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Advice on leaving a Hagwon
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RunReilly



Joined: 22 May 2013
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So after walking out yesterday, I went to immigration this morning and tried to switch my E2 to a D10. The immigration woman asked to call my school and then handed the phone to me and my manager told me that I have to meet with my director tomorrow. She said that she cannot help me until my work problems are resolved and then to come back.

Did my employer not change my status and therefore she couldn't help me with a D10? Does it show me as still employed at my school or something? I tried telling her "I quit! Look, this is my resignation letter from over two months ago! I'm a free person!"

Why do I have to meet with my clown director again tomorrow? What the hell is going on here?
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

RunReilly wrote:
So after walking out yesterday, I went to immigration this morning and tried to switch my E2 to a D10. The immigration woman asked to call my school and then handed the phone to me and my manager told me that I have to meet with my director tomorrow. She said that she cannot help me until my work problems are resolved and then to come back.

Did my employer not change my status and therefore she couldn't help me with a D10? Does it show me as still employed at my school or something? I tried telling her "I quit! Look, this is my resignation letter from over two months ago! I'm a free person!"

Why do I have to meet with my clown director again tomorrow? What the hell is going on here?


You need to be released.
No release = no D10.
No release = no transfer to a new employer.

This isn't home. You are not a citizen. There is no labor board issue.

There is no "easy way".

Jump though hoops or try a run to Japan and back - it often (but not always) works since your status of sojourn gets canceled. It MAY require you to get new documents.

How does China, Japan, Taiwan or Thailand look to you?

.
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Mountain Mama



Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

RunReilly wrote:
So after walking out yesterday, I went to immigration this morning and tried to switch my E2 to a D10. The immigration woman asked to call my school and then handed the phone to me and my manager told me that I have to meet with my director tomorrow. She said that she cannot help me until my work problems are resolved and then to come back.

Did my employer not change my status and therefore she couldn't help me with a D10? Does it show me as still employed at my school or something? I tried telling her "I quit! Look, this is my resignation letter from over two months ago! I'm a free person!"

Why do I have to meet with my clown director again tomorrow? What the hell is going on here?


I think that you're not paying attention to what people have written here on the forum. The immigration woman couldn't help you because you have no LOR. It's very simple. You can only transfer your visa to another company or to a D10 if you finish an initial contract or if you get a LOR when leaving early from a contract. Otherwise, you need new documents. It's very clear. Other people have already told you that.

If you'd been smart, you would have gone to the labor board instead but since you've already pointed out that YOU quit, then it's not likely that they'll be able to help you either.

Good luck with whatever comes next because you're going to need it.

And don't forget to pack your stuff up and find a place to live because if you're still at the provided apartment then you might be in for a nasty surprise when you find the locks to the door changed.
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Ralph Winfield



Joined: 23 Apr 2013

PostPosted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 2:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

newchamp wrote:
Do you have any clue how inconsiderate it is of them to mess around with your release letter when you've given 2 months notice? How are you supposed to start looking for another job? And now they want to mess around with your end date?

I'm disgusted that you're just sitting there and taking that.

You might want to go to Immigration and make sure your employers didn't mess around with your visa. Maybe they already fired you and you are working for free. After all, they're not worried you're going to do anything.


Genius English in Shin Jeju City did the above to me. My visa was cancelled without my knowledge by the minister who owned the school. He just forged my signature to a letter that stated that I no longer wanted to work for him. He stole millions from me and the immi office on that hellish isle laughed at me when I protested. I then had to pay a large fine for "overstaying" my visa and I was not allowed to work in Korea for one year. Asia and almost all of the Asians I've met in 8 countries on the continent are uniformly corrupt as hell.

OP, I'm sorry to learn of your problem and I wish you all the best.
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newchamp



Joined: 09 Mar 2013

PostPosted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

beentheredonethat777 wrote:
Oh wait. even NOW, I just remembered something. A couple of teachers (with NEW set of documents), went to Japan and was still rejected. So, I guess it's a case by case basis.

If those teachers went to Japan for a visa, they had new visa confirmation numbers, right? That means Immigration had already accepted their documents (from within Korea) and approved their new visa. So why would those teachers get rejected in Japan? Your story doesn't make sense.

Ralph Winfield wrote:
My visa was cancelled without my knowledge by the minister who owned the school. He just forged my signature to a letter that stated that I no longer wanted to work for him.

This can happen. If your employer seems shady and seems on the verge of firing you, check out your status at Immigration.

EZE wrote:
Just leave and e-mail your boss, saying he lost you because of that supervisor and will no doubt lose other foreign teachers in the future because of her. You gave them more than enough time. You showed them more than enough respect. But they say you're not even a person. The only way you're going to get any respect is if it's self-respect, but by walking back into that building day after day, you're showing no self-respect.

I disagree. As I wrote, just quitting will do almost nothing to damage the business, and will do little to improve things for other teachers. Unapologetically confronting and threatening your employer is another way to show self-respect, and it may be the only way to get the release letter you deserve.

OP, you didn't play your hand well. You took random action and rolled the dice with Immigration. You made a stand by walking out, but you still haven't given your employer a reason to give you a release letter. Are they at all worried about you damaging their business? No. You didn't scare them. I said to go there and scare them. Sorry, there's no fair, civilized system here that will take care of you. You have to do some dirty work. Scream, talk to students, etc. Another idea is to approach a Korean teacher from a nearby competing hagwon, briefly tell your story, and have him/her call your hagwon (from a business phone), asking politely for the release letter. Then go to another hagwon and try the same thing. That's dangerous to your employer's reputation. Be creative. Are you willing to fight for yourself and your co-workers? Or will you let your egotistical employer, and the xenophobes who set up the "release letter" policy at Immigration, enjoy seeing you get screwed?
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RunReilly



Joined: 22 May 2013
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

RunReilly wrote:

To make matters worse, a recruiter told me that the visa sponsor laws changed in January. Apparently immigration wants to punish/penalize/discourage teachers from breaking their contracts early. So now (and I have not verified this) if you sign for a year and leave early, you have to wait until your contract would have been finished until immigration will allow another sponsor. If true, this clearly illustrates how screwed up the system is. With all the horror stories you read and hear about Hagwons, lets screw teachers who want to get out of a bad situation. Awesome! Makes sense!


This is actually true. After my third trip to the immigration office with my Korean friend its been confirmed. I actually have copies of almost every single document I need (I didn't even realize I brought extras. They were in my suitcase), but I can't do a visa run.

Whatever. It feels good to have released myself from that prison. I'll teach in Vietnam or Taiwan and this time I'll do tons of due diligence. It doesn't appear to be hard to find work. I already have 5 skype interviews scheduled for this week and this first one went well. If things don't pan out, I'll just go back home.

newchamp, I'll respond to your last post as soon as I can. I'm pretty swamped right now.
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MedellinHeel



Joined: 16 Jan 2014

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You have have gotten that LOR the first week you told them about quitting.

ie Demand a LOR or walk out on the job. Atleast that way it would have been problematic for the director. You waiting until a new teacher arrived lost all your leverage if you ever had any.
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trueblue



Joined: 15 Jun 2014
Location: In between the lines

PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

Sign NOTHING.

They give LOR they get your resignation (POST DATED to the same effective date).

Otherwise they can follow labor law for termination of employment:
- 30 days notice in writing (effectively does the same as a LOR) or
- 30 days pay in lieu AND written termination of employment.



Out of curiosity, with the 6 month rule not in this equation, has that actually worked for anyone here? By that, I mean....walking in (the day you get paid) and offering the school one of two choices.

1. Letter of Relase, postdated, with 30 days notice that correlates with your resignation date.

OR


2. If not, I'm gone...see ya (especially since the days you worked up to then, constitute the amount equal to that of your ticket)...with a generous amount paid towards bills and a clean apartment.

Has that actually worked for anyone, here?
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EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you get a LOR that your boss doesn't really want to give, you need to store it in a safety deposit box or some other secure location where your boss doesn't have access.

I've never had a LOR stolen from my apartment. I'm more of a midnight runner kind of guy. Laughing But bosses usually can enter your apartment and I would guess over 90% of them do at some point during your contract.
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trueblue



Joined: 15 Jun 2014
Location: In between the lines

PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
If you get a LOR that your boss doesn't really want to give, you need to store it in a safety deposit box or some other secure location where your boss doesn't have access.


Very true. On that note, are you referring to the ORIGINAL or a copy? I had someone ask me the other day, regarding leaving her job She was given a LOR but it was the copy...will that work for her?

Quote:
I've never had a LOR stolen from my apartment. I'm more of a midnight runner kind of guy. Laughing But bosses usually can enter your apartment and I would guess over 90% of them do at some point during your contract.


Indeed. That recently happened to me.
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seoulsurvivor8



Joined: 25 Aug 2011

PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

trueblue wrote:


Very true. On that note, are you referring to the ORIGINAL or a copy? I had someone ask me the other day, regarding leaving her job She was given a LOR but it was the copy...will that work for her?


I would say the safest bet in Korea is to demand an original with the Confucian/Hanja/red-ink name stamp on it. That stamp acts as a notary public in their system afaik and is definitely legally binding...I'd say definitely safer than a copy. My 2 cents.
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Old Painless



Joined: 01 Jan 2014

PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This thread should be stickied as an example of what happens when people don't listen to solid advice and end up getting screwed by their schools.


Hope the OP (seems as though you have a heart of gold) finds a better gig next time.
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