Of the dozens of contracts we have examined, very few are of an acceptable standard. Most Korean contracts were riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, vagueness, and provided information that breached Korean Labor Law. Many contracts were conglomerations of clauses plagiarized from a variety of other contracts, stuck together, and presented to the aspiring employee teacher as a fait accompli. Some contained meaningless sentences with atrocious grammatical structure and or spelling mistakes. Others contained clauses designed to bluff / scare the teacher so as to to prevent him/her from seeking recourse to his/her undeniable legal rights. On many occasions we have found the Korean version of the contract to be very different to that which the TEFL teacher has been asked to sign. The associated pages herein try to forewarn you to some of the pitfalls you may encounter.

ADVICE** Once you have signed the contract you will not be able to change any term and your employer will interpret any vague terms in his favor. You can NOT resign and change jobs in Korea. The employer has to RELEASE you and Immigration have to approve the change. It can take time and you will be paying for temporary accommodation while this happens. Also see Letter of Release (Note this applies to E2 visas - those on F2s can change employer but may be sued for breach of contract by breaking the contract)

For a model sample contract, see TESOL Law Journal

You may not be living in Korea and have received a contract. In this situation you may find you can do little or nothing to make changes, (compare the sample contract. ) Whilst you may not like some provision, the fact is there are 100s of others who will accept the contract as is. However, if some provision concerns you, you should certainly speak to the school director to see if he/she will alter it, and then consider whether you will accept the contract. Of course, some schools, colleges, universities, hagwons, will not enter into any discussions at all. They have a standard contract and will not negotiate. Read * If you are coming to Korea to work as a teacher.*

The following points are what you are looking for in your contract:-
a) vacation time - at least 10 working days plus national holidays
b) sick leave - left to each individual contract - if no SL ask that at least 3 days be written in
c) working hours - this clause should be very specific and detailed
d) penalty clauses - ask that they be removed

ADVICE
If you are going to accept a contract, remember this:- employers who have less than 4 employees (namely some smaller private schools) are not entirely subject to all the provisions the Korean Labor Standards Act. Thus if something goes wrong, your options for help are reduced. You are advised to strongly consider whether or not you should accept a contract from such an employer; if you do, make 100% sure your contract clearly spells out unambiguously all issues relating to your employment.

**Also read the Frequent & Deceptive Practices page that are occurring with increased frequency.**

Already in Korea.

If you are applying from within Korea for a Korean position, you have the advantage of meeting the school/institution owner and discussing any provisions of the contract you have been presented. Determine that the person you are negotiating with does in fact have authority to represent the institution and that contractual arrangements will be binding; (e.g. some universities leave the interview to western teachers on their staff. Though they may make promises, they are not in a position to legally bind their employer.) The key areas you will be discussing are:-
(a) monthly wage
(b) hours worked and when and what constitutes an 'hour'
(c) holiday and annual leave provisions
(d) health insurance and deductions
(e) accommodation
(f) contract length
(g) any other salary deductions
(h) pension contribution and return of said pension contribution at the end of contract, (i) accommodation.

As noted above, some institutions have fixed non negotiable contracts. If you do nevertheless, negotiate a change, confirm it is written into both English and Korean versions of the contract. Oral agreements can be forgotten or explained as a miscommunication. Then do check the Korean version mirrors the English version - for example, the EPIK Korean contract has significant differences to the English version - and it is the Korean version that the courts will follow

EMPLOYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE LABOR STANDARDS ACT.

If the Employer employs more than ten Employees, then the Employer must prepare a "Rules of Employment" and submit such rules to the Minister of Labor. The Employer must also submit any amendments to such rules. Basically, the "Rules of Employment" is a summary of the Employer's business operating rules, conforming to the LSA on important provisions of the LSA, and in case of any nonconformance, the Minister of Labor can order any modifications of the "Rules of Employment". Since any labor contract, i.e., the Employment Agreement, must conform to the LSA, any non-conforming provision(s) of the Employment Agreement becomes null and void.

The Employer must post the "Rules of Employment" or keep such rules at each workplace at all times. Note that there is a standard form for "Rules of Employment" that is widely used by employers.

1. The Employer must give at least one hour of recess if you are working 8 hours per day. The Employer must also allow at least one day of paid holiday per week, meaning Employees should be given Sunday off. The Employer must pay fifty percent or more for any overtime work. The Employer must give one day of paid leave per month (which can be accumulated, to be used at one time or used on separate occasions within a period of one year) and also an additional ten days of paid leave per year to a worker who has worked without an absence throughout a full year and eight days to a worker has 90% of above percentage of attendance during one year. This right is forfeited if the Employee does not use the paid leaves within one year from the date of accrual of the right to use the leave. The Employer must give one extra day for each additional year of work after the initial one year of employment.
   
2. Wages must be paid at least once a month on a designated date.
   
3. Retirement issues. The National Welfare Pension Law mandates that any company which has five or more Employees must join a government administered national pension program, and the Employee and Employer must each contribute 4.5% of the Employee's monthly salary.
   
4. For any worker employed one year or more, an Employer must establish a retirement allowance system by which the average wages of the final 3 month's of the contract is paid being not less than thirty days for each one year of continuous employment.
   
5. Assistance with respect to occupational and non-occupational accidents. The Employer must pay a worker who is under medical treatment pursuant to an occupational injury or disease sixty percent of his average wages during the period of medical treatment, unless the Employer can show that the worker was injured at work or acquired a work-related disease due to his own gross negligence.
   
6. Any Employer violating any of the responsibilities under the LSA may be fined up to 5 Million Won for a violation or violations concerning the same issue. If there are two separate violations on separate issues, then the fine can be imposed of up to 5 Million Won for each violation.

Length of Contract:
Note also that under the LSA, the term of an employment contract cannot be longer than one year, except in cases where there is no fixed term or where a fixed term is necessary to complete a certain project.
Termination:
Note also that an Employee cannot be fired, laid off, or suspended without a "justifiable" cause. Breach of the criminal code, and neglecting one's duties (see further below) would all constitute "justifiable" causes. The Employer can, however, dismiss workers for administrative reasons such as when there is a transfer, merger, or acquisition of the business.
Dismissal Notice:
The Employer should give at least 30 days notice of dismissal. Otherwise the Employer must pay the ordinary wages for at least thirty days.
Record keeping:
The Employer should keep all related documents to Employees for at least three years.
Neglecting One's Duties.
This clause has sometimes been used by Employers to remove foreign teachers from the contract. Some of the better EFL contracts give clear guidelines to Employee's as to what would constitute Neglecting One's duties; viz,
a) conducting classes in an intoxicated state (b) sexual advances towards students (c) the employee's effectiveness in attracting and retaining students is paramount to the interest of the business. The instructor will be placed on 30 days probation if any serious complaints are received from the student/parent concerning that student's instructor. Further complaints during the probationary period will result in the instructor receiving 30 days notice of contract termination.

However, a key issue remains, being that an Employee who has received a degree from a foreign university (not a B.Ed or Ma in any of the educational fields) may find teaching Koreans in a foreign culture extremely difficult. If an Employer advises an Employee of termination of contract due to the neglect of his/her duties, one should immediately seek the assistance of agencies noted throughout herein, and one should always keep clear dated records of any conversations, etc, that suggest this situation may be a future event.

Korean Legal System: Courts and judges are not bound to follow another higher court's precedent, though it often does happen. One of the more noteworthy Rules of Court, and quite different to western practices, is that the Judge (who acts as judge and jury) can admit hearsay evidence. The judge can also request any evidence irrespective whether it has been proffered up by either party or not. Thus any information relating to your matter may come from other parties (teachers-staff-students) who were not privy to the direct cause of action. There are also different rules relating to Discovery of documents, namely Courts can order certain documents as they wish, but there is no pre trial Discovery procedure