Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ophelia]

My contract is meant to finish in February (incidentally I started in March 2006 however my school may release me earlier since the semester ends in December) and my contract states that if I complete the full contract period that I should receive a severance bonus of 2 million won, however my fellow Canadian co-worker says they will not give this to me.


To elucidate this further I will quote my contract:

]1. PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT

a. The total agreement term is approximately one year, commencing in March and finishing next February.

b. The term of this Agreement includes prepatory period, twelve full and consecutive teaching sessions, and all scheduled vacations and holidays that fall between or during teaching sessions.[/color]



Note: To me these two clauses (a and b) seem contradictory. We had a one month vacation this summer and the second semester ends in December, creating another one month vacation in January and then apparently the new year starts in February. That doesn't add up to 12 consecutive months of teaching but it does comply with clause A.





11. SEVERANCE PAYMENT

Dependant upon completion of the full contract period, the Employee will be given 2.0 million won. This payment will be made at the time of completion of the contract period.


Note: I wonder if by contract period they mean clause A or B in Section 1, Period of Employment. It almost sems to be open to interpretation.




I have told the English-speaking correpondant to my boss at my school that I am willing to stay until the official end of my contract as long as I get my severance payment but as is often the case, communication is stilted and they haven't let me know their decisions yet. I'm wpondering if I should speak to a lawyer.



ANY INSIGHT INTO THIS MATTER WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!

[poet13]

Without going into all the legal(ese) that I don't know, I think the essence of the labor law is that if you complete your term of contract, and that term of contract is one year, they owe you the severance pay, whether they worked you for the full year or not. As long as you were there to do what they asked, whether you actually taught classes is not your problem, it's theirs.

[polonius]

I hired a teacher, and she was in the same boat as you. Our semester ended 1 month prior to her actual ending date. She wanted to move on to another school. We struck a deal with her. We gave he the airfare in cash, and pro-rated her severance to 11/12. Try and see if you can get something along those lines.

[poet13]

I think that's an equitable solution for everybody...

[ilovebdt]

If your first contract is not of 12 months duration then I don't think you are entitled to severance pay.

The best thing to do would be to call the Labour Board on 1350 and ask them.

http://english.molab.go.kr/

ilovebdt

[Pak Yu Man]

If they are going to get rid of you legally they are required by law to give you 30 days notice. Hopefully this 30 days will put you over the 1 year mark.

[ophelia]

I officially started my contract on March 2nd, 2006 and it is supposed to end sometime in February. The new school year, I have now been told, begins in March. The foreign teachers have both January and February off, although the story on ths never seems consistent. Things are always being rehashed because this the school's first year of existence. I was told I would be paid for both February and January even though my last month of actual teaching is December. If I'm being paid until the end of February, that still makes me an employee (which according to my contract I am supposed to be anyway) thus shouldn't I also be entitled to severance? One of the Korean teachers told me that only teachers who re-sign for the next year get severance. I'm actually going back to Canada to get another degree so that is out of the question.