A Brief Job Description Adhere to all requirements and policies contained in the contract. Adequately prepare lessons and evaluations for classes. Implement and utilize our established curriculum. Employ appropriate teaching methodology to maximize effectiveness. Be punctual reporting to work and keep absences to a minimum level. Dress neatly and appropriately while on the school premises. Allow observation of teaching by the academic supervisor or manager. Attend staff meetings and workshops as scheduled. Provide peer support to colleagues and assist new teachers. Dress Code One's personal attire, grooming and personal hygiene are extremely important in Korea. It is viewed as a reflection of self-respect and more importantly, respect to others. Teachers at all academies are expected to dress semi-formally while teaching. Men are required to wear ties, dress shirts and dress pants (Neatly pressed cotton or corduroy trousers are acceptable). Women are encouraged to wear dresses, skirts or dress pants. Skirts must touch the knees when standing. Clothing should not be too revealing. Low necklines and short skirts are not acceptable. Clothing that is sheer is also not acceptable. Jeans of any color, shorts, sleeveless shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants are not allowed for both men and women. Teachers should wear appropriate shoes as sneakers/tennis shoes, hiking boots/shoes, slippers or sandals are not allowed. Women are allowed to wear appropriate dress sandals. During the months of July and August, polo style shirts (collared short-sleeved shirts) are acceptable for men and women. Exceptions will be made for field trips. Personal attire is considered part of professional conduct. If you are unsure of what is acceptable, ask your academic supervisor. Orientation and Training Our five full days of orientation and training provided to our teachers before they commence teaching (two days at your school and three days at the YBM Head Office) is designed to make you comfortable with your new environment, courses, policies and procedures as well as to provide guidelines for a successful teaching experience. During orientation and training you will get to know other teachers and explore your new surroundings. During this time, you are expected to participate in interactive training sessions on TEFL methodology, teaching strategies, courses, textbooks and cross-cultural issues. You will be asked to observe classes taught by co-teachers, consult with a mentor teacher and teach a class. The arrival date for each month is set to allow for the full period of training before you commence teaching. However, if you arrive late due to delays in paperwork, receiving your visa or flight scheduling difficulties, your training could be modified so that you will still begin teaching on the first day of the session or your first starting day may be delayed by a few days or even a week. Work Schedule Most teachers are contracted to teach 105 teaching hours (consisting of 30, 40, or 50 minute classes) a month. Classes are held Monday through Friday. With a maximum 8-hour block teaching schedule excluding lunch breaks. The 8-hour block will be an average based on the 5 day workweek schedule, consisting of approximately 26.25 teaching hours per week. In the event a teacher receives overtime payment or during the regularly scheduled intensive months consisting of 1 month in the summer and 1 month in the winter, the maximum 8-hour teaching block may not apply. Schedules could vary slightly from month to month. Many factors can affect your schedule. Some of these factors are student registrations, holidays and the priority given to senior teachers who have been at the school longer. Mandatory Preparation and Arrival time During the first 3 months of employment all first-year ECC employees will be required to arrive at least 1 hour before the start of their first class and prepare for lessons at least 2 hours per day. All employees will be required to arrive at least 1 hour before the start of their first class and prepare for lessons at least an hour per day or according to the employer's academic standards. For teachers who are assigned classes as early as 9:30 am they can arrive around 9:00 am to prepare for lessons and be ready to begin teaching at 9:30 am. Subbing Policy and notifying your school In the event you are unable to teach your class you must inform the academic supervisor for approval with as much advance notice as possible. Teachers may not arrange their own substitute nor can teachers swap classes. If you are running late or sick, you must notify the academic supervisor or the senior teacher, they can make arrangements to have someone fill in for your class. Failure to call in or having unauthorized substituting will result in a warning or other disciplinary actions. Non-Teaching Duties There are non-teaching duties required by our teachers. Payment is inclusive to the monthly salary listed in the contract. Examples of non-teaching duties are placement test interviews, preparing lesson plans, writing student evaluations/report cards, attending general meetings and workshops. Workshops will usually be one per quarter or even just every 6 months depending on your location. Workshops may be held on teacher seminar days or a Saturday. Depending on schools, teachers may or may not have to attend some or all of the following events for students such as Halloween parties, birthday parties, field trips and other various events. In the case that you attend a field trip outside of the school, it will count as a teaching day and your monthly salary is maintained. Most of these events will be held between 10:00 am to 7:00 pm however some events can run a little later and even occur on Saturdays. Events that occur on Saturdays will usually be just a few per year, such as kindergarten orientation (which is held once or twice a year) or kindergarten graduation. Salary The grades are dependent on qualifications, ESL teaching experience, and hours available at the school. The contracted teaching requirement is an average of 6 to 8 classes per day ranging from 30 to 50 minutes per class plus other non-teaching duties such as the non-teaching duties listed above. YBM Head Office guarantees your base salary even in the event your school cannot assign the full teaching load to you. For example, if you are assigned to teach only 92 teaching hours and your base salary is 2.0 million won you will still receive your base salary. In the event your school assigns you 110 teaching hours per month you will receive your base salary plus the overtime rate as listed in your contract The standard (rent-free) housing contract offers a monthly salary of 2.0 million won and up a month for 105 teaching hours with full benefits. Our teachers will always receive the base salary even when assigned below the regular teaching hours. 1. 2.0 million won for teachers who have less than a full year of teaching experience and non-education ... related degrees. 2. 2.1 million won for teachers with one full year of verifiable ESL teaching experience or a degree in education ... or ESL with some teaching experience. 3. 2.2 million won for teachers with at least two full years of verifiable ESL teaching experience and at least ...one full year teaching ESL to children. 4. 2.3 million and up for applicants with more than 3 full years of verifiable ESL teaching experience and at least ...two full years teaching ESL to children in South Korea. 5. 2.4 million and up for applicants with more than 4 full years of verifiable ESL teaching experience and at least ... three full years teaching ESL to children in South Korea Applicants who majored in English, completed ESL related coursework at the university level or completed a reputable TEFL, TESOL, EFL program and have some tutoring/teaching experience can qualify for the 2.05 million won salary. Finally there is the no-housing contract, which offers an extra 400,000 won a month on top of your base salary. This type of contract requires the teacher to find his/her own housing and is not very common (You must inform YBM if you would prefer this type of contract). Flight Ticket YBM offers a prepaid flight ticket from a major international airport in the country that the teacher resides in as long as the teacher qualifies for the E2 visa and we are able to obtain a ticket for that city. Usually the ticket will be an e-ticket that the instructor can pick up at the airport. The cost of the ticket becomes a part of your income and will be taxed accordingly. For example if your salary was 2.0 million won and the ticket costs 1.0 million won (about $1000 USD), it would be as if your first month's salary was 3.0 million won and you would be deducted 7-8% of that 3.0 million won on the first month's salary, which would be about 210,000 won to 240,000 won respective to the tax rate. Your 2nd month's salary would obviously be taxed at just your base salary or base salary plus overtime pay if you had overtime. Severance Pay A payment equivalent to one's base salary (contracted monthly salary) is paid for each year of employment. You are eligible for severance pay at the completion of one year and any months thereafter also will be paid (Calculated up to each month of employment). YBM pays your severance pay at the end of each year; exceptions are for renewals less than 3 months. Deductions Korean income tax, residence tax, social security (pension) tax, and medical insurance & premiums are withheld from your monthly salary. The amount withheld will vary according to that month's salary, which could include overtime hours. For salaries between 2.0 to 2.2 million won the deduction rate is about 7 to 8 % Tax Refund Currently exclusive to employees holding passports from the United States or Canada, under current Korean tax regulations/tax treaty with the respective countries, full time employees holding passports from the United States or Canada shall receive the accumulated pension tax payment made each month over the course of employment at YBM plus the equivalent co-payment made by us directly from the Korean National Pension Tax Office (http://www.npc.or.kr/ Click English link). Our teacher's can apply in person once they are close to ending their employment with us or have finished their contract. The pension fund refund has no deadline and will earn the average interest paid by a Korean bank for a 3-year CD. If a teacher pays into the Korean pension fund for 10 years or more he or she will be entitled to receive a monthly pension when they reach the retirement age directly from the Korean Pension Office. The application form and further instructions can be obtained at your nearest local Korean Pension Tax Office. Teachers who hold passports from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa may inquire with their home countries tax office on the current tax treaty bylaws with Korea and means of receiving reimbursement or credit for paying into the Korean pension tax fund. Paid Sick days and No-Absence bonus In a standard 12-session contact, a teacher is given 10 paid sick classes (not days) and will not be deducted for missing a class with a valid medical note or confirmation of sickness by your school's manager or academic supervisor. Attendance Bonus : In the event the teacher has no absences including medical and non-medical reasons the teacher shall receive the following levels of attendance bonus at the end of the 12-session agreement - 300,000 Won bonus for missing no classes (Medical or non-medical reasons) - 200,000 Won bonus for missing 5 or less classes (Medical or non-medical reasons) - 100,000 Won bonus for missing 10 or less classes (Medical or non-medical reasons) For contracts less than one-year, but at least six months, the teacher will receive prorated terms. Dealing with students If you have a student who is causing problems in one of your classes you should take the following steps: Speak with the student after class about the problem and warn the student to not misbehave or you will inform the academic supervisor. If the student continues to disrupt the class you should inform the academic supervisor by writing a short note explaining how the student misbehaved or disrupted class. Do not yell or curse at the students and do not let the situation get out of hand. If your student starts to become uncontrollable, walk out and tell the academic supervisor or senior teacher. If they are not available, tell the manager or the front desk. Breaking a contract and Dismissals Termination of a contract either by resignation or by dismissal entails penalties that are tied to the length of the contract remaining. Candidates are entitled to receive payment up to the last day they conducted class. Candidates may have to repay their prepaid airfare provided by the school as well as any benefits such as relocation allowance, visa fee subsidy and other expenses incurred by the school. If teacher gives at least 6 weeks WRITTEN notice and finish up the last teaching day of that month's session then your school will prorate the airfare and other financial benefits the employee had received such as the relocation allowance and visa fee subsidy are two examples. YBM Head Office can provide the "Settlement for Termination of Contract" agreement that would state these conditions. Holidays and Vacation All ECC's observe regularly scheduled Korean national holidays, which total to about twelve to fourteen days a year. In addition to these regular annually scheduled holidays, there are ten-session vacation days per calendar year. These dates are set usually next to Korean national holidays or weekends. These vacation periods are detailed in the ECC calendar. Housing Teachers with a standard contract are provided with rent-free furnished housing. Housing is usually a private single studio such as an office-tel, a walk-up or even a one-bedroom apartment (Please check out sample photos of our housing under ECC Pictures section). In some cases we offer shared housing. Usually it will be a two-bedroom apartment for couples, two friends or same gender co-teachers at the school. Teachers must pay for the service/maintenance fees and utilities. These include gas, water, electricity, telephone, with the possibility of a housing maintenance fee and/or security guard service fee. Routine maintenance is the responsibility of the teacher. These charges vary according to one's usage and seasonal factors such as winter months can require additional heating expenses as well as summer months, which can have higher electricity rates due to air conditioners being used. Air conditioning is provided in all of our company provided housing options. During the hot summer months our teachers will have the option to turn on their AC. Bedrooms will usually have a single size bed but sometimes even a double sized bed. You can also expect a dresser or closet. A medium size blanket and pillow will usually be provided. It is rare for any of our accommodations to provide dishwashers, dryers, full size ovens or even automatic garbage disposal as these items are not commonly used in Korea. In the kitchen there will be a refrigerator, gas stove burner and possibly some appliances such as cooking utensils, kitchenware and many other household items as our teachers who had previously resided there leaves them behind. Normally if you move into a brand new apartment you will most likely have to purchase your own sets of pots & pans, dishes, etc. Most housing will also provide a small table and chairs for dining. All apartments will have a telephone, a television, a washing machine but not a dryer. The apartments usually have 220-volt electrical outlets, but some have 110 volts or both. To use 110-volt devices on a 220-volt system, a transformer/converter will be required. It can be purchased from 20,000 to 50,000 won, depending upon quality here in Korea as well as just the plug adapters if your electrical item accepts up to 240 volts. Most wall sockets in Korea use the round plug version while many North American houses accept the flat plug. Bathrooms are usually western-style with a shower, a toilet, and a sink. Please take in mind that not all bathrooms will have a bathtub. In rare cases, here is no living room/common area especially for the single studios as they are designed for one person only. In the case of a two-bedroom apartment shared with a fellow native English teacher or your spouse or partner that also works for the same school, the accommodation is provided only for the person employed. Friends and relatives are permitted to stay at the residence for short visits and extended stays are only permitted with permission. With permission our teachers can reside with a non-employed partner when they have a single accommodation. Please be advised that these single accommodations are usually designed for one person and not a couple as many single studios will combine the living room with the bedroom. Pets are not permitted in most accommodations as per landlord rules and Korean laws, which require permission from next-door neighbors. Ask before you buy a pet. All bills pertaining to the housing is the responsibility of the tenant(s). For no-housing contracts, please inquire with YBM Head Office or your school about this type of contracts. Usually YBM ECC will provide an additional 350,000 won payment to help defer the cost of housing and up to ten million won in key money may be available. Switching between the standard housing and no-housing contract in the middle of your contract could be possible but is very difficult. Housing Maintenance Deposit and Cleaning fees All teachers will have 200,000 won withheld from their salary for the first three months of employment as a deposit for any unpaid bills described above at the end of employment. This deposit, a total of 600,000 won will be returned to the teacher after verifying that all outstanding bills have been paid. This policy is in place to ensure that occupants of YBM provided housing fulfill their obligation to pay all outstanding utility charges during their employment at YBM and to ensure that old tenants do not leave unpaid bills for new tenants. This deposit shall be returned to the employee after all outstanding monthly service, utility, and telephone charges have been paid and confirmed. If another co-worker cosigns on your behalf the housing deposit debt guarantor form then you can expect to receive this deposit along with your last salary and severance pay. The teacher shall not be held responsible for furnishings/items that need repair or replaced due to normal wear and tear. If the furnishings/items provided by the school are damaged through destruction or the teacher's negligence then the cost of repair/replacement will be borne by the teacher. The teacher will also be responsible for maintaining the accommodation in the same order they received it under and will be charged for cleaning bills if the school has to hire a cleaning person to restore the property within reasonable conditions for the next occupant. Medical Insurance and Treatment Medical insurance is provided by the Korean Government's National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) and the benefits for foreigners are the same as for Koreans. The cost for this insurance will vary slightly with one's salary, but it is roughly 2.3 % of your monthly salary. The premium must be paid monthly and is deducted each month from one's salary. The academy pays an equal amount each month. Coverage is only valid inside Korea. Health care benefits are for specific regions and treatment must be received in that region except in the case of emergencies. Coverage extends from the date of joining the program to the date of termination of employment. Due to requirements from the Immigration and Taxation departments, coverage commences 2-4 weeks after arrival in Korea. For this reason, you may want to get traveler's insurance. The percentage of costs covered by the policy varies with the type of treatment. The insured must pay for examinations and any remaining costs. For more insurance, there are other supplemental health care plans. Keep in mind NHIC does not cover everything. For more info on NHIC, visit http://www.nhic.or.kr and click on the English link. Generally all medical conditions will be covered including cancer treatment, non-cosmetic surgery, and examinations. The coverage is currently about 60 to 80% of the total cost with the remaining portion paid by you. Please keep in mind that your salary will not be maintained in the event your medical condition prevents you from teaching. Please look into additional coverage offered by 3rd party insurers for this type of coverage.