An announcement you do not want to wake up to.

Here's an announcement you simply do not want to wake up to:

"Hi Teachers,

There will be some Holidays coming up like Chuseok and Korean New Years. If you are planning to go outside of Korea. You will be Quarantined when you return. If you are quarantined, you will be using your sick days. (You have 15 days sick leave)

Schools may ask you to not go outside Korea because of the Quarantine week. Because you are leaving outside of Korea, schools will be missing an English teacher for that time being.

Jon Pak
Program Coordinator"

Eish. I'm not sure what the legal definition of 'sick leave' is over on this side, but I always thought that sick leave is something to do with an inability to teach that is related to your health. If you are healthy then you don't take sick leave.

EPIK is welcome to take (reasonable) steps to look after the health of Korean students, but that does entitle it to infringe on teachers contractual rights.

At least GEPIK (Gyeongsangbuk EPIK) presently does not regard quarantine as 'sick leave'.

Oh - and consider this: Korea has roughly 10 000 cases of Swine flu. Just how much more likely are you to contract Swine flu if you travel outside the country?

Thanks to the folk at Expacked (http://expacked.wordpress.com/) and Brian Deutsch (see my links) for the heads up.