Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wheek]

Hello all!

I�ve recently been offered a position in Daegu and received the contract yesterday. Overall, it seems extremely vague. The situation is a little atypical because I�m only going to be working for 4.5 months instead of the typical year contract (there�s an additional amendment to the contract to provide for this). So there�s no airfare reimbursement and I�m not sure if that would affect other aspects and benefits as well. Some specific things that I�ve noticed are:

-the low overtime rate (technically lower than the normal rate!)
-the lack of specifics regarding the housing (no mention of facilities, furnishings or of it being private)
-no mention of sick days (only extended leave with extreme circumstances; so if I�ve simply eaten some bad kimchee and am vomiting my guts out�tough luck)
-nothing on termination of the contract on my part for personal reasons (written notice, 30 days and all that)
-lack of specifics concerning the schedule (�The number of regular teaching hours 30 classes a week��30 hours? 30 classes? What are we talking about here?)
-no mention of a visa subsidy.
-the tax rate. 5%, seems high. I checked the NTS site and it seems like it should be around 25,000 (5% would be 95,000) Am I missing something here? Does this maybe include the national pension plan? There�s no mention of that on here either�

I'm pasting the whole thing below. If anyone sees any other glaring omissions or problems, please let me know.

Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but I have a BA in an unrelated field, a TEFL cert and 8 months teaching experience in Mexico City.

Thanks in advance for any help! And apologies for the length of this post!


EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT FOR INSTRUCTOR


The following contract is an employment agreement between -----, to be referred to as the EMPLOYER, and to be referred to as the EMPLOYEE from this point forth.

1. Period of Employment
The employment period under this contract shall be 12 months starting from July 4th , 2006 and ending July , 4th , 2007 . This agreement shall come into force as of the date this agreement is executed, and unless terminated earlier, remain in force for 12 consecutive months from the date when the EMPLOYEE starts to work for the school.


2. Schedule
The number of regular teaching hours 30 classes a week.
Classes will be held from Tuesday to Saturday. Classes and teaching are scheduled in accordance with the needs of the Institute; however, reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate employee's requests. Employee may not accept any work not assigned by employer.


3. Pay
Employer agrees to pay Employee in South Korean Won, and is paid out over the course of twelve (12) months in the following manner:

A. _1.9 million_ won per month for twelve (12) months.
Pay period begins on the first day of teaching and the first salary will be paid a week after the first month of teaching. However, on the last month of the contract term, the monthly salary, severance pay are to be paid on the last day of the contract term, before the employee leaves Korea.

B. Overtime rate for each hour taught over and above 30hours per week is 15,000 won per hour.

C. Korean income tax will be deducted from the salary according to Korean tax law,
currently, _5_%.


4. Accommodation
Employer agrees to provide housing for Employee. Employee is not responsible for the payment of the rent, but Employee is responsible for paying the utilities.


5. Insurance
Medical insurance will be provided to the Employee. The premium will be divided equally between the Employer and the Employee. Employee is responsible for the other 50%, and Employee�s portion of the monthly premium is collected through deduction from salary.


6. Employee's duties
A. During the term of the agreement, the Employee shall accept, obey, and strictly comply with the instructions, supervision, training and discipline of the Academic Director of the school. These duties shall include English instruction in all phases of the school's program, administrative duties related to the school's classroom duties, attendance at scheduled staff meetings, workshops, and school sponsored outings, and any other academic duties as may be assigned by the Academic Director.

B. The Employee will direct and guide the students in conversational English. All the teaching materials will be provided to the Employee. Employee is expected to conduct the class without assistance.

C. The Employee will set a good positive example at all times. The Employee will follow set class schedules and will not dismiss class, cancel classes, start classes late without the approval of the director.


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

B. Unpaid leave: Unpaid leave is permitted only under extreme and unusual circumstances. Extreme and unusual circumstances include, but are 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. Tardiness: Employee has to be at school 1 hour before the first class. If Employee is more than 10 minutes late without notification, one hour of pay may be deducted, depending on the circumstances. Acts of God and accidents are excluded.

8. Release from contract
Both parties have the right to make the contract null and void under one of the following circumstances:
The health of the employee is such that it is deemed impossible for the employee to continue work
Blatant misconduct by employee either professionally or otherwise
Employee or dependants violate Korean law
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 is presented.


9. Notification Requirement
Employer or employee may annul the contract by giving a minimum of one month�s advance notice in writing. In the case of employer 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 is not limited to, persistent blatant and gross misconduct, conducting classes under the influence of intoxicants, continual absence and/or tardiness for classes. If employee desires arbitration, a mutually agreed upon third party must be provided to settle the matter. Employee may seek annulment in cases where the employer does not complete the terms as they are required to complete according to the contract. In the event of the Employer violating the employee�s rights as laid out in the contract, annulment is also granted. In this case, the Employer should give the Employee � Release Letter�.


10. Legal action
A .Any controversy between the parties involving the construction or application of any of the term, provisions, or conditions of this agreement, shall, on the written request of either party served on the other, be submitted to arbitration governed by Korean law. The cost of such arbitration, including attorney fees, shall be borned by the losing party or in such proportion as the arbitrator shall decide.

B. This agreement may be amended only by an instrument in writing which expressly refers to this agreement and specifically states that it is intended to amend it.

C. This agreement may be executed in one or more parts, each of which will be considered an original for all purpose hereof.

[Hater Depot]

It's sh!t. Move on.

Regarding the overtime pay -- I'm not sure what's sadder, that they think people won't do the math and realize how insulting it is, or that they are so often right.

[ontheway]

Wheek,

You're looking for a short term contract - only 4.5 months. Such opportunities will be harder to find. You should NOT expect to get airfare, national pension, vacation or sick days. You should plan to be healthy.

You should also expect that the employer needs you to fill in gaps in his teaching schedule. He cannot build a schedule of permanent full time students around a temporary teacher. Your schedule will be variable to suit the needs of the employer.

You SHOULD expect reasonable compensation for your work since you're getting little else. You should get a minimum of 2.2 million won per month for 30 hours per week and 20,000 won per hour for overtime.

Your taxes should be according to the Korean tax table posted on the NTS website. 5% is too high unless you have huge overtime. Just tell them that you're temporary so you want no pension and no taxes at all.

You should ask for a completion bonus of 1,000,000 won as well, instead of severance and airfare. Just go for the cash. Your contract period is too short to worry about benefits.

[alabamaman]

1. Period of Employment
The employment period under this contract shall be 12 months starting from July 4th , 2006 and ending July , 4th , 2007 . This agreement shall come into force as of the date this agreement is executed, and unless terminated earlier, remain in force for 12 consecutive months from the date when the EMPLOYEE starts to work for the school.

The period of employment is from the issue date on your E2 Visa to your expiry date on your E2 Visa. For future references, it's a good idea to have something like this: "The employee shall work for the employer when Korean Immigration Officials have issued the employee an E2 Visa. After the employee has been issued an E2 Visa from Korean Immigration Officials, the employee shall work for the employer for a period not exceeding one year in length. The employee shall work from ____/____/____ until ____/____/____. This is a model period of employment clause. It's extremely important to have "The employee shall work for the employer when Korean Immigration Officials have issued the employee an E2 Visa." Employers have been notorious for making workers teach on a tourist visa which is illegal. You could get deported!


2. Schedule
The number of regular teaching hours 30 classes a week.
Classes will be held from Tuesday to Saturday. Classes and teaching are scheduled in accordance with the needs of the Institute; however, reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate employee's requests. Employee may not accept any work not assigned by employer.

When will your start work? When will you finish work? What does a class actually consist of? How long is each class? What are the operating hours of the institute? What grade levels will you be working with? These are all important questions that you should ask, and should be included in the contract. There are allot of unanswered questions in this clause!


3. Pay
Employer agrees to pay Employee in South Korean Won, and is paid out over the course of twelve (12) months in the following manner:

I would consider changing over the course of twelve months to "Throughout the contract period."


A. _1.9 million_ won per month for twelve (12) months.
Pay period begins on the first day of teaching and the first salary will be paid a week after the first month of teaching. However, on the last month of the contract term, the monthly salary, severance pay are to be paid on the last day of the contract term, before the employee leaves Korea.

They are required to pay you once per month according to the Labor Standards Act. If you get here the first week in July, you will get paid a week into August (hopefully). That's illegal. You are to be paid once per month.

B. Overtime rate for each hour taught over and above 30hours per week is 15,000 won per hour.

This overtime rate is rather low! Personally, I don't see you getting any higher than 21,000 Korean Won per hour.

C. Korean income tax will be deducted from the salary according to Korean tax law, currently, _5_%.

These clauses should always be specific, and include the exact amount of Korean Won your employer will deduct from your monthly salary throughout the contract period.

Your prospective employer will be deducting 24, 470 from your monthly salary throughout the contract period.
http://nts.go.kr/front/service/refer_cal/gani/refer_gani_eng.asp

4. Accommodation
Employer agrees to provide housing for Employee. Employee is not responsible for the payment of the rent, but Employee is responsible for paying the utilities.

This is a modal accommodation clause for future references:

The employer will provide the worker single housing, and rent. The worker is responsible for paying utility bills, including electricity, water, gas, cable, internet and telephone. Any and all damage caused by worker will be paid by worker. The employer will provide furnitures and other appliances. They will include an air conditioner, bed, bedding, sheets, desk, table, dining set, TV, washing machine, clothes rack, pots, pans, dishes, phone, fridge, and a stove. In return for a furnished apartment, the worker agrees to respect and care for the apartment, with the exception of normal repairs, in a respectful manner. Any outstanding bills belonging to the worker will be the sole responsibility of the worker.

As you can see, there was alot left out by your prospective employer. You would be miserable if you arrived in South Korea in an empty apartment. Get it written in your contract and this is something that I "toot my horn" about time in and time out. It's important to do so.

5. Insurance
Medical insurance will be provided to the Employee. The premium will be divided equally between the Employer and the Employee. Employee is responsible for the other 50%, and Employee�s portion of the monthly premium is collected through deduction from salary.

Like the Korean Income Tax clause, this needs to be specific. It should include the exact amount deducted from your monthly salary by your employer (2.24%) throughout the contract period which will be 42,560 Korean Won per month.
http://www.nhic.or.kr/wbe/faq/faq.html

6. Employee's duties
A. During the term of the agreement, the Employee shall accept, obey, and strictly comply with the instructions, supervision, training and discipline of the Academic Director of the school. These duties shall include English instruction in all phases of the school's program, administrative duties related to the school's classroom duties, attendance at scheduled staff meetings, workshops, and school sponsored outings, and any other academic duties as may be assigned by the Academic Director.

These seem like alot of duties and they would add up to be. You should definately get paid for hours worked outside shift hours established in the said contract. Get this written in any contracts your considering signing in the future.

B. The Employee will direct and guide the students in conversational English. All the teaching materials will be provided to the Employee. Employee is expected to conduct the class without assistance.

C. The Employee will set a good positive example at all times. The Employee will follow set class schedules and will not dismiss class, cancel classes, start classes late without the approval of the director.



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

B. Unpaid leave: Unpaid leave is permitted only under extreme and unusual circumstances. Extreme and unusual circumstances include, but are 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.

You should be granted a of 5 days. Get it written in your contract!

D. Tardiness: Employee has to be at school 1 hour before the first class. If Employee is more than 10 minutes late without notification, one hour of pay may be deducted, depending on the circumstances. Acts of God and accidents are excluded.

What's the one hour to be used for? Get it written in the contract. It should be for prep time and nothing more. Ask your prospective employer to attach a copy of the workplace rules of employment. The one hour of pay deduction has to be written on the employer's rules of employment that should be posted. If a foreigner says there's none posted, then "If Employee is more than 10 minutes late without notification, one hour of pay may be deducted, depending on the circumstances" should be removed from this contract without hesitation.

8. Release from contract
Both parties have the right to make the contract null and void under one of the following circumstances:
The health of the employee is such that it is deemed impossible for the employee to continue work
Blatant misconduct by employee either professionally or otherwise
Employee or dependants violate Korean law
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 is presented.


I constantly emphasize a solid termination clause in contracts. You can be terminated for justifiable causes. Justifiable causes usually refers to neglecting one's duties. In addition, your prospective employer failed to mention anything about an advance notice of dismissal. 30 days should be given. If your resign, you should also give 30 days notice which was not included in this contract. There was no mention of the Korean Pension Fund which is 4.5% of your monthly salary throughout the contract period. No dress code clause either. Nothing in the contract about a Visa Run, and who would pay for what. All of what I've mentiond should be written in the contract.

There is too many things left out in this contract, and I would seek employment elsewhere.

[igotthisguitar]

There's always fuzzy. Moreover, directors don't really even expect you to go by how it reads, & what you essentially thought you'd "agreed" to.

Truth is, most simply just expect you to shut up & do it how they tell you

[wheek]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Running isn't really an option bc of the strange 4.5 month schedule, but I've made some amendments and clarifications and am just crossing my fingers that it all works out decently. And if it doesn't, eh, it's only 4.5 months.
Thanks again for your help!

[Big Mac]

If it doesn't look right to you, why are you even considering signing it?

If you can identify the problems, why not just move on? Post a contract that looks good to you, but may have some holes that you might not see. Otherwise, it's a useless exercise to put it up here.

[jangsalgida]

I went to an interview and they gave me the contract. The English was excellent, but the 2.000,000 Won salary for 3 months of work wasn't sufficient. I told them to change it to "per month."

I also told them to input the thing they mentioned about overtime.
They did, but didn't state when overtime began.

I asked them to have the present Foreign Teacher call me. They told me the Foreign Teacher didn't have a phone. I asked them to have the Foregn Teacher e-mail me.

I left and never heard from them again.