Professional Foreign Language,
Computer Science & Business Training Institute.
Skype the following for Online Tutor / English Classes. (Leave a message if busy and we will get back to you. ezderek - ezannie1 - ezeileen1 Skype me here
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Professional Foreign Language,
Computer Science & Business Training Institute.
Skype the following for Online Tutor / English Classes. (Leave a message if busy and we will get back to you. ezderek - ezannie1 - ezeileen1 Skype me here |
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GI Certificate
Welcome Number
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Life of an Expat in Korea (Korean labor (labour) law below) The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Embracing
the culture of a new country is a challenging task.
Everybody
back home says that when you live and work abroad, you are lucky.
I must admit, it is not true much of the time in Korea. I was totally in
“culture shock” the first time I arrived here in 2001. The landscape of
South Korea is a lot prettier than I thought.
The country has developed well, but in many aspects, the ways of the
people do not correspond to this beautiful but high tech society. I visited a
top class fully furnished apartment in Seoul and I was shocked when they asked
me to sit on the floor. I still cannot understand why they spent a lot of money
for a leather sofa and we were sitting on the floor. The
Korean subway system is fantastic and second best only to Hong Kong’s MRT.
Mainly because of the courtesy of the people in Hong Kong but yes, it was also
British built with the TV built in the back of the seat etc. The “ugly bad”
in Korea is that the people push and shove you inside and out of the train
without respect, and Korean’s usually never apologize as this is normal Korean
behaviour. They will look in your bag if you open it to see what you have, and
even read your book with you! Koreans don’t see people. You just don’t
exist. But, they need for some reason, to know everything about you. A
friend and I were in an elevator speaking in Tagalog. A Korean lad shouted at us
in his native tongue that we should talk in Korean, because he could not
understand us. Keep this in my mind as part of the Korean day-to-day behaviour.
Driving
in Korea is also very challenging although Korean road signs are friendly to
foreigners. However, there are cameras everywhere. Thank the lord I am not a
'speed merchant'. I really try to be
obedient but when I drive, the local drivers will suddenly swerve and
dangerously cut you off, they just race with the traffic swerving from lane to
lane. Using a horn here is the same
as in the Philippines. It's like a Christmas present to be used all the time. My
US army friend and my British hubby have now become aggressive drivers mainly to
survive the dangerous assaults and insults from Korean drivers. On
the good side, is the way Korea has continued to make their culture alive with
their tradition festivals and dances.
The cherry blossom festivals and the beautiful autumn leaves of the
Gingko trees really touches my heart. My Canadian
friend who also arrived here about the same time as myself, tells me that
Vancouver in Canada has the same cherry blossom, autumn leaves, Asian cultural
events and all in an open multi-cultural society: so is Korea really unique? Perhaps
not. I must go to Canada and
see. Korea
has more new cars on the streets than I have
uncounted elsewhere. They change
cars every 5 to 7 years. You can buy an excellent pre-owned automobile here for
a thousand US dollars. My
loneliest days here are at Christmas and New Year, because this is not a
Christian country in spirit or mind. Even
though there are many privately run Christian churches everywhere in Korea, they
are not really embracing or conducting themselves as traditional Christians with
any affiliated Christian denominations. There is no “spirit” in the air at
all at Christmas in Korea. It all revolves around making money only. Thinking
about other people and their needs does not exist. The winter is bitterly cold
and icy here. The snow is always very pretty though. I have promised myself to
spend this year’s Christmas and New Year in California. I deserve a proper
Christmas dinner after having missed two Christmas holidays here. Korean
business culture is also very different compared to the rest of the world. Ten
to twelve working hours here is normal in the offices and factories. Six
teaching hours a day is also normal if you are an English teacher.
It is my first time to see office employees sleeping or passing out
during office hours due to sheer exhaustion. Business establishments come and go
and as this is a cutthroat society in terms of business and personal honesty,
something that is scornfully lacking in Korean society. This society embraces
some of the best aspects of modern life, but woefully lacks in management and
Koreans for the most part refuse to integrate into a modern world of
Globalization. Companies in the main see globalization as carrying out multi
business without any hands-on experience in running the business or any
knowledge about the products. I call this “jack of all trades, master of
none”. Exports are fine. Import is not seen as good country policy. In world
trade, they only really want to sell. In real life they also see working in
factories as an insult. Hence there is a requirement to take on Filipino
workers. If
Filipinos left, they would have problems. On
the other hand, have you ever tried eating live and raw squid or octopus? I was
brave enough to try this “Korean delicacy”. While I was chewing the squid
and octopus the tentacles were sucking on my gums and tongue. What was I
thinking? I put it down to experience. I also mastered the art of making Kimchi.
Believe me or not, I was the one who taught my middle-aged Korean lady friend
how to make Kimchi and she could not believe it.
Korean mothers are very busy nowadays doing the shopping, looking pretty and
having a hair perm. They really prefer to buy a prepared Kimchi
in the supermarkets. No wonder the new generation does not know how to prepare
their best side dishes. Families
just don’t know how to cook. However, Korean food is delicious. My
favourites are: haesangkuk, kamjatang,
kalbi, agutang, kalbitang
and samgyetang. It costs a fortune to buy Ginseng
outside of Korea but you can eat fresh ginseng roots in chicken soup and beef
soup here. I understand it is not a lot different to English horseradish, which
comes at a quarter of the price and actually tastes nicer. I
had a super day at the fish market yesterday and I was amazed to find such a
large selection of seafood. I bought a huge spider crab and many varieties of
shellfish. This is definitely one thing that I will miss when I move to another
country for better times and job next month. Having spent a year in Beijing and
Shanghai, I must admit, I really miss Chinese food also, apart that is, from
missing my own Filipino food. At least I could buy that in Sydney and Melbourne. My
Korean best friend is the only Korean I dare to trust. She has been with me thru
“thick and thin”. She protects me from the horrible experiences I have
encountered here. I thank God for giving me such a dear friend for life. To
be fair, there are good and bad people all over the world. I happened to
experience the good, the bad as well as the ugly side of living as an expat
in the land of the morning calm. A super place to visit, just
be very, very careful if you are thinking of working here. Korea. Super people, super country, lousy management, just about the worst. If you want to be treated like a dog, then work in Korea. Pushing, shoving, drivers that just ignore traffic rules etc, however if you have cash to spend on holiday, a fantastic place to visit. If you want to work here you have got be a 'killer, fighter person'. Believe me. You will work for a 'fair' salary, but your day will be so long, with so many problems and you will be treated worse than a dog. You have to be the toughest of the toughest to survive in Korea. They may have evolved in technology, but in management and culture they are the 'Pits'. 2nd worst to China. Racism is vast and Blacks or Filipinos are treated like scum. Slave trade and women being forced into prostitution is rife. This is a typical apartment you could be given to live in. The whole group on study here had to admit. Don't trust a Korean business person. Korean labour (labour) law 1. Ensuring the Quality of Working Conditions A . Scope of Application T he Labour Standards Act, which specifies minimum working standards for workers, used to be applied to workplaces with five or more workers, but with the revision of the Enforcement Decree effective on 24 February 1998, the scope was expanded to cover all workplaces from 1 January, l999. However, some provisions relating to labour contract, limitation of dismissal and working hours) are not applied to workplaces employing four workers or less in consideration of economic conditions and administrative capacity. B . Limitation of Dismissals Employers cannot dismiss employees
without justifiable cause. If dismissed without justifiable cause, an employee
can file for redress to the Labor Relations Commission. Employers may be subject
to punishment for any unjustifiable dismissal. < Legal Provisions concerning Dismissal for
Urgent Managerial Reasons > ¨ç If an employer intends to dismiss a worker
for managerial reasons, there shall be urgent managerial needs. Business
transfers, acquisitions, or mergers to prevent the deterioration of business
shall be deemed urgent managerial needs. I n principle, employees shall be paid their
full wage on a specified day each month. If an employee demands wages in an
emergency situation, such as childbirth, sickness, accident, etc., wages
corresponding to the amount of work offered shall be paid even before payday. D ue to their daily worker status, workers who
engaged in the construction business had not received retirement pay. In order
to provide retirement pay to construction workers, the Government introduced
¡¸the Act on Improvement of Employment Conditions for Construction Workers¡¹on
1 January 1998. D . Working Hours W working hours, excluding break-time, shall not exceed legal working hours. In the case of overtime work agreed upon by the concerned parties, 50% of the ordinary wage shall be paid additionally for such overtime work. The overtime can not exceed 12 hours per week.
< Legal Working Hours in Korea >
I f the flexible working hour system is adopted, through either an employment rule or a written agreement with workers' representatives, working hours can be lengthened. For instance, during a given two-week period, it is possible to extend the working hours of a specific week up to 48 hours without providing additional pay, as long as the weekly average is 44 hours. O n a monthly basis, working hours for a specific week and a specific day can be extended up to 56 hours and 12 hours, respectively, under a written agreement between labour and management, as long as the weekly average does not exceed 44 hours. As a reference, the average weekly working hours for Korean workers had declined moderately since the 1997 economic crisis, but the trend was reversed, bringing the figure up to 47.9 hours in 1999 and 47.0 hours in 2001. 
E . Holiday & Vacation
I f the flexible working hours system is adopted, through either an employment rule or a written agreement with a workers' representative, working hours can be extended. For instance, during a given two week period, it is possible to extend the working hours of a specific week up to 48 hours, as long as the weekly average is 44 hours. On a monthly basis, working hours for a specific week and a specific day can be extended up to 56 hours and 12 hours, respectively, as long as the weekly average is 44 hours, through a written agreement between labour and management. A s a reference, the average weekly working hours for Korean workers had declined moderately since 1997 economic crisis, but reversed to increase to 47.9 hours in 1999. F . Protection of Part-time Workers P art-time workers are defined as those whose weekly working hours are not as long as those of permanent workers. Their working conditions are guaranteed in proportion to the working hours of ordinary workers. G . Labor Inspectors System The Labor Inspector System was established to guarantee legal standards for working conditions and to enforce the labour standards system. Labor inspectors carry out various duties to protect employees' working conditions. Duties of Labor Inspectors
T he Minimum Wage
Act, which aims to stabilize the livelihood of low-income earners and narrow the
wage gap, has been in force since 1988. In 1988, the Minimum Wage System applied
only to manufacturing enterprises with ten or more regular employees. In 1989,
the system began to cover manufacturing, construction, and mining enterprises
with ten or more regular employees. Since 1990, the system has applied to all
enterprises employing ten or more regular employees. The coverage of the Act was
extended to workplaces with 5 employees or more in September 1999, and further
extended to all workplaces on 24 Nov. 2000. 
2. Workers' Welfare System A . Workers' Housing To provide housing for low income earners, the Workers' Housing System was introduced
The Government is
establishing general welfare centres in major cities nationwide with a view to
supporting workers' sound leisure and cultural activities, and ensuring their
conveniences of life. The centres as large as 3300§³, are equipped with
exercise facilities, educational facilities, and meeting rooms. Between 1992 and
2002, 34 welfare centres were established and have since then been in operation
in main cities around the country. The Employee Welfare Fund Act
has been in force since 1992. The Employee Welfare Fund System requires
employers to contribute part of their profits to an investment fund for workers'
welfare projects. Each year, a business creates a fund by contributing the
amounts determined through discussions with a workers' representative, based on
5% of net profits before taxation. Half of the earnings and contributions are
used to provide workers' housing loans, scholarships, expenses for
congratulations and condolences, etc. As of December 2001, 897 companies
participated in this program, with the total fund amounts of 3.8794 trillion
won. D. Scholarships for Workers' Children If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
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Pub A3 DOWNLOAD HERE Pub A4 DOWNLOAD HERE Korean Brochure
Homestays (Learning with native teachers)
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Payment by electronic transfer ( Asian Courses) for: course payment, disaster relief, the education for the poor program, and the new Christchurch College building for CDO should be electronic transferred to:- account name: Derek Roy Allen. Metro Bank account Number 426 3 42613012 3 Divisoria Branch Cagayan de Oro. Philippines Payment by electronic transfer (UK Courses) for: course payment, disaster relief, the education for the poor program and the new Christchurch College building for CDO should be electronic transferred to:-Lloyds Bank UK Colchester Branch Sort Code Number:- 30-92-16. Account Derek R. Number 1101455-02) 27 High Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1DU United Kingdom. Send mail to
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