Contracts and Legalities in Korea

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Contracts and Legalities

Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Signing a contract At Footprints Recruiting our prime parameter when considering schools in Korea to work with is that they offer a positive working environment and a fair market salary. We will do our best to place you in a good school in the area where you want to teach - an extra hundred dollars a month isn’t much when you loathe going to work every day. Over 95% of Footprints teachers have completed, or are in the process of completing their one year contracts.

All teaching contracts in Korea for Footprints Teachers will include the following:

FREE HOUSING: single or shared or a housing allowance stipend
SALARY: 1,900,000 Won (1.9 is the MINIMUM for 30 hours)
FREE AIRFARE: reimbursed on arrival or paid up front by school
ONE MONTH SEVERANCE: you will receive 1 month salary for each year of teaching service - this is mandated by Korean law

Airfare - How does this work?

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

All schools we work with offer air transport to and from Korea as part of their standard contracts.

Here's how it works.

You're accepted by Footprints, then you're accepted by the school.
You then get your visa and while you're in the process of getting your visa you get in contact with the Footprints Travel Agent.
You work with our Footprints travel agent to book a one-way ticket from the closest airport to you to the closest airport to the school in Korea.

Why one-way? I was promised round-trip.

Overtime in Korea - more than 9 to 5?

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

First, it should be known that most teaching jobs are NOT 9 to 5. If you're in a public school, you're looking at 8 or 9 in the morning to 3 or 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Teaching hours and working hours are different. Teaching hours or classtime hours are the hours you are contracted to spend in the classroom teaching. Most contracts also have a provision for "working hours" which is often teaching hours plus prep hours or office hours. Often this is an extra 5 to 15 hours a week. Some schools require you to be there 40 hours a week even though you are only required to teach 30 hours a week. The extra 10 hours is for planning and administration. It could also be for calling parents or helping with an advertising campaign.

Dismissal or Resignation

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Of course, you can leave Korea any time you wish if you are unhappy with your job or feel that you made the wrong decision in going abroad to teach. Generally, voluntary resignation results in loss of the severance payment and the loss of air transportation home. It can also involve repayment of your air to Korea and the loss of your housing deposit and reimbursement for the recruiting fee the school paid to get you there. Some schools may also try to withhold some of your wages. School management will, in the vast majority of cases, follow the contract in this area if you follow it by giving the required amount of notice (30 or 60 days) and if you are cooperative in the interim.

Medical Insurance Requirement

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

All English schools in Korea are required to provide their teachers with medical coverage for the duration of their contract. Normally the school will pay for half of your coverage and half the cost of your coverage will be deducted from your salary on a monthly basis. The cost to teachers for their medical coverage is typically 1.7% of your monthly salary.

IMPORTANT: your medical insurance will not start until you have your "Alien Residence Card". This is initiated immediately after you arrive but can take 2 weeks to 3 months to finalize. Footprints strongly recommends that you get at least 3 months travel medical insurance before you go. Perhaps this can be a going away present for you.

Korea Teacher Contract Summary

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Teaching Salaries in Korea

I've seen other salaries offered and they're higher. Why can't you get me something like that?
When something looks too good to be true, it usually is. There are several factors at work in this case.

Salaries at private language institutes, or hagwons, as they are known in Korean, typically range from 1.9 to 2.2 million won per month. For the current value of the Korean won in your currency, visit: Universal Currency Converter

Your starting salary will depend on a number of factors- mainly your experience as a teacher and the location of the school.

Since the cost of living is higher in major cities, particularly Seoul, salaries tend to be slightly higher here as well. An average starting salary in Seoul is 2.0 million won per month.

Severance Pay aka Bonus

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Article 28 of Korean labor law states,

“(Retirement Allowance System)
(1) The employer will establish a retirement allowance system so that not less than thirty days average wages for each consecutive year of employment will be paid as a retirement allowance to a worker who has retired. This shall not apply to a worker who was employed less than a period of one year. (Penal Provisions, Chapter XII, Article 110: Violators shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding ten million won.)”

Sick Days

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Koreans generally do not take time off from work for being ill. However, exceptions can be made for foreigners, and contracts generally include 3 days annual sick leave. It is important to recognize that these are not extra days to be taken off. If you call in sick you will often be visited by your employer who, in their concern and empathy, will drive you to the hospital (not a pleasant place to be). If you are not at your residence or if you stink of the previous night's events they are not going to be pleased.

Emergency or Compassionate Leave

Korea Information - Contracts and Legalities in Korea

Some contracts make provisions for one week of emergency leave in the event of a death, or life-threatening illness/injury, of a family member. Even if this is not in a contract, any Korean employer will typically give you a week off (as long as you have demonstrated that you are a good teacher); it's a better option than losing an employee. This leave is unpaid and may require some sort of proof of the situation.