Korean Job Discussion Forums

[realeanne]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could help a stressed individual!

At my last school i was specifically told it was not illegal for me not to pay pension and i was enrolled for health insurance. I asked my head teacher four or five times and she assured me it was fine.

As i left my school i then discovered they had never enrolled me for health insurance and instead i had been paying for some private insurace. Which i had no idea. They told me i had to cancel it and it wasn't even in my name. It was in my employeer's name! Very sketchy!

I have just finished my contract at this job and i switched over to a D10 visa before leaving the country. Now my new job has assured me i have to make NHIC and pension contiributions.

Does this mean i will have to repay what i didn't pay the last year? ( I will have left the country for six weeks and i have changed my status from E2 to D10. I will then be changing back to E2. I read somewhere that if you leave the country they can't ask you for backpayments. Is this true?)

How much is this likely to be, (I was being paid 2.2 million)

Will my past employer still have to pay half or will they expect me to pay it all?

Do i have a case against my employeer to take to the labour board?



Any advice would be great! If the bill is going to be too high then i may consider not coming back to Korea

Thanks
RL

[weigook744]

You should report your previous employer. They will have to pay, but so will you. On the bright side, you will get your pension back when you leave (or if you are here for more than 10 years just get it when you retire at 65). As for your current employer, call the pension office after 3 months to make sure you're registered. I think the pension is responsible for collection for both them self and the national health care. (Maybe it's the other way around.)

[gerald.in.korea]

The employer must make pension contributions, and if not then it is considered unpaid wages under the Labor Standards Act (that would be the legal claim) and the private heath insurance requires the Ministry of Health to approve the health insurance provider.

When you make the claim for Pension, the Labor Board will rule that the employer has to make the pension contribution but at the same time you contribution (both health and pension are co-pay and the employer is paying more) will have to be made.

So, if 2,500,000 KRW is owed then the employer will pay most of it but you will be responsible for the rest.

If your pay stubs show that the employer has deducted pension and health from the amount of money you received as payment then they will have to pay it all. The money will not go into your account but directly to National Pension and National Health.

You will need to have all your pay stubs etc, ready and a copy of your contract.

As for your new employer, they have been informed by National Heath that your contribution was not paid, therefore it is reasonable to assume that the private health insurance that the employer "registered" you with was probably not valid or recognized for if it was then National Health would have been informed and you would not have an account with them.

When the VISA's are issued Pension and Health are notified of the new account, but if there are treaties between the foreign workers country of origin then it is possible for the Employer and Employee to notify National Pension that new foreign employee will not participate in the Korean National Program, and same with Health.

You should address the issue now for it will impede your new employment for the new employer may be forced to contribute the "back payments" that the old employer owed before the new employer can complete the legal registration of you as a new employee and complete the required registration with National Health and National Penison