONTRACTOR�S TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

1. Reasons for contractor�s termination of contract
a. Any violation of contract terms.
b. The contractee�s collection of tuition or miscellaneous fees from students.
c. Teaching students privately.
d. Ussing illegal drugs, alcohol intoxication during work hours, criminal activity or corruption of public morals.
e. Causing problems by using other illegally produced teaching materials in class other than Golden Bough�s as the main teaching aid.
f. Giving away information about Golden Bough�s teaching materials to other individuals or organizations.
g. Causing problems related to copyrights, when using contents that not belong to Golden Bough.
h. Motivating Golden Bough�s students to go to other institutes.
i. Revealing any information about the contract terms to other employees.
j. Canceling a class without notifying the contractor beforehand or being negligent in operating his classes.
k. Missing a class without a prior notice.
l. Damaging the credit and reputation of Golden Bough and its employees.
m. .
2. The contractor will give the contractee at least a 30-day notice before the termination of the contract.

X. CONTRACTEE�S TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

1. Reasons for the contractee�s termination of contract.
a) The contractor�s cessation or temporarily suspension of business.
b) Non-fulfillment of services needed to be provided by the contractor to the contractee (\as listed in Part 3)
c) Failure in paying the exact amount of contractee�s payment.
d) Impossibility to carry out the rest of the classes left due to natural disaster and calamity or disease that requires long-term medical care.

XI. OWNERSHIP OF PATENTS AND/OR COPYRIGHTS
1. The contractor will own all past, present, and future patents and/�or copyrights for any inventions and any printable and/or publishable material produced by an employee of Joongang Ilbo EduLine under the direct supervision of Joongang Ilbo EduLine during the term of the agreement

XII. COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES
1. The contractor can claim compensation when the contractee does not perform his/her duties as they should for reasons other than natural disaster, calamity or long-term hospitalization due to disease. (The claim will be 100% compensated, which is the total sum of what can be made from the class)
2. In case where the contractee abandons his/her class in the term of signed contract the contractor has the right to claim 100% of the projected sum of that class for that month.
3. The contractee must compensate for the damage that comes from the contractee�s using other contents other than that of Golden Bough�s and also the damage that comes from leaking Golden Bough�s information to other individuals and organizations.
4. The contractee does not have the right to claim for compensation when he/she receives a report for termination of contract from the contractor when the reason is one of them listed in Part 6.


XII: Dress Code:
To maintain adequate presentable attire and dress accordingly for public events and presentations. The dress code requires all men to wear pressed buttoned collar shirts and ties, or Mandarine collars without ties, from September to June with pressed slakes. Blue or black denim jeans are not acceptable Monday-Friday. During this period of time women shall wear pressed mid to high neckline blouses, lower thigh-length skirts and dresses, or pressed slacks. Blue and black denim skirts or jeans are not acceptable. From June to September, unbuttoned collars without ties are acceptable. Solid leather, suede or canvas dress shoes with socks, nylons or stockings must be worn at all times.

XIII. EFFECTUATION OF CONTRACT
This contract is valid from the day the contractor and contractee agree on the contract.

XIV. ADDITIONS TO CONTRACT
2 copies of this contract will be prepared and signed. Both the contractor and the contractee will keep one copy.
XV. VENUE FOR DISPUTES BETWEEN EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
The appropriate laws of the Republic of Korea will govern this agreement.

XVI. GOOD FAITH
The contractor and the contractee will act in good faith toward each other. The employer will not dismiss the employee without what reasonably is considered good cause and the employee will do their outmost to satisfactorily fulfill all the responsibilities and meet all the conditions as described in the above agreement.


Employer: Joongang Ilbo EduLine co., Ltd. Sun Il KIm

Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________________

Employee:
Passport Number:
Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________________

[laogaiguk]

I believe the term," Go screw a goat." might come to mind if I was sent that contract.

[alabamaman]

Employment Contract

This agreement (hereinafter referred to as �contract�) is made between Joongang Ilbo EduLine Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as �contractor� or �employer�), and ________________ (hereinafter referred to as �contractee� or �employee�).



Employer:

Employee:

Employee�s date of birth:

Employee�s nationality:

Employee�s permanent address:

Employee�s telephone number:

Employee�s passport number:

Employee�s position: Debating/Writing Teacher

Period of contract: One year (may be extended upon mutual agreement)


The parties agree as follows:

I. TERM OF CONTRACT
This contract will be valid of a period beginning and ending

There should; for the protection of Foreign Language Teachers, be contractual language stating, "The worker shall work for the employer as well as participate in any work related activities when the worker has been issued an E2 Visa by Korean Immigration Officials."

II. TEACHING DUTIES

1.Regular Duties: During the term of this agreement (labor contract), the contractee will be required to prepare for teaching and caring out all required administrative duties connected with classes assigned by the contractor. Hours spent in office preparing lessons, photocopying materials, student counseling or evaluation, and other work related to the Institute.

No regular schedule of work hours can be guaranteed to contractee.

This contractual language has been seen many times before in these types of labor cotracts. People who take interest in evaluating contracts, stress the importance of getting established working hours written in their contracts for various reasons. Without a defined working hours, Foreign Language Teachers are subject to undesireable split shifts.

Payment made for assigned teaching periods is inclusive of payment for preparation and administrative duties connected with those assigned classes.

This is simply unacceptable! Teachers ought to get paid for prep work, since there are some contracts that ask teachers to come in 2 hours early before the first class each day. That would be 40 hours without pay per month. There are also a number of contracts that ask teachers to come in 1 hour early before each class each day. That would be 20 hours without pay per month, and that's not acceptable either!



The purpose of meetings and workshops is to inform contractees of matters relating to contractees� duties and the institutes operation, or to assist in contractees� professional development. No payment in excess of or in addition to contractee�s monthly salary will be made for attending meetings or workshops scheduled by the contractor.

You should be paid overtime for workshops outside your established working hours in your labor contract.


2. Teaching Hours: The contractor shall perform regular teaching duties and class instruction. The minimum teaching requirement is an average of thirty (30) hours per week, such average being calculated over each month. Monday through Friday are teaching days except for scheduled public holidays and vacation days. Summer and Winter Intensive sessions are exceptions. You may be requested to teach on some Saturdays during these two sessions.

There should be contractual language stating you will receive a recess break in accordance with Article 53 (Recess Hours) of the Labor Standards Act. From what I've heard, teachers usually work more than 8 hours during intensives.


Working hours

What are your working hours throughout the contract period?
It would be ideal lfor you to work 6 hour shifts (ex. 2-8/3-9/4-10).

What days of the week will you work? (Monday through Friday)
How many hours will you work per month? (120 is the max)

How many hours will you work per week? (30 is the max)

What constitutes a working hour?

There should be no more than 8 hours between from your daily start time until your daily finish time when working block shifts throughout the contract period. Ask for that to be written in your labor contract.


Is there contractual language staing your employer will allow you a recess period of more than 30 minutes for every 4 working hours and more than 1 hour for every 8 working hours? Korean Labor Laws state that recess periods may be used freely by workers.

Article 53 (Recess Hours)

(1) An employer shall allow a recess period of more than 30 minutes for every 4 working hours and more than 1 hour for every 8 working hours during the working hours.

(2) A recess period may be freely used by workers.

III. TRANSPORATION

The contractor will provide for the contractee a one-way ticket when he travels to Korea. On completion of the full one-year contract period, the contractor will provide for the contractee an economy class return ticket for passage from Korea to U.S. if the contratee doesn�t cause any problems during the period of contract.

"for passage from Korea to U.S upon completion of the contract."


The return air ticket will be provided when the one-year contract expires and the contractee returns to his home country.


In the event that the contractee continues agreement under subsequent agreement with contractor; the return air ticket will be provided at the time of completion of the subsequent contract period(s). Air tickets provided cannot be exchanged for cash equivalents or transferred to persons other than the contractee. The contractor does not agree to, and is not liable for, compensation to contractee, whether in cash or otherwise, for air tickets which are not used by the contractee. If the contractee makes the contract with other schools in Korea after termination of the contract with J Eduline, then J Eduline will not provide the return air ticket.

IV. COMPENSATION

1. Salary: the contractor will pay the contractee the base salary

What's this base salary they're referring to

of Korean won for the minimum teaching requirement mentioned above and won for editing students� journals for two months of probation period.

From my understanding, a probation period is 3 months long according to Korean Labor Laws.

After his performance proves satisfactory during this period, the contractor will provide the contractee with million won of base salary and won of journal compensation.

If they don't like your journal correction style; as this may very well turn out to be the case, then you get "sacked" because bossman/bosswoman doesn't like your jornal correction style. Remember, labor laws state your boss can only terminate you for a justifiable reason. Your journal correction style wouldn't suffice. Justifiable reasons are gross negligence, serious violations, and violations of Korean Laws. As I also read into this more, you wouldn't be getting paid full monthly salary until your performance proves satisfactory. This is above and beyond anything I've seen when I've evaluated a labor contract before.

Teaching salary will commence from the first day of teaching. Korean income taxes will be deducted from the contrate�s monthly salary. The contractee will be paid at the rate of won for each teaching period in excess of the minimum teaching requirement .

Teaching salary commences when you have been issued an E2 Visa.

2. Severance payment: Dependent upon completion of at least one full year of employment with the contractor, the contractee will be given one month base salary

Severance payment calculation:

You add the last three pay dates together of the contract period, add them together, and divided that total by three. That's how you get your total severance amount.

3. Holidays and Vacation: the contractee will be entitled to observe Korean national holidays and receive one 10-day vacation during the one-year contract term according to a yearly schedule provided by the contractor before the commencement of the year to which the schedule refers. The contractee cannot ask for vacation days before 6 months of service and during the summer and winter intensive sessions. And the contractee shall submit his/her schedule two months before the desired time.

Annual leave/Holidays

Most contracts have 10 days of paid leave. If you have 8 days of Annual leave, ask for 10. A majority of hagwon contracts; non adults, offer 5 in the winter and 5 in the summer. In my opinion, I think it would be best for any teacher to ask for a vacation schedule such as the one I just mentioned. Be polite when asking for 10 days to be written in your contract. You are entitled to all Korean National Holidays. No deductions in pay should occur on any Korean National Holidays. There are some schools which count weekend days as annual leave days. You should ask for this to be changed because you take annual leave days on working days.

6. The contractor provides 4-day sick leave to the contractee during the contract period. Pay, shall not be deducted from the monthly salary for these four days in which the employee does not attend work due to illness. This sick leave cannot be compensated in cash after the contract expires, even though the employee has used no sick leave during the contract period. Any day missed which exceed the four day limit shall be deducted at a pro-rate based on that month�s salary increment.

The amount specified should be written in the contract, and should conform with labor laws also.

The employee shall at all times, in case of missing work days due to illness, obtain and deliver a legitimate note from a licensed medical doctor to the appropriate supervisor before returning to school. If the employee is sick for a total of six consecutive days, the employer reserves the right to terminate this agreement and the employee�s E-2 visa sponsorship. In case of termination due to extended illness, severance pay will not be paid to the employee and return airfare may or may not be paid depending on human consideratin.

Overview #2

Justifiable reasons are violations, gross negligence, and violations of Korean Laws. Your employer would have no grounds to terminate you. Refer to Article 30.


Article 30 (Restriction on Dismissal, etc.)

(1) An employer shall not dismiss, lay off, suspend, transfer a worker, or reduce wages, or take other punitive measures against a worker without justifiable reason.

(2) An employer shall not dismiss any worker during a period of temporary interruption of work for medical treatment of an occupational injury or disease and within 30 days thereafter; nor shall any female worker before and after childbirth be dismissed during a period of temporary interruption of work as provided herein and within 30 days thereafter; however, if an employer has paid the lump sum compensation due under Article 87 hereof or is not able to continue his business, this shall not apply.

Especially, because a termination of employment is the most extreme measure, taking away an employee's means of making a living, Korean courts are known to be very strict in applying the above-noted criteria, when it determines whether a particular termination is justified. Thus, unless an employee's specific conduct is something that makes current employer-employee relationship no longer possible to continue, it would be advisable for an employer to take less severe disciplinary actions such as suspension of employment, reduction of salary, or reprimand.

In addition, under the LSA, where an employer wishes to terminate an employee in compliance with (and validly under) the law, there must also be procedural justification to that termination. In other words, the law requires that proper (legally justified) procedures be taken in disciplining the employee, including providing the employee with a proper opportunity to defend himself/herself, no matter how egregious the employee's actions are, and failure to do so will constitute an invalid termination. .



V. TAX REPORT
The contractee, as an independent contractee, should report individual income tax or related tax to the Tax Office by May every year according to the Korean Tax Law. "should "

IV. HOUSING

1. Housing: The contractor will select and provide a single apartment with furnished living accommodations for the contractee for the tenure of this contract. The contractor will pay deposit (5,000,000 won) to the owner and will pay a monthly rent. When the contractee wants housing allowances instead of housing, the contractor will pay 350,000 won of monthly allowances. .
2. Furnishings: Furnishings provided by the contractor include: A desk and a chair, a gas stove, a refrigerator, , a television, a washing machine, a mattress, and a hanger.

Accommodation

The following items should be in working condition, and your apartment should be clean upon arrival.

Rent (A majority of ESL Teachers prefer a one bedroom apartment)
Bed
Desk
Closet
Table
TV
Washing machine
Clothes rack
Pots
Pans
Dishes
Forks/Knives/Spoons
Phone
Refrigerator
Stove
Air conditionar
Heating system
Utilities are paid by the employee.
You're are not responsible for the previous occupant's unpaid bills.

3. Utilities: The cost of monthly service, utility, and telephone charges for accommodation provided by the contractor will be the contractee�s responsibility.

4. In the event that the contractee vacates contractor-provided accommodation during the contract term, and the lease for the accommodation must be canceled, the contractee agrees to pay any cancellation charges or other expenses, if any, incurred by contractor due to the cancellation of the lease of the accommodation contractor originally found for the contractee.


V. DISMISSAL OR VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION

1. The contractor will have the right to dismiss the contractee for unwillingness or inability to meet conditions of working as set out under this agreement, for conduct seriously jeopardizing any student or staff person, or for criminal activity.

2. In the event that the contractee is dismissed, or in the event that the contractee voluntarily resigns prior to the termination of the term of this agreement, the contractor will pay salary due to date of termination. Contractor will not pay the cost of return transportation to point of departure for contractee, nor will contractor pay any compensation. Further, the contractor will be entitled to withhold 500,000 won.


Termination Clause

There are hagwon contracts that state, "The employer will give an advance notice to the worker at least 60 days before dismissal." Article 32 (Advance Notice of Dismissal) of the Korean Labor Standards Act States:

Article 32 (Advance Notice of Dismissal)

(1) An employer shall give an advance notice to a worker at least thirty days before dismissal(including dismissal for managerial reasons). If the notice is not given thirty days before the dismissal, normal wages for more than thirty days shall be paid to the worker, except in cases, prescribed by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Labor, where it is impossible to continue a business because of natural disaster, calamity, or other unavoidable causes, or where a worker has caused considerable difficulties to a business, or damage to properties on purpose.

Article 31 (Restriction on Dismissal for Managerial Reasons)

(1) If an employer wants to dismiss a worker for managerial reasons, there shall be urgent managerial needs. In such cases as transfer, acquisition and merger of business which are aimed to avoid financial difficulties, it shall be deemed that there is an urgent managerial need.

Grounds permitted under Korean law for termination of employment

http://www.efl-law.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1361

When it comes to the matter regarding termination of employment, Korean labor laws are known to apply strict criteria in determining whether a specific termination was just or proper. Let's look at the specific grounds for termination of employment that are prescribed in the Labor Standards Act of Korea (LSA).

Under LSA, an employer may terminate employees pursuant to (i) taking any disciplinary actions taken (with regard to any improper acts committed by the relevant employee) and (ii) laying off of employees due to managerial reasons.

(i) Dismissal by disciplinary action
It is first noted that Article 30 of LSA requires a justifiable cause if and when an employer takes disciplinary actions, including termination of employment, with regard to its employees. Korean courts have held that a justifiable cause refers to such causes as criminal offense, serious illegal acts, and gross negligent acts, etc. which would make maintaining of the relevant employment relationships no longer possible under generally accepted public notions.

Article 30 (Restriction on Dismissal, etc.)
(1) An employer shall not dismiss, lay off, suspend, transfer a worker, or reduce wages, or take other punitive measures against a worker without justifiable reason.

(2) An employer shall not dismiss any worker during a period of temporary interruption of work for medical treatment of an occupational injury or disease and within 30 days thereafter; nor shall any female worker before and after childbirth be dismissed during a period of temporary interruption of work as provided herein and within 30 days thereafter; however, if an employer has paid the lump sum compensation due under Article 87 hereof or is not able to continue his business, this shall not apply.

Especially, because a termination of employment is the most extreme measure, taking away an employee's means of making a living, Korean courts are known to be very strict in applying the above-noted criteria, when it determines whether a particular termination is justified. Thus, unless an employee's specific conduct is something that makes current employer-employee relationship no longer possible to continue, it would be advisable for an employer to take less severe disciplinary actions such as suspension of employment, reduction of salary, or reprimand.

In addition, under the LSA, where an employer wishes to terminate an employee in compliance with (and validly under) the law, there must also be procedural justification to that termination. In other words, the law requires that proper (legally justified) procedures be taken in disciplining the employee, including providing the employee with a proper opportunity to defend himself/herself, no matter how egregious the employee's actions are, and failure to do so will constitute an invalid termination.

(ii) Dismissal due to managerial reason

Further, as regards the employment termination, under LSA, an employer may also terminate employees where the employer can establish an imminent managerial reason. Article 31 of LSA provides that before an employer terminates a group of employees, the employer must have made its best efforts to avoid termination and have fair and reasonable standards of termination in place. The termination of employees must have been based on such standards for termination and the employer must have given notice to and consulted with the employees?relevant labor representative (i.e., labor union).

It is the firm position of the Korean Supreme Court that an imminent managerial reason exists if the employer's termination of employees is rational from an objective standpoint. The Korean Supreme Court has recognized the existence of an imminent managerial reason in the following cases: (a) the employer has continuously experienced deficit operation; (b) due to continuous labor disputes, the operation of the employer is expected to worsen to a degree that half of the capital amount of the employer has decreased for one year; (c) a part of the business is changed to a sub-contract system due to continuous deficit operation and, as a result, the employer terminated the employment of related employees; or (d) in the course of privatization of a public corporation, reorganization of the corporation has been taken.

In light of the foregoing, it can be concluded that an imminent managerial reason to terminate will be found to exist where it is inevitable that the employer must terminate employment in order to overcome actual difficulties in management. However, even where an employer with a positive balance sheet terminates the employment of a group of employees in order to overcome actual difficulties or to generate additional revenues, the existence of an imminent managerial reason will not be found to exist unless the inevitability of such termination can be proven objectively.

Therefore, as described above, unless there is a legitimate, objective reason to terminate employees, it is not easy under current Korean labor laws to establish a justifiable cause or imminent managerial reason to terminate employees under LSA. However, as an alternative to termination, it is sometimes recommended that an employer attempt to persuade those employees whom it wishes to terminate to voluntarily retire from his/or her office. It is customary practice in Korea for an employer to induce the early retirement of employees whom they wish to terminate by offering them a reasonable severance package. Though not required by Korean law, a Korean company will ordinarily offer early retirement employees additional severance pay in addition to severance pay in accordance with standards set forth in LSA or the employer's employment rules and regulations.

2. Procedures regarding a court-sponsored mediation

There are two kinds of mediation that could take place in the course of litigation before a Korean court, which we briefly note below.

Under Korean law and practice, courts sometimes suspend pending litigation to request that the parties in the litigation try to reach a settlement. The courts may take such measure even after the close of hearing. The courts often rely on such procedure, which is called court-sponsored meditation, when the legal issues are highly complex or are not clear-cut, or if they believe that the dispute is better suited to a settlement rather than a decision entirely in favor of one party. In such a procedure, the court will typically hold a mediation session in court. If the parties cannot reach a settlement, then the mediation is stopped, the suspension on litigation is lifted, and litigation resumes.

It is also noted that there exists a less voluntary variation on court-sponsored mediation (so-called court-ordered mediation). Under this approach, rather than request the parties to try to reach an agreement, the court may present a settlement proposal for the parties?consideration after listening to the parties during the mediation hearing(s). In such case, any party can reject the settlement order within 2 weeks of receiving the written notice of the court's settlement order. However, if neither party files their objection within the 2-week period, the court's order becomes final. It is then entered into court records as the final decision in the case. If any party rejects the settlement order, the mediation is dissolved and litigation resumes.

Article 26 (Violation of Conditions of Employment)
(1) If any of the conditions of employment set forth in accordance with Article 24 is found to be inconsistent with the actual conditions, the worker concerned shall be entitled to claim damages resulting from the breach of the conditions of employment or may terminate the labor contract forthwith.
(2) If a worker intends to claim indemnity for damages in accordance with paragraph (1), he may do so with the Labor Relations Commission. If a labor contract has been terminated, an employer shall pay travel expenses to a worker who changes his residence for the purpose of securing new job. (There should be contractual language pursuant to this clause that defines reasons you can terminate your labor contract. Allot of hagwon contracts use such contractual language as, "The employee may annul the contract if the employer doesn't complete the terms of the contract."



VI. DATE OF PAYMENT
The contractee�s payment will be calculated based on Part II and will be given on the of the following month.

VII. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTOR TO THE CONTRACTEE
1. The contractor will provide its education business under the license assigned by the Government.
2. The contractor will provide all the necessary facilities for education.

3. The contractor will be responsible for all the various administrative affairs.

4. The contractor will be in charge of all the duties related to the managing students and advertising for new comers.

5. The contractor will be auditing class from time to time and maintain a certain level that class.
The contractor will be the one to decide upon the cancellation of a class.

VIII. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTEE TO THE CONTRACTOR
1. The contractee shall be assigned mainly debating and writing classes along with some language arts classes.
2. The contractee will establish a teaching schedule/lesson plan that meet Golden Bough�s program criteria and purposes.
3. The contractee must hand in all the materials needed for running each class to the contractor and must carry out all the requests (related to the lecture) by the contractor.
4. Joongang Ilbo EduLine will have the copyright for all the contents other than the lecture itself. However, contents used for local publication or on-line will be mentioned further on.
5. The contractee must not leak information on Golden Bough�s publication and educational aids.
6. In order to cooperate with Golden Bough�s policy, the contractee must receive permission, discuss or notify the contractor on the following cases.
a) The contractee must receive permission for absence or substitution of a class
b) In case of an emergency and cannot but miss out a class, the contractee must contact the contractor so that the latter can lessen the loss on the class. The contractee will not receive the payment for that class.
c) The contractee must immediately notify the contractor in case of any change in their address or telephone number.
d) The contractee will work at Golden Bough according to the class schedule. The contractor does not pay compensation for office hours.
e) The contractee will behave in a professional and civil manner in an unfamiliar or stressful situation.
IX. CONTRACTOR�S TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

1. Reasons for contractor�s termination of contract
a. Any violation of contract terms.
b. The contractee�s collection of tuition or miscellaneous fees from students.
c. Teaching students privately.
d. Ussing illegal drugs, alcohol intoxication during work hours, criminal activity or corruption of public morals.
e. Causing problems by using other illegally produced teaching materials in class other than Golden Bough�s as the main teaching aid.
f. Giving away information about Golden Bough�s teaching materials to other individuals or organizations.
g. Causing problems related to copyrights, when using contents that not belong to Golden Bough.
h. Motivating Golden Bough�s students to go to other institutes.
i. Revealing any information about the contract terms to other employees.
j. Canceling a class without notifying the contractor beforehand or being negligent in operating his classes.
k. Missing a class without a prior notice.
l. Damaging the credit and reputation of Golden Bough and its employees.
m. .
2. The contractor will give the contractee at least a 30-day notice before the termination of the contract.

X. CONTRACTEE�S TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

1. Reasons for the contractee�s termination of contract.
a) The contractor�s cessation or temporarily suspension of business.
b) Non-fulfillment of services needed to be provided by the contractor to the contractee (\as listed in Part 3)
c) Failure in paying the exact amount of contractee�s payment.
d) Impossibility to carry out the rest of the classes left due to natural disaster and calamity or disease that requires long-term medical care.

XI. OWNERSHIP OF PATENTS AND/OR COPYRIGHTS
1. The contractor will own all past, present, and future patents and/�or copyrights for any inventions and any printable and/or publishable material produced by an employee of Joongang Ilbo EduLine under the direct supervision of Joongang Ilbo EduLine during the term of the agreement

XII. COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES
1. The contractor can claim compensation when the contractee does not perform his/her duties as they should for reasons other than natural disaster, calamity or long-term hospitalization due to disease. (The claim will be 100% compensated, which is the total sum of what can be made from the class)
2. In case where the contractee abandons his/her class in the term of signed contract the contractor has the right to claim 100% of the projected sum of that class for that month.
3. The contractee must compensate for the damage that comes from the contractee�s using other contents other than that of Golden Bough�s and also the damage that comes from leaking Golden Bough�s information to other individuals and organizations.
4. The contractee does not have the right to claim for compensation when he/she receives a report for termination of contract from the contractor when the reason is one of them listed in Part 6.


XII: Dress Code:
To maintain adequate presentable attire and dress accordingly for public events and presentations. The dress code requires all men to wear pressed buttoned collar shirts and ties, or Mandarine collars without ties, from September to June with pressed slakes. Blue or black denim jeans are not acceptable Monday-Friday. During this period of time women shall wear pressed mid to high neckline blouses, lower thigh-length skirts and dresses, or pressed slacks. Blue and black denim skirts or jeans are not acceptable. From June to September, unbuttoned collars without ties are acceptable. Solid leather, suede or canvas dress shoes with socks, nylons or stockings must be worn at all times.

XIII. EFFECTUATION OF CONTRACT
This contract is valid from the day the contractor and contractee agree on the contract.

XIV. ADDITIONS TO CONTRACT
2 copies of this contract will be prepared and signed. Both the contractor and the contractee will keep one copy.
XV. VENUE FOR DISPUTES BETWEEN EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
The appropriate laws of the Republic of Korea will govern this agreement.

XVI. GOOD FAITH
The contractor and the contractee will act in good faith toward each other. The employer will not dismiss the employee without what reasonably is considered good cause and the employee will do their outmost to satisfactorily fulfill all the responsibilities and meet all the conditions as described in the above agreement.


Employer: Joongang Ilbo EduLine co., Ltd. Sun Il KIm

Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________________

Employee:
Passport Number:
Signature:__________________________ Date: __________________________

I will get back to the rest of the contract tomorrow, but am not impressed with what I've seen.

[big_blue_21]

well, we should be proud of our old man Park. He's improving. At least nows he's telling you that stuff in advance instead of just giving you a reasonable looking contract and having no intention of honoring it. Oh, and by the way, I saw a recent posting for them, offering something like 2.7 or 2.8 to 3.0 million a month, but I think they only wanted teachers with a master's, doctorate, or J.D. Now 3.0 is good money if you're a regular teacher, but for someone with a master's . . . !!! You'd be better off using your Master's to get you in the door at Daewon . . . And if you don't care much about money, but just want a decent, safe place to work, use your graduate degree to land a job with a university . . . I've met very few university teachers who have been cheated by their school . . .

[denistron]

Looks like a typical hagwan contract to me. Sign your soul away.

[spliff]

[big_blue_21]

dude, you're too funny, spliff . . . that was a nice pick-up there . . .