using sick time during this winter vacation

OK, here goes. I just briefly talked about what vacation time I will be using this winter with my KT. I told her that, like last year, I will be going to 2 maybe 3  appointments and will use 'sick time' for that. I have 11 days to use and since I am going to see a doctor I will use sick time.
She just informed me the vp told everyone that she will add up the time used as sick time, 3 hours here, 4 hours there, and if it is 3 days you have to get a 'diagnosis' or a doc note, something. her English is not terrible but can be confusing.
SO I told HER that is not what MY contract says. I am treated different. MY contract states if I use 3 days IN A ROW then I need a note because it would imply I am sick or under treatment. I said if I use a sick day Monday Jan18th, then another day say  Weds Jan27th,  and then another day Feb 4, I would not need a note. I suppose it's a non issue if I only use 2 days.
She said she will mention that with the vp. I said, wait until you show her my vacation request first, please.

I just can't even with this stuff anymore. and to think I honestly considered another year here.

I don't know about the exact contract language because it might be different than mine, but the POEs etc usually interpret it as 3 days total, not consecutive

see and I'm pretty sure it says 3 consecutive days. I only need 2 and I'm going to the same place. I'm not even renewing but if they want one, I can get it.

In Daejeon the contract clearly spells out that is doesn't matter if it is consecutive or not.  When you reach 3 days (regardless of how long it took to accumulate) we will need to provide a medical certificate.  I agree it doesn't make much sense but that is it.  So get a note from the doctor when you go!

In Daejeon the contract clearly spells out that is doesn't matter if it is consecutive or not.  When you reach 3 days (regardless of how long it took to accumulate) we will need to provide a medical certificate.  I agree it doesn't make much sense but that is it.  So get a note from the doctor when you go!

will do! I haven't used any yet, so 2 shouldn't be an issue but i''ll get a note anyway

and can I point out how that just makes no logical sense?? I digress

I had to get one for the first time the other day because I went to the hospital to have a callous removed.  I didn't care until after.  Total cost was 38,000.  20,000 of that was the letter.  Then I was pissed off.  Had no idea it would cost anything.  Just figured it would be a note of what I came in for on hospital letterhead. 

I had to get one for the first time the other day because I went to the hospital to have a callous removed.  I didn't care until after.  Total cost was 38,000.  20,000 of that was the letter.  Then I was pissed off.  Had no idea it would cost anything.  Just figured it would be a note of what I came in for on hospital letterhead. 

weird.
I'm only using 2 days. I will ask the doc. I don't think he'll  charge me, but who knows. if so i wont get the letter. I pay enough per visit.

My school just accepts the receipt from the doctor/pharmacy as proof that I was ill or needed to visit the doc, never had to submit a signed letter from the doctor.

My contract says that after any 3 days, you need a doctors note - however, as I'm rarely ever sick for more than a day here and there, I've never been asked for one.
The 1 time I've needed back to back ones, my co-teacher saw me in the hospital, so the school didn't ask me for one.
I have a 2 day appointment again in Jan so will probably ask to use sick days for them, and use a bit of vacay around them - I don't see this being an issue as they know my current on-going issue.

I haven't looked at the contract again. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles it said consecutive though.  I'm only using 2 days and I haven't used ANY so far.

Yeah, same, I remember being told this before, a while back.

The contract language might've changed since then, though, to be non-consecutive days now... which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but there it is.

Yeah, same, I remember being told this before, a while back.

The contract language might've changed since then, though, to be non-consecutive days now... which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but there it is.

ok, i'm not crazy then. it must have been last years contract I am thinking about. 
and this is just one more reason not to stay. been getting a lot of those since i decided to go home.

I wonder if they have it set up so that it's more like instances? So that you could take 3 consecutive sick days off, but they'll only count as one instance and therefore would not require a note?

Or is it just 3 working days, regardless of how they're spaced out?

Or is it just 3 working days, regardless of how they're spaced out?

she made it sound like ANY sick time is now counted as consecutive. so 3 hours here, 4 hours  there a day here etc...will ALL be added up and once it is 3 days you'll need a note. so, this is why people come to work sick.

I haven't looked at the contract again. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles it said consecutive though.  I'm only using 2 days and I haven't used ANY so far.

With the nationwide contract change, I'm pretty sure they got changed to consecutive.
Mine never used to be consecutive but as of this current contract it got changed to it.
Or its the reverse where it was consecutive and got changed to in a row. :o

Legit had the same problem last week haha! I think they changed the contract from last year but it's a stupid thing because what if you have food poisoning...for that you need to be at home near a toilet! There's no point going to the doctors. 
Anyway, after you have used 3 days of your sick days, 4th/5th/6th/7th...etc, they all require a doctor's note! Honestly, since it's so cheap, you can basically go to any clinic and they give you sick notes easily.

Legit had the same problem last week haha! I think they changed the contract from last year but it's a stupid thing because what if you have food poisoning...for that you need to be at home near a toilet! There's no point going to the doctors. 
Anyway, after you have used 3 days of your sick days, 4th/5th/6th/7th...etc, they all require a doctor's note! Honestly, since it's so cheap, you can basically go to any clinic and they give you sick notes easily.

I always thought consecutive. I have rarely used a sick day though.  But it is easy to get any doctor to write a note though? 

Food poisoning was more common in Korea up until several years ago.  Sometimes if it is really bad, you can go to the university hospital and get lots of meds.  To combat diarrhea and to kill the wrong bacteria, etc.  You can even go to a small clinic or hospital and get an IV treatment for re hydration.  I did this after one particularly nasty food poisoning incident. 

However, if it is a minor case and you notice your vision going a bit blurry in the center (usually within 30 to 60 minutes) after eating something, you can put your finger down your throat and try to puke it up and drink a lot of water after and maybe take a dump too.  Clean it right out of your system.  I did this 2 or 3 weeks ago to head off some food poisoning that was trying to come over me.  I was feeling good within a couple of hours.  Almost back to normal.  Get that stuff out of your body fast.  ASAP.

I'll share my experience, hopefully you can use it to decide what to do.

Last year, I took more than 3 sick days and yes, the official EPIK contract is more than 3 days (regardless of whether they're consecutive or not), you'll need a doctor's note for every day thereafter.

So, take a sick day on March 12th, another on May 5th and another on August 1st. After August 1st, every day you take off requires a doctor's note. Absolutely stupid, I know.

Someone from the MOE called each of my CTs at each of my schools to request the doctor's certificate (about a month after my 3rd sick day). I flat out said I didn't get one as I never go to the doctor when I'm sick. He kept pestering me for one, so either he was telling me to pay a doctor to fudge a certificate to give to this MOE guy so he can balance out his paperwork or he didn't understand the concept that you can't go to a doctor a month after getting sick to get a certificate. By the 2nd week, he'd stopped calling and I didn't hear anything else.

For contract renewal, my main CT signed off that I took no sick days, as she always does. She knows I take days off, but also knows how hard I work and that I make her life infinitely easier so she's more than happy to fudge the records. This has been the case for every head CT I've had and I'm pretty sure it's the case for many of us.

This year, same story. Person from MOE contacted my rural school CT and I said the same thing. Haven't heard from them again.

I know when I'm pushing my luck and I'm not trying to abuse sick days, but honestly, unless your school really doesn't like you, nobody is going to start sh*t with you taking a few extra sick days.

FYI, if the accumulated hours you've left work early/came late go above 8, that counts as one sick day. In my experience, it's only the most pedantic and anal retentive VPs and CTs who actually keep record of this nonsense. My first year in Korea, I had to ask permission and write down that I was going to the bank, across the street, for 15min during lunchtime.

I've gotten food poisoning twice since coming to Korea (never happened to me back in the States), but both times it's happened it was during a weekend and had run its course by Monday morning.

I don't eat out a lot in general, so having the experience happen to me more than once in the span of a year after a lifetime of never really put me off a lot of places, especially the mom and pop restaurants, which is unfortunate. Unless someone I know and trust can personally vouch for a place's food safety practices, I avoid it.

My first year here, btw, I watched an ahjeosshi running a food truck blow his nose into a dirty rag, then use that same ****** rag to wipe down his wok. I have avoided food trucks ever since, but that wasn't enough to keep me safe.

Anyway, I haven't had to use any sick days at all. Worst I've had outside of my food poisoning bouts was a minor cold that I caught from a student who coughed right into my face while I was helping him with something.