Foreign teachers accuse school of illegal wage skimming
외국인교사들,불법임금착취로학교고소
Kyonggi Elementary School has been accused of skimming the wages of eight foreign teachers over several years with a contract clause that turned out to be illegal.
경기초등학교가불법으로밝혀진계약조항으로 8명의 외국인교사들의임금을수년간착취해고소를당했다.
The wages that were taken from the native English teachers amounted to 45 million won ($40,240), with some losing more than 10 million won, according to labor attorney Jung Bong-soo, who represents the victims.원어민 영어교사들로부터 착취한 임금은4천 5백만 원이었는데, 어떤 교사는 1천만원 이상 손실을 입었다고 피해자들을 대변하는정봉수노무사가밝혔다.
They filed a collective complaint with the Seoul Regional Ministry of Employment and Labor in March, demanding reimbursement of their losses and replacing current contracts with “fair” ones.
이들은 지난 3월 서울지방고용노동청에집단 진정서를 제출하면서 손실 금액을 변상하고현재의계약을‘공정한’계약으로바꿀것을요구했다.
The skimmed income ― 10 percent of their hourly wage ― was transferred to an i ndependent Korean recruiter, who searched for and hired native English teachers on behalf of the private school in Seodaemun, northwestern Seoul.
시간당 임금의 10퍼센트에 해당하는 착취금액은서울서북쪽서대문에있는이사립학교를 대신해 영어 원어민 교사를 구인하고 채용하는 한국인 채용자의 개인 구좌 로이체되었다. The recruiter, surnamed Joo, is known to have introduced himself as a school adviser and is said to have drafted the contracts, including the controversial clause.
주씨성을가진이채용자는자신을학교고문으로 소개한 것으로 알려졌고 말썽이되고 있는 계약서 조항을 포함해 해당 계약서를처음작성했던것으로전해진다.
The victims said they had signed their contracts not knowing the clause enforcing the monthly deduction was illegal.
피해자들은 매월 금액을 공제하는 것이불법인 줄 모르는 상태에서 해당 계약서에서명했다고말했다.
Under Korean employment law, giving recruiters a portion of a person’s first salary as an “introduction fee” is legal, but recruiters are not allowed to make regular deductions.
한국 고용법에 따르면 근로자의 첫 급여의 일부를‘소개비’로 채용업체에 전달하는것은합법이지만 채용업체는정기적인공제를하지못하게되어있다. < 5월 27일자코리아타임스1면기사>
KEY WORDS
■ labor attorney 노무사■ reimbursement 변상, 배상■ draft 초안을작성하다 (= to write a plan, letter, report etc that will need to be changed before it is in its finished form)