Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Nick]

Hi Everyone,

Just new to the forum and was wondering if anyone can help me out. I have received a contract for myself and partner to teach in Korea. I have included the contract and was wondering what everyone thinks of it. It doesn't seem to be long enough or as much detail as I would have thought. We have been told that the hours are 2pm to 10pm but that isnt included in contract. We also want to push for an increase in the salary they are offering. WE noticed the clause about having to pay 300000 won as deposit and getting 1 million back after six months. Is that normal.Is it worth pushing for more money as my partner is a teacher with seven years teaching experience and thought we may be able to get more than 1.9 million won.

Heres the contract and any advise would be greatly appreciated.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT


The following contract is an employment agreement between ___________ to be
referred to as the instructor and ______________________ foreign language
institute to be referred to as the institute from this point forth.

1. Job Position : English Instructor

2. Period of Employment : The instructor will be employed by the institute for
the following dates.

From ______________________________ to _____________________________

3. Monthly Salary and Overtime : A monthly salary of 1,900,000 won will be paid
for 120 teaching hours per month. Each teaching hour in excess of 120 working
hours is considered as overtime. The overtime pay will be 17,000 won per
working hours.
(The school will deduct 300,000 won for 3 months as a deposit and will return
1,000,000 won to the teacher after 6 month.)

4. Bonus : Upon completion of this contract, the instructor will be receive one
month��s salary as bonus. This payment will be made at the time of the
completion of the contract period.

5. Pay Day : A monthly salary will be paid monthly along with other instructors
on the fifteenth day of the following month.

6. Medical Insurance : The instructor will be covered by medical benefits under
the Korean medical insurance union. The cost of this coverage will be split
half by the instructor and half by the institute.

7. Tax : Income tax will be deducted from the salary according to the Korean
tax law. (Currently 5%)



8. Airfare : A one-way ticket will be provided to the instructor in advance by
the institute. Upon completion of the contract, a return ticket will be
provided by the institute. However, if the instructor fails to complete the
above contract period for any reason, the return ticket will not be given to
the instructor.

9. Housing : The institute will select and provide a rent-free, private
apartment for each instructor. The cost of monthly service, utility charges for
the accommodation, provided will be paid by the instructor.

10. Vacation : The instructor will be given 7 (not including a weekend) days
paid vacation during the contract. The instructor should set up the vacation
time according to the schedule of the school.

11. Duties of instructors

A. The instructor will set a good positive example at all times.
B. The instructor will follow set class schedules and will not dismiss classes,
cancel classes, or start classes late without the approval of the director.
C. The instructor will use textbooks provided by the institutes and is
encouraged to supplement these with other materials. All materials given to the
instructor by the institutes will be returned after they are no longer needed.
D. The instructor will not partake in the following activities since they may
damage the reputation of the institute:
1. Conducting class while under the influence of alcohol, while smoking, or
while under the influence of illegal drugs.
2. Making sexual advances towards, or entering into relationships with students
or employees of the institute.
3. Conducting any private classes or accepting any funds without permission
from the director.
4. Borrowing or lending of the funds to students or conducting any sales of
items to students.
E. Any damages that are the direct result of negligence on the behalf of the
instructor, either at the institute or residence, will be paid for by the
instructor.
F. If the instructor seeks to be released from the contract for personal
reasons, the instructor will report to the institute and agrees to work until a
replacement instructor is placed ( approx, 4 weeks). The instructor will have
to reimburse the one way ticket which the instructor uses when he or she comes
to Korea.
G. If the instructor fails to conduct him/herself in a professional manner,
resulting in damage to the image of the institute, or fails to follow the
director��s order, the institute had the right to terminate this contract
immediately. But if the institute has to terminate the contract due to internal
problems, the institute will provide two weeks notice. And if the institute
violates the contract, but two weeks notice must be provided as well, In either
case, in accordance with South Korean Labor Law, a letter of release will be
given to the employee.
H. Both parties have read the above conditions and agree to the terms in good
faith and will agree to resolve any disputes in a reasonable manner through the
arbitrator.


The following Employment Agreement is made between the following two parties.

______________________________ _______________________________
Employer(Institute) Instructor


____________________________ ___________________________
Date

[long-term-player]

Well I wouldn't have a bar of it! your holidays are less than you must get for starters- the money deposit thing - no way hose' - and your hours, well why not write in your own clauses specifying the work hour is 2 till 10.
I am sure others will add useful opinions, but you can also get advice on
http://efl-law.com
with the banner at the top of this page. Its a group of lawyers who give some free advice to teachers.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

If a school sends me a contract with less than 2 million Won.....I skip them.

Why?

They are cheap to begin with, who knows what the future holds...

[waterbaby]

There are too many things wrong with this contract and to respond to all of them appropriately would take way too long. The biggies that stand out are taking the security deposit, only 7 days of leave (legal requirement is 10) and their termination clause is ridiciulous.

They won't put in the 2~10pm clause? You'll probably get off the plane and they'll drop you into a 10am pre-school class!

My advice? RUN!!!

[Nick]

Hi there,

Thanks for the advise. It makes me cringe to think how many people don't know about this board and would sign a contract like that. It must happen all the time.

Thanks again
Nick

[matthews_world]

With finding jobs on the internet, you really can't get an overall sense of a school until you come over here and have been with them for a couple weeks. Some schools that advertise jobs on Dave's are bad, some are good.

If things go sour, make sure you give immigration 30 days notice before you leave or you'll need to leave the country on a midnight run if you quit.

Get e-mail addresses of other teachers that have worked there. If it's a new school, ask the board about your director or the chain.

Shop around for other contracts.

Don't make a hasty decision. Ask questions and get info from us!

If you can give us the name and location of the school maybe we can help ya even more.

[kylehawkins2000]

I wouldn't even try negotiating anything. I'd just say straight out I'm not interested. It's not the worst contract I've seen but there certainly doesn't seem to be anything really attractive about it.

I put more consideration into working hours than pay when I look for work. 30hours a week might not seem like much but it really is. 25 hours or less a week will make your life much easier.

[SweetBear]

I've never even seen my contract, keep asking too but get the run around. We only get a week off for vacation (five working days). Any comments?

[waterbaby]

[Gord]

[Austin]

Grod,

That was decent of you to point out that the others were taking a proverbial piss.

He may be able to do a little better as a newbie, but I would doubt it.

SCSA

[EFL Teacher]

My income tax rate was 2.9%. There's a site where you can check how much they're supposed to be withholding, but I can't remember the web address.

I don't think even the highest wages have 5% taken out.

[Nick]

I wrote back to the agency about a few issues and this is the reply I got. I found it quite interesting. Especially in regards to the holiday time.

This is the reply.

All the schools are following the Korean employment laws and some clauses are
flexible for school... such as holiday, tax,...
This is why other schools have only 4 days as a paid vatcation... the other
side schools have 12 days as a paid vacation..
It's depending on the school schedule....
If not.. all most schools except for a few schools are purnished for breaking
the Korean employment law...
This school is very big-scaled institute in Korea and has many foreign teachers
. some of teachers have some teaching experience in Korea and perhaps they
might think that they have less vacation than former school... but they
followed the schedule of school and didn't complain about this before...

I guess you have first time to face contract of school of Korea...so you might
be confused it..
Actually Q that you refered are not issued by foreign teachers who are placed
this school 2 month ago so far...

I hope my answer is helpful to understand your Q

[EFL Teacher]

[waterbaby]