Korean Job Discussion Forums

[aristotle84]

Hello all,

I am going to be posting up a hagwan contract here because the school director needs an answer from me almost immediately. I am on the verge of signing it, but I want people to take a look at it to see if there is anything I missed.

Points to consider:
1) I have no teaching experience, this will be my first time + I am Korean-American.
2) Since it's an SLP, the director would not budge on housing deposit nor my request to bump up my 2-tweek training salary to regular instead of half.
3) Would not budge on 1.9million Won salary despite ultimatum.
4) Talked to 2 teachers via e-mail, both giving me good reviews of school.
5) One of the teachers I e-mailed curiously wants to know if I am going to sign with their school. Not sure what to make of it yet.
6) Location, which is in Eunpyeong-gu, is close to Sinchon, which is what I wanted. As a gyopo, this is as close as I could get to Seoul. Other offers, although offering 2.1~2.2, were in Guri, Ansan, etc...too far.

Without further ado, here it is:
_____________________________________________________________

AGREEMENT

THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT(Hereinafter referred to as �contract�) has been made this Nov.4th, 2006 by and between Eunpyeong SLP having its office at Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Hereinafter referred to as �employer�) and xxxxxxxx, a citizen of American whose address is xxxxxxxxxx (Hereinafter referred to as �employee�).

Employer and employee agree as follows;

1. Employee accepts employment from employer to teach the English language under the term and condition set forth here in the agreement for a period of twelve full and consecutive teaching sessions.. Employment commences from the first day of Orientation ___________ , 2006 and finished on the covered under this agreement.

The minimum teaching requirement is 140 classes (1 class is 40 minute teaching period) per session(1 session is 20 teaching days according to SLP calendar). Monday through Friday are teaching days except for scheduled public holidays and vacation days.

2. Duties

A. Duties may include, but are not limited to;
a. Teaching
b. substitute teaching / phone teaching
c. giving interviews to students for placement tests
d. supervision of students
e. preparation/production of teaching materials
f. curriculum design and implementation
g. attendance at teachers� meetings and workshops
h. writing evaluation comments and preparing evaluation reports
i. diary, essay and journal correction
j. execution of duties as an assistant Homeroom teacher
k. implementation of teacher policy guideline
l. participation in micro-teaching group presentations

B. The Employee�s duties and responsibilities, as well as the academic programs, may be modified, from time to time. Any modification(s) in the Employee�s duties and responsibilities, and/or academic programs, shall be informed to the employee in advance.
C. No regular schedule of working hours/classes can be guaranteed to employee. The employee may work longer than the usual working hours during the summer and winter sessions of the school year. Due to the way the Korean education system works, this schedule is unavoidable. The employer understands that this is a heavy load and the employee�s appreciation is greatly appreciated.

3. No Other Competitive Employment or Activities
During the Employment, the Employee shall diligently and conscientiously devote the required professional/business time, energy, interests, abilities and attention to discharging his/her duties to the Employer, and shall not, without the express prior written consent of the Employer, render to any other person, corporation, partnership, firm, Employer, joint venture or other entity any services of any kind for compensation, or engage in any other activity that would in any manner whatsoever compete with the Employer, be adverse to any interests of the Employer and/or in any manner whatsoever interfere with the performance of the Employee�s duties for the Employer.

4. Dual Employment Prohibition
The Employee, after signing the agreement and receiving a work visa, can only legally work for the Institute designated by the Employer. If the Employee works for any other institutes, companies, or individuals without the written consent of the Employer and the Korean Immigration Office, the Employee shall face legal consequences which will/may include a fine and possible deportation.

5. Compensation
Salary : Except for the period of orientation and training, the Employer will pay the Employee for the minimum teaching requirement the amount of 1,900,000Won for each session of this agreement. Payment for additional teaching class is made at the rate of 20,400 Won per class. Teaching salary will commence from the first day of teaching. Korean income taxes and Korean National Pension Scheme deductions will be withheld according to Korean law. Monthly salary payments will be made on or before the 14th day of the month following the month during which the employment services were provided.

Orientation and Training : The Employee will receive up to 3 weeks of orientation and training. Half of the normal teaching salary will be paid during the period of orientation and training. The orientation and training schedule will be approximately 8 hours a day.

Severance Payment: Upon completion of one full year (twelve sessions) of employment with the Employer, the Employee will be given, exclusive of monthly salary payments( 1,900,000 Korean won ). This payment is made no later than one month after the completion of the contract. Korean severance tax will be withheld. Any outstanding debts (utilities and telephone bills, etc.) will be subtracted from the severance payment.

6. Medical Insurance
The Employee will be covered by medical benefits under the Korean Medical Insurance Union, a Government Health or Private Medical Insurance. The cost of this coverage will be borne half by the Employer and half by the Employee

7. Transportation
The Employer will provide for the Employee an economy class ticket for passage to Korea from an international airport which is mutually agreed to by the Employer and the Employee (henceforth referred to as point of departure). On completion of the full contract period, the Employer will provide for the Employee an economy class ticket for passage from Korea to point of departure. The return air ticket will be provided at the time of termination of employment. Air tickets provided cannot be exchanged for cash equivalents or transferred to persons other than the Employee. The Employer does not agree to, and is not liable for, compensation to the Employee, whether in cash or otherwise, for air tickets which are not used by the Employee.

8. Housing
A. The Employer will select and provide furnished living accommodations for the Employee.
a. Single housing with furnishings.
b. Furnishings will include a table, chairs, a two-burner gas hot plate, a refrigerator, a telephone, a television, a fan/or an air conditioner, a washing machine and some cooking utensils. Furnishings provide to each Employee include a bed, a wardrobe, a pillow and a blanket.
B. The Employee is responsible for utility charges such as electricity, gas, water, telephone charges, etc.

D. Normal wear and tear maintenance needing to be accomplished on the apartment or furnishings will be paid for by the Employer. In the event the damage is due to the Employee�s negligence, the Employee will be charged for the accomplished maintenance.

E. The Employee agrees to pay 600,000Won during the first three months of employment as a housing management deposit. This deposit is to cover unpaid monthly services, utilities, and telephone charges. Employer agrees that the deposit will be returned, in full, to the Employee in the event of no outstanding charges.

F. This deposit will be paid back to the Employee after all bills that he/she is responsible for have been paid.

G. The Employee is responsible for paying all utilities and must submit the receipt of payment to the school, no later than the 14th of each month. Failure to do so will result in the withholding of the Employee�s monthly salary until receipts showing payment of utilities are submitted.

9. Holidays/Vacation/Leave
A. Employee will be entitled to observe paid public holidays and receive paid vacation days during the contract term according to the yearly schedule provided by the Employer before the commencement of the year to which the schedule refers.

B. Sick Leave : Paid sick leave is only applicable in cases of actual illness. The Employee must provide a doctor�s certificate or a stamp from a pharmacy upon return to work.

C. Emergency Leave : Emergency Leave is only applicable in cases of natural disaster, hospitalization, death of immediate family members, fire, accident or other emergency situations that have been acknowledged as such by the Employer. Notification of Emergency Leave should, if possible, be given three(3) hours in advance of the class(es) the Employee expects to miss.

D. The Employee is allocated 30 40 minute classes Emergency and/or Sick Leave compensation. If a teacher misses more than the 30 40 minute classes, 20,400 Won will be deducted from his or her salary for every subsequent class missed due to illness.

E. Personal Leave : In order for the Employee to take Personal Leave, he/she must submit an application for leave form at least 48 hours in advance. Advanced approval from the Employer is required. The Employee is not allowed to take more than 12 40 minute classes Personal Leave. In cases of Personal Leave, the Employee will have 20,400 Won deducted from his/her salary for each class missed.

10. Termination of Employment

A. Early Termination for Cause
The Employer has the unrestricted right to terminate the Employment at any time for cause. Upon any termination for cause, the Employer�s sole obligation to the Employee shall be to pay the Employee through the date of such early termination his/her earned monthly compensation, and no other benefits such as return trip airline ticket shall be paid.

Termination for cause is restricted to:

i. the Employee�s deliberate and intentional refusal to perform his duties owed to the Employer as provided in this Agreement (Employee�s breach of contract);

ii. the Employee fails to make corrective actions based on written and oral feedback provided by the Employer based on the Employee�s performance and evaluations.

iii. the Employee�s dishonesty and moral turpitude with respect to his relationship with the Employer;

iv. gross negligence or reckless behavior by the Employee which may result in demonstrable harm to the Employer; or

v. The occurrence of any event constituting cause for termination shall permit the Employer to terminate the Employment. The decision to take any other action, in response to any such occurrence, shall be in the sole and exclusive discretion of the Employer.


B. Early Termination by the Employer and Employee

The Employer and Employee may terminate this contract with a written 30-day notice.

C. In the event the Employer enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employer shall pay the Employee for the 30-day period after an official termination of employment intent has been given to the Employee.

D. In the event the Employee enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employee shall reimburse the Employer as liquidated damages all expenses incurred in anticipation of the Employment of Employee which include airfare.

The airfare will be paid back using the following guidelines;

i. if the Employee has not completed 6 months of the contract, the Employee will pay the Employer for the full amount of the ticket, one-way or roundtrip.
ii. If the Employee has completed 6 months of the contract period, and a roundtrip ticket was purchased, the Employee will reimburse the Employer half the cost of the original price of the ticket.
iii. If a one-way ticket was purchased and the Employee has completed 6 months of the contract, the Employee will not pay the Employer any money and will forfeit a return ticket home.

E. Effect of Termination

Upon termination of the employment after the satisfactory completion of this contract, or upon any early termination of Employee�s Employment and this Agreement, the following shall occur:

i. Within two days after the Date of Termination or early termination, the Employer shall pay Employee all earned but unpaid monthly compensation.

ii. Immediately after the Date of Termination, Employee shall deliver to the Employer all of the Employer�s personal property, documents, records and other items in Employee�s possession or custody.

11. Sole and Entire Agreement.

This Agreement is the sole, complete and entire contract, agreement and understanding between the Employer and the Employee concerning the Employment; the terms and conditions of the Employment; the duration of the Employment, the termination of the Employment and the compensation and benefits to be paid and provided by the Employer to the Employee pursuant to the Employment. This Agreement supersedes any and all prior contracts, agreements, correspondence, letters of intent, understandings, and/or negotiations, whether oral or written, concerning the Employment; the terms and conditions of the Employment; the duration of the Employment; the termination of the Employment and/or the compensation and benefits to be paid by the Employer to the Employee pursuant to the Employment.

11. Applicable Law and Venue

This agreement and each and every provision hereof shall be interpreted pursuant to the laws of the Republic of Korea without regard to any conflicts of law principles, and the venue in which a claim, action or lawsuit may be brought shall be exclusively the Republic of Korea.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Employer and the Employee have each duly executed this Agreement on the dates set forth below their respective signatures.
___________________________________________________________

1.9 compared to 2.1 is essentially a $2500 US difference in salary per year. So I do not think it will make much of a difference. It's like saying:
"Take a salary of $23,000 per year with a good location, or take a salary of $25,500 with a location that is out of the way from Seoul."

Anyway, please help, anyone that can. I appreciate it!

[Satin]

I hope you are running in the opposite direction! Too many penalty clauses (illegal), no set hours, airfare restrictions, etc., etc.

Take a look at the last contract in the contract forum. They're similar in many respects. I can only guess why that teacher wondered if you were going to accept the contract!

Just remember, even if you agreed to the contract, you still don't have to follow through. Just tell them you changed your mind. You don't even have to tell them why.

You worked hard to get your degree - don't settle for slave-labor. There are so many jobs in Korea, just have a little patience and get a contract that won't make your life miserable for a year.

[corroonb]

I agree with Satin, the contract is very bad and there is no option for negotiation. Have a little patience now and you'll probably enjoy the year more. There are so many penalty clauses in that contract and some are extremely vague.


The minimum teaching requirement is 140 classes (1 class is 40 minute teaching period) per session(1 session is 20 teaching days according to SLP calendar). Monday through Friday are teaching days except for scheduled public holidays and vacation days.

Get a specified schedule or you might work split shifts.

2. Duties

A. Duties may include, but are not limited to;
a. Teaching
b. substitute teaching / phone teaching
c. giving interviews to students for placement tests
d. supervision of students
e. preparation/production of teaching materials
f. curriculum design and implementation
g. attendance at teachers’ meetings and workshops
h. writing evaluation comments and preparing evaluation reports
i. diary, essay and journal correction
j. execution of duties as an assistant Homeroom teacher
k. implementation of teacher policy guideline
l. participation in micro-teaching group presentations

Make sure all these are fully paid as you do not want to be phone teaching during your free time.

B. The Employee’s duties and responsibilities, as well as the academic programs, may be modified, from time to time. Any modification(s) in the Employee’s duties and responsibilities, and/or academic programs, shall be informed to the employee in advance.

This clause is absurd, It gives them carte blanche to do whatever they wish.

Orientation and Training : The Employee will receive up to 3 weeks of orientation and training. Half of the normal teaching salary will be paid during the period of orientation and training. The orientation and training schedule will be approximately 8 hours a day.

Training is far too long, it should be a week at most. 8 hours per day for 3 weeks at halfpay.

E. The Employee agrees to pay 600,000Won during the first three months of employment as a housing management deposit. This deposit is to cover unpaid monthly services, utilities, and telephone charges. Employer agrees that the deposit will be returned, in full, to the Employee in the event of no outstanding charges.

Penalty clauses are illegal unless you agree to them.

9. Holidays/Vacation/Leave
A. Employee will be entitled to observe paid public holidays and receive paid vacation days during the contract term according to the yearly schedule provided by the Employer before the commencement of the year to which the schedule refers.

Too vague. Ask for at least 10 weekdays each year.

D. The Employee is allocated 30 40 minute classes Emergency and/or Sick Leave compensation. If a teacher misses more than the 30 40 minute classes, 20,400 Won will be deducted from his or her salary for every subsequent class missed due to illness.

E. Personal Leave : In order for the Employee to take Personal Leave, he/she must submit an application for leave form at least 48 hours in advance. Advanced approval from the Employer is required. The Employee is not allowed to take more than 12 40 minute classes Personal Leave. In cases of Personal Leave, the Employee will have 20,400 Won deducted from his/her salary for each class missed.

More illegal penalty clauses.

iii. the Employee’s dishonesty and moral turpitude with respect to his relationship with the Employer;



D. In the event the Employee enacts this Paragraph by terminating or giving notice of termination, the Employee shall reimburse the Employer as liquidated damages all expenses incurred in anticipation of the Employment of Employee which include airfare.

This means you will be charged the recruiter's fee ( ove 1,000,000 won) and possibly the visa application fee. Say goodbye to your last paycheck if you resign.

No specific tax, pension or medical payments, not even percentages.

This is my first contract critique so feel free to disagree or add anything I missed.

The contract is very poor and even as a gyopo I'm sure you can do much better. But it's your choice at the end of the day.

[aristotle84]

Thanks for the advice corroonb and satin...

What I'm realizing is that no hagwan contract will ever come close to being perfect. It seems like almost all of these contracts include the same clauses in one form or another.

With that said, I will ask one question:

Say I do take this contract, but things get utterly out of hand and I decide to pull a runner after receving my last paycheck. They can't somehow make me pay for the recruiter's fee, airfare, etc after I'm back in the States?

[corroonb]

I very much doubt it, but make sure you run after your pay day. But if you do that you may have to wait until your E-2 expires as you won't get a letter of release.

No contract may be perfect but there are some good ones. Usually you can reject any of the chains or franchises right away as their contracts are the worst and they are never willing to negotiate because they already duped a number of naive folk and they can probably get more who will accept any contract they offer.

I received a good offer from a small school which only had two or three problems but I negotiated and the contract contains no penalty clauses. Its short, clear and simple. Some are willing to negotiate, some are not.

At least if you accept this one, you can go into it with your eyes open, aware of the difficulties that may arise.

Good luck regardless of whatever action you choose.

[Starr31]

If you are NOT in desperate need at this time to flee back to the homeland... take your time. I am also a Korean American teaching in Korea for the first time and in the beginning I was SO excited about these seemingly great opps coming my way but the more I read the forums here and did my homework, the more skeptical I became. Just take your time, as one of the members said, there's plenty of teaching jobs. I just got a good gig with an institution and it is Gov't Sponsored. It took me a good month of hardcore resume sending and researching. If you want to send a PM i can give you more info on what to look for etc..
There's a thread on here about contracts and what others say should be acceptable and what shouldn't.
Good Luck....

[Starr31]

I read everyones comments and agree, run forest run...
You shouldn't have to pay for housing and your management fee should not be that high????? The others said it best in their comments and really, don't sign... you aren't missing out on an AMAZING opportunity or anything like that....

[aristotle84]

[ttompatz]

[aristotle84]

[Starr31]

GREAT idea on the TESOL. I am doing that right now and it does affect your pay!

What is your background? Maybe you need to revamp your resume to make yourself marketable? Maybe there's something about your cover letter I don't know... but it is something to consider.

As the one person said you are heading into heavy recruiting season, it will be ok. Invest in that TESOL. Ignore the many opinions on it, if you want to teach and are serious about it, it does not hurt to do an online course, it shows effort on your part. One of the benefits to me being hired was that I was enrolled in a TESOL course and they liked my proactive-ness.

If you have any other questions We're all here...