Warning about Chung Dahm Learning Contracts

This is a warning to anyone who has accepted a contract or who is thinking about accepting a contract from Chung Dahm Learning (www.teachinkorea.com www.aclipse.net www.cdiamerica.com ). There is something very important that you must know about the contracts and the training week in Seoul before you even consider coming to Korea to work for Chung Dahm Learning.

First of all, although the contract seems on the surface to be a valid work contract it is in fact NOT A CONTRACT AT ALL but rather an invitation to come to Korea with the possibility of signing a proper contract on completion of the training week in Seoul. Chung Dahm have managed to word their contracts in such a way to allow them to get E-2 visas issued by Korean Immigration but to free themselves from any legal responsibility as an employer if challenged in a court of law.

I came to Korea in mid-July 2009 on an E-2 visa with Chung Dahm Learning in Daejeon as my sponsor. As I had been given a contract by Chung Dahm Learning and had been issued a work visa by Korean Immigration I was completely confident that I would start working and have my airfare to Korea reimbursed soon after arriving in the country. However, this turned out not to be the case. Shortly after my arrival in Seoul I was made aware during the training week that Chung Dahm Learning in Daejeon wanted me to teach a subject which was not ESL related at all, but rather a critical thinking based subject for near native speakers of English which required students to analyse arguments from very lengthy newspaper articles.

This type of class was something that you would expect to be given to NATIVE speakers at senior high school or college level. I have a few years ESL teaching experience but no experience or qualifications for taking this type of course whatsoever.However Chung Dahm was adamant that I had to take this class as it was what the school in Daejeon had requested and that given this type class to me because I did well on the screening process.

During the 4 days of training I had to prepare myself for taking this type of class I did my utmost best to deliver lessons of a standard that was acceptable to Chung Dahm Learning. However at the end of the training week late on the Friday afternoon I was told by Chung Dahm Learning that I had failed the training as my teaching for this critical thinking course was not up to standard and that I could not work for them. They explained that they do sometimes invite candidates to come back the next week but that wouldn't be possible for me as the school in Daejeon does not accept candidates who fail the first week of training as they see them as "damaged goods".

They told me that I needed to get new visa documents if I wanted to work somewhere else in Korea as they would be cancelling my visa. The next day I practically thrown out on the street by the Chung Dahm Learning Training Center in Seoul and forced to find my own emergency accommodation.

The next Tuesday I sought some legal advice from an attorney who specialises in Korean Labor Law who informed me that I could file a case against Chung Dahm Learning for unfair dismissal with the Labor Commission in Daejeon which I decided to do. The same day I received an email from Chung Dahm Learning saying that they had cancelled my visa and that I had to leave Korea within a week. I immediately called the immigration office in Daejeon to see what my visa status was. They told me that they needed to make some changes to the "Period of Sojourn" on my visa and requested that I come and see them in person. The next day I travelled from Seoul to Daejeon to visit the Daejeon Immigration Office, where they stamped "CANCELLED" on my visa and gave me a 30 day exit order to leave Korea from the date that Chung Dahm Learning told immigration that I "didn't work for them anymore". Having had my visa cancelled I was forced to leave Korea not longer after this,Iflew to Japan and then returned to Korea some time later on a tourist visa.

Four weeks ago I finally had my case heard at the Daejeon Labor Commission. After the hearing I was notified by my attorney a few days later that the court had decided that my contract with Chung Dahm Learning Daejeon was not a valid working contract and that Chung Dahm Learning Daejeon wasn't my employer. The court maintained that they merely gave me an invitation to come to Korea and try out for employment with them during the training week. The deciding paragraphs in the ruling of this case were from the "Chung Dahm Offer of Employment" and the actual contract which I have outlined below.


In the "Offer of Employment", a document which Chung Dahm makes all prospective employees sign it states:

"By Signing below agree to successfully complete the instructor training session to acquire the Chung Dahm Learning instructor certificate prior to being fully employed at a Chung Dahm Learning school. Refusal of training and/or deliberate poor performance as determined by Chung Dahm Learning will render null and void any and all offers made by Chung Dahm Learning. Chung Dahm Learning will not be responsible for any costs incurred as a result of a candidate's failure to complete training."

and in the actual "contract" it states in paragraph 1.1:

"This agreement shall become effective only upon the instructor having successfully completed the Chung Dahm Learning training program and obtaining a teaching Certificate issued by Chung Dahm Learning."

It is with these two paragraphs in the offer of employment that Chung Dahm Learning manages to free itself from any legal obligations as an employer of the employees who they decide to terminate during the training week in Seoul.

In consideration of my experience and dealings with both Chung Dahm Learning and their recruitment subsidiary "Aclipse", I strongly advise anyone intending to travel to Korea to take up employment with Chung Dahm Learning to approach this language school with EXTREME CAUTION. Both Chung Dahm and Aclipse will lead you to believe that they are offering you a job and a legally binding work contract when in actual fact they are offering you nothing more than an invitation to come to Korea to complete the next stage of the recruiting process.

Please do not fall into the trap of thinking that there is no chance that you will fail the training week because you are an experienced ESL teacher with relevant qualifications and furthermore a hard working decent person. I thought this too. There is a considerable possibility that Chung Dahm Learning will fail you on the training week for a number of reasons, such as experienced teachers having difficulty to conform 100% to Chung Dahm's unorthadox teaching methods, teachers being made to take classes that they are not fit to teach as a result of the poor screening process on Chung Dahm's behalf (such was the case in my situation), or maybe because you just don't fit in with Chung Dahm's image.

In short, Chung Dahm does not need a reason to fail you on the training as everything is done entirely at Chung Dahm's discretion and therefore anyone who comes to complete the training week in Seoul does so VERY MUCH AT THEIR OWN RISK. By deciding to come to Korea to work for Chung Dahm Learning you have in effect obtained an E-2 visa by providing Korean Immigration with what appears to be a contract, but is in actual fact a mere invitation which holds absolutely no legal grounds in a Korean court of law whatsoever, and you will then be subjecting yourself to a further part of the recruitment process on a pass/fail basis in Seoul.

Chung Dahm and Aclipse will lead you to believe that you have already secured a job with them by giving you a "contract" with one of their schools and that the training is just part of the job. THIS IS NOT THE CASE AT ALL!!!. Until you complete the training in Seoul YOU DO NOT ACTUALLY HAVE A SECURE JOB WITH CHUNG DAHM LEARNING IN KOREA AT ALL!!!
By coming to Korea to complete training for Chung Dahm Learning you run the risk of failing training (failure being entirely at Chung Dahm's discretion), being thrown out onto the streets of Seoul the very next day, having your E-2 visa cancelled without your permission within a week of arrving in Korea , not having your airfare reimbursed as agreed in the "contract", and having to leave Korea within 30 days because of your visa being cancelled.

In addition to this you will have to jump through extra hoops for Korean immigration when you try to get a second visa (Korean Immigration are suspicious of people who have their visas cancelled within a week of entering Korea and often assume it is due to bad character of the teacher). Furthermore,according to Korean Immigration Law, both the employer and the employee must be present at the immigration office for the visa to be cancelled. Chung Dahm did not fulfill this requirement in my case and still managed to get my visa cancelled.

If you do decide to come to Korea to complete the "training" (actually the final stage of the recruitment process) for Chung Dahm Learning, be prepared to not have your flight reimbursed, to pay for aproximately 8 weeks of temporary accomodation in Korea while you are looking for a new job and waiting for new visa documents from your home country such as a CBC, as well as two return flights to Fukuoka (First time because of the exit order from the cancelled visa, second time to get a new E-2 visa from the Korean Embassy) and all visa processing fees. If this is a risk that you are not prepared to take then I strongly advise that you DO NOT COME TO KOREA TO TEACH FOR CHUNG DAHM LEARNING. Anyone who has limited financial funds to back them up in case of emergency should not even consider a job with Chung Dahm Learning.

Chung Dahm Learning is misleading its prospective employees with regards to the validity of the contracts that it provides them with before their arrival in Korea and to not disclose the true nature of the "training week" and the ramifications of "failing" the training week is downright deceptive. Chung Dahm has somehow managed to exploit a loop hole in Korean Immigration Law by getting visas issued for people who they have only given invitations to and then lures them to Korea with the promise of employment, when they are in actual fact subjectiing them to the final part of the recruiting process, taking the instructors they want and dismissing the teachers they don't want. This could be considered human trafficking given that the way that the contract is presented to candidates and the fact the "contract" is not actually a valid contract at all.

I would like to hear from anybody (inside or outside of Korea) who has had a similar experience with Chung Dahm Learning and was in effect terminated by the Chung Dahm training center in Seoul for any reason before they even made it to their Chung Dahm branch school. Please contact me by email at strandedinkorea@gmail.com to discuss a possible class action against Chung Dahm Learning and their recruiting firm Aclipse on the grounds of human trafficking. I have found an atourney in Seoul who has taken an interest in this case and is willing to provide legal representation in court pro bono if there are enough interested parties.