Updated October 2007

Korea has suffered through a recent economic downturn. Private school enrollments have dropped quite significantly at some schools. Concurrent with this student decline are employers who are facing financial ruin. Thus we are witnessing a marked increase in the number of problems being faced by foreign staff. As well, there are large number or new school start ups - spreading out an already thin resource. Many schools are going bankrupt or are suffering financial troubles.

If you feel you are the victim of any of the below practices, or other forms of unfairness or deception, let us know. Post to the Forums or e-mail us. Also read the Forums to see personal problems teachers face with school employers

Dismissal at the 11 Month Mark of the Contract
a) Dismissal at the 11 month mark of a 12 month contract on nothing more than spurious allegations - designed to defeat the teacher from receiving his/her severance pay and return air fare.

Dismissal at the 5 Month Mark of a Contract
b) Dismissal for no reason at the 5 month mark - designed to defeat provisions of the Korean Labor Law that requires 30 days notice of dismissal after 6 months of working or pay in lieu thereof- some employers consistently employ teachers for 5 months, then dismiss them time and time again. It should be noted this is an abuse of the Labor Standards Act and misunderstanding (innocent or deliberate) that clearly says the time line is 3 months (and not 6 months) as applied by Schools and some Labor Office officials.

Teacher Assaulting Students
c) Teachers dismissed because the employer alleges the teacher has 'assaulted' students - and the school has lodged a complaint with the police - seems very common when the teacher is close to receiving substantial end of contract bonuses. Given the 'shock' of being approached by police and having to defend oneself against false allegations, some teachers have suffered financial loss and great stress during the process.

Shared Accommodation With Strangers
d) Teachers forced to share accommodation with Korean friends of the school owner despite the contract guaranteeing single accommodation

Flouting Immigration Law
e) Schools deliberately not completing Immigration requirements within the first 90 days as required under Immigration law - designed to have the teacher forced from Korea for breach of Immigration laws. Note some TEFL Recruiters are openly advertising illegal practices for new teachers -

School Being Sold to New Owner
f) Schools being 'sold' to new owners who refuse to accept the contract previously entered into by the former owner - and the new owner refusing to pay any obligations under the old contract despite the old contract maturing in days or weeks - thus the teacher being denied annual leave entitlements, severance pay, return air fare. Some of our inquiries have shown the new owner to be a family member of the previous owner!

School Borrowing Money From Teacher
g) School owners 'borrowing' money from the teacher with promises to pay it back - and not doing so - if this happens it is a clear warning that the school is close to bankruptcy

Airfare Calculations
h) School owners who have contracted to pay the return air fare to the teacher at the end of contract but have calculated the fee based on exchange rates that existed 12 months ago - and thus given the fluctuations in currency values, the teacher sometimes has lost 15% of what should have been paid based on the actual purchase fare.

Apartment Security Deposit
i) Some schools include in their contract that the teacher must pay an 'apartment security deposit' (ASD) of 600,000 Won which is deducted from the initial pay, and is designed to cover any outstanding apartment expenses or damage caused willfully or negligently by the teacher during his stay - some schools have fabricated stories and reasons as to why the' ASD' should not be refunded - thus one should be very wary of signing this type of contract.

The EPIK Renewal Process
j) A few EPIKs have reported that despite being promised renewal contract up to the very last minute, the promise did not occur, thus causing the Epik teacher great stress as to end of contract plans and preparations - given the Epik contract is a government contract this tends to show the Epik recruiting advertising pages to be false and misleading or that Provincial Offices of Education are totally ignoring the promises that were offered to the teacher to induce him/her to sign up for the EPIK contract.

Misleading Vague Contractual Conditions On Working Times
k) Many contracts are written with vague and misleading information as to how many lessons a teacher must work weekly. Employers couch contractual terms in such vagueness that one is not really sure just how long 'a lesson' really is. Contracts note lessons being 30 or 40 or 45 or 60 minutes, but never explaining what that actually means. The end result is that employers interpret that vague clause to get the greatest amount of working time out of the teacher possible - and there is nothing you can do once you have signed the contact, short of a legal challenge - This practice is also couched in terms such as "Sessions" which has some vague meaning that includes a 28 or 30 day period, as the employer sees fit. This practice is not only confined to private schools, but can be found in Contracts provided by Institutions of Higher learning, especially colleges. If you sign the contract without being perfectly clear what is expected of you, you may find your working hours greater than you imagined.

Racial Discrimination
l) Sadly we have received many reports of Teachers arriving at Incheon International Airport following being hired from their home country - and as soon as the school owner sees them and sees that they are NOT Caucasian, the school owner refuses to have anything to do with them - in fact abandoning them in the airport.
See Korean Human Rights Commission for remedies.

Work Illegally or be Dismissed
M) Recently we have become aware of schools demanding teachers work in breach of Korean Labor Laws, namely working at second and third locations and working without a visa. The school directors have told the teachers they will sacked (dismissed and deported) should they refuse to do as told.

Health Insurance
N) Some Employees believe their Employers are paying into the National Health Insurance Scheme. Money is deducted from the Employee's pay. Later, when the teacher begins a new contract with a new Employer that Employer goes to Register the teacher but finds the teacher NOT registered by the previous school who never paid a penny to the NHIC. Thus the NHIC will NOT enroll/cover the teacher until back payments are made. This is around 700,000 Won the teacher must pay. If your employer says he has enrolled you in the NHIC but you don't have a Medical Card from the NHIC and your employer accompanies you to the doctor/ hospital to pay your bills, you can assume your employer is cheating you and the NHIC.

Employer Demanding Recruiter's Commission Back
O) If you resign from your job, or are dismissed before the contract term is up, the Employer will/may deduct the "Recruiter's Commission" from your final pay. But two issues arise here:- (a) The employer falsifies the amount he paid the recruiter (b) the Employer will often get the money back from the Recruiter in any event -

False Job Advertising
P) Recently we have discovered that some job vacant position that appear on Job vacancy sites are false non existent jobs placed by Recruiters - and in two cases, the Job Board site - to generate (a) resumes for the Recruiters, and (b) the appearance of a viable Job vacancy Board. We discovered these facts through a rather complex set of maneuvers (a sting) and caught the wrong doer out. Unfortunately, you the teacher probably are not in a position (as we with our resources) to achieve this. All we can recommend is that you (a) Deal directly with the employer and not a recruiter or third party unless they are well recommended

Two Bank Books
A recent scam by Korean operators who pose as Recruiters is to have the teacher open two bank accounts. The recruiter has the information to Bank Book #1 where you pay goes. The Recruiter then transfers money to Bank Book #2 - the teacher's bank book. Usually there is an amount of money missing - sometimes Bonus pays and other entitlements are misappropriated by the Recruiter at the end of the contract.

---

If you find yourself in one of these situations, e-mail us with the facts. We are building a substantial data base of reports which we will present to the Korean Government at an opportune time.

E-mail us

Comment received from a teacher: August 2003

In addition to adding to your list of deceptive practices, I will explain the deception.

My employer has always paid expenses for his teachers. When monthly bills arrive (telephone, electricity, Internet, water, gas, apartment maintenance) the teacher gives them to the owner. The money is deducted from the employee's monthly pay and the bill is (supposedly) paid. However, the owner is now in SERIOUS financial trouble and bills are not being paid.

Presently, my telephone bill has not been paid in 4 months and is turned off. The apartment maintenance has not been paid in almost 1 year and the complex is threatening a lawsuit. My cable has not been paid in 4 months. You get the picture. He also was conducting the same scheme with health insurance. However, he recently had to pay considerable back payments. As of August, I am paying my bills myself. As you know, it is simple enough to pay them at the bank.

The above practice has been ongoing for the 4 western teachers in his employ. To my knowledge, the most serious delinquency is the apartment maintenance. As I stated, my maintenance fees are 300,000 won in arrears. The same is true of two other apartments. One apartment is 520,000 won in arrears.