Ask a Waygook - Renewal Vacation Time

Hi there,

I am planning to renew my contract to teach with EPIK in South Korea and I have a question about the time requirements for leaving the country. As I understand it, we get two weeks of vacation so we can leave the country, but looking at my school's calendar, spring break is barely two weeks -- graduation is Feb. 15th and the first day of the new school year is March 2nd.

Are we supposed to be out of the country for an entire two weeks or is the required time less than that?

Thanks for your help!

-- 

Angela

Hey Angela,

If you are renewing your contract with EPIK this March, then you should have signed this exact same contract that I posted:

http://www.thewaygookeffect.com/2010/09/ask-waygook-sample-net-contract.html

First, you should know that you already are allowed ten working days vacation to be used sometime during the winter recess at your school. That is in Article 14, Section 1 and that vacation time is separate from any kind of renewal vacation time.

① The Employee shall be entitled to a vacation period of a total of eighteen (18) working days during the Term of the Employment set forth under Article 5 hereof. If the Employees works in a school, the Employee shall have vacation for eight (8) working days during the summer recess and ten (10) working days during the winter recess respectively;

You have to plan these regular vacation days with your school at a time of both your convenience.  Christmas and Lunar New Year's are already holidays and should not count twice.  Also note that these ten days are "working days" and do not include Saturdays and Sundays.  Korean schools sometimes get this confused and do not immediately understand the difference.  Koreans work Saturdays themselves.

Article 10, Section 2 states that when you renew, the last two calendar weeks of your contract period shall be paid leave. 

② In the case of renewal of this Contract pursuant to the foregoing clause ①, the Employee shall be given two (2) calendar weeks paid leave which shall take place during the nearest school vacation to the first day of the renewal contract with the condition of the days not conflicting with the school schedule.

It however also says that it shall not conflict with the school schedule.  This appears to be impossible if you have classes through the 15th of February.

You should have a copy of your contract.  Your contract period is from Feb 26, 2010 to Feb 25, 2011.  Ideally, you should have your two weeks renewal vacation period from Feb 12th through Feb 25th. 

If your school or your coteacher is unfamiliar with your contract, then you will need to bring in your copy and politely ask them about this.  Students are already finished with their finals by this time, and these weeks in February are not the most productive classes of the year. Your school really should not object to letting you go the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th.

You also do not need to leave the country.  You get this vacation time regardless of what you do.  You can go back to your home country if you want.  You can also take a vacation to anywhere in the world if you like, but nothing states you have to leave Korea.  

If they ask you, I highly recommend telling them that you are thinking about going home and you need that time off to be confirmed so you can possibly buy a plane ticket (even if you really are not planning to).  If you say you are not leaving Korea or planning a vacation to some other country, they most likely will delay making a decision about letting you go those days as long as possible for no discernible reason.  This is just the Korean way.  Administrators and principals do the exact same thing to Korean teachers as well, so do not feel discriminated against.

Once they give you the green light for those two weeks they will have you sign something.  It is not official until you sign something, so do not buy tickets anywhere until you have the paper with your principal's signature.  After this time, you can then change your mind and do whatever you want.  If they ask why you are not going home, you can just say that it would have been too expensive.  They will not argue with that.

Enjoy your vacation time and prepare for your second year!

Good Luck!
The Waygook