Hey, all. So I thought I would share a few of the new NEW changes that are in the EPIK contract for GWANGJU in Fall 2019. *Disclaimer that contracts vary from region to region and intake to intake so keep that in mind*

Let me start with an odd one-

• No pay if you go abroad on *school*/office of ed holidays

  • Example: You have a 3 day weekend because your school’s birthday is on a friday. You have booked a flight to Japan for a weekend trip. Because a school birthday is not an official government holiday, you will not be paid.
  • Apparently this has been policy for a while but wasn’t enforcedRural and small school will get you 100,000 extra in pay

• Teaching at rural and small school will get you 100,000 extra in pay

  • If you are teaching at a smaller school/rural school (the office of education has some sort of criteria that determines this) you will receive 100,000 extra. I welcome this since one of my schools is out in the boonies lol.

• ARC cards are no longer issues ON site when you renew.

  • Back in the good ol days when you would renew your ARC in Gwangju you would go into the immigration office with your ARC card and all the documents to extend your card, and they would pop in your card and print the new info on the back on the spot. Not anymore. Now once you have submitted your documents they will issue your card within 2 weeks. In the meantime you will be provided with a paper slip in lieu of your physical ARC card (seems sketchy but okay)