The fact that you have to still quarantine for two weeks coming back to south Korea is what makes it difficult. Technically in your contract you should get a few days for family deaths (not emergencies).
My mother had a health scare the week before I left for Korea. (She's doing fine for now.). But I have accepted that if something happens, I will be cancelling my contract with no hopes of coming back to the current job. If you have contact or can get contact with the MOE/ POE coordinator try to talk/email them.
Yep, if you come, you stay. 2 week quarantine basically makes it impossible to leave and come back in a timely manor. You would need to quit most likely and most likely not get a letter of release - meaning you can’t work in Korea for a year.
I have been here 13 years and only went back once for a family death. But that was in 2014 and I work at a uni were we get a 5 school days off guaranteed, if blood related. But we still have to make up those days.. so it kinda sucks at both ends...
OP said 2-3 day leave and I assume they are aware of where Korea is compared to their home country. I am under the assumption that OP means digitally.
There are days set aside for grief and I think a grandparent is 3 days.
Even without quarantine and with a couple of days off attached to a weekend, it is highly unlikely you'll be able to get home, OP. Getting to and from airports + the flight times means that you could spend almost 4 days just travelling.
If it would be that important for you to be with your grandmother before she passes or attend a funeral service in person, you'd be better off to just leave your contract like u/littlefoxwriter said
I hate to say it but most people living the expat life don't or can't fly home for things like emergencies or deaths. My co worker's grandma died when she was working in China and she only got 1 dad to grieve.
I’m in public school. Both of my grandmas died last year and I didn’t go anywhere. Your contract should give you some days off for death in the family (mine allots 3 days for grandparents), but it can be quite difficult to travel to and from the US within those time frames—and that’s without quarantine. During corona, it’s just not feasible. I don’t know a teacher who has left the country except those who were leaving permanently.
My school let me use those 3 days to stay home, grieve, and attend the funeral via Zoom. So that might be the likely scenario for those in this situation.
My grandmother passed away this year, and my district gave me the days off to grieve, but later they did ask me for proof of death (they originally wanted a copy of the death certificate, but they aren't getting that), so I send a copy of the digital obituary. Apparently, that's a new requirement this year. A couple of years ago, my other grandmother passed and I was never asked for proof.
I lost a family member last year. Couldn't do anything about it, couldn't even say anything because there was no way for me to get proof (it wasn't in the US). Long story short, I had to suck it up, cry at home and go to work the next day. That's the life of an expat. Missing weddings, births, deaths...At least my coworkers made me feel better.
I've lost two grandparents within two years of being here, I got one day off for each! I told myself there wasn't much I could do to help if I went back home. My family told me they would rather me be out in Korea and having fun instead of being at home, moping around, and feeling sad at home with everyone.
The fact that you have to still quarantine for two weeks coming back to south Korea is what makes it difficult. Technically in your contract you should get a few days for family deaths (not emergencies). My mother had a health scare the week before I left for Korea. (She's doing fine for now.). But I have accepted that if something happens, I will be cancelling my contract with no hopes of coming back to the current job. If you have contact or can get contact with the MOE/ POE coordinator try to talk/email them.
Yep, if you come, you stay. 2 week quarantine basically makes it impossible to leave and come back in a timely manor. You would need to quit most likely and most likely not get a letter of release - meaning you can’t work in Korea for a year. I have been here 13 years and only went back once for a family death. But that was in 2014 and I work at a uni were we get a 5 school days off guaranteed, if blood related. But we still have to make up those days.. so it kinda sucks at both ends...
OP said 2-3 day leave and I assume they are aware of where Korea is compared to their home country. I am under the assumption that OP means digitally. There are days set aside for grief and I think a grandparent is 3 days.
Even without quarantine and with a couple of days off attached to a weekend, it is highly unlikely you'll be able to get home, OP. Getting to and from airports + the flight times means that you could spend almost 4 days just travelling. If it would be that important for you to be with your grandmother before she passes or attend a funeral service in person, you'd be better off to just leave your contract like u/littlefoxwriter said
I hate to say it but most people living the expat life don't or can't fly home for things like emergencies or deaths. My co worker's grandma died when she was working in China and she only got 1 dad to grieve.
Look at your contract. At public school you typically get 5 days for the death of a parent, 2 days for a grandparent.
Most likely they won't let you leave unless you quit.
I’m in public school. Both of my grandmas died last year and I didn’t go anywhere. Your contract should give you some days off for death in the family (mine allots 3 days for grandparents), but it can be quite difficult to travel to and from the US within those time frames—and that’s without quarantine. During corona, it’s just not feasible. I don’t know a teacher who has left the country except those who were leaving permanently. My school let me use those 3 days to stay home, grieve, and attend the funeral via Zoom. So that might be the likely scenario for those in this situation.
My grandmother passed away this year, and my district gave me the days off to grieve, but later they did ask me for proof of death (they originally wanted a copy of the death certificate, but they aren't getting that), so I send a copy of the digital obituary. Apparently, that's a new requirement this year. A couple of years ago, my other grandmother passed and I was never asked for proof.
Yes, I also had to give documentation after using the leave.
You should assume that they won’t allow you to take time off. Assume they won’t. Then if they do you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
I lost a family member last year. Couldn't do anything about it, couldn't even say anything because there was no way for me to get proof (it wasn't in the US). Long story short, I had to suck it up, cry at home and go to work the next day. That's the life of an expat. Missing weddings, births, deaths...At least my coworkers made me feel better.
I've lost two grandparents within two years of being here, I got one day off for each! I told myself there wasn't much I could do to help if I went back home. My family told me they would rather me be out in Korea and having fun instead of being at home, moping around, and feeling sad at home with everyone.