Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jewelz]

Well after all of this damn time I now finally have my daughter's passport back. What an awful experience. My boss was holding it randsom along with my degree and her birth certificate. My boss picked the passport up today from Daegu immigration and was denying me to go there and get it myself. Somehow, immigration listens to whatever the insane employers say and you are left out in the cold as usual. All I can say is this has been the hardest three months I have experienced and nobody deserves this kind of abuse no matter what country they are from. I finally have a release letter signed for Feb. 24 for a better job in Asan. I had to hang on and play her wicked little games to get all of my i.d. back and LOR and on top of that promise to stay with this awful school until she finds someone, or until the end of February. To make matters worse she was'nt going to give me my pay this month which is a measly few hundred dollars after over taxing and the recruiting fee. She was fearful I guess I would'nt return, would you ? I dont have solidified travel plans to leave the country, but I told her I needed the passport bc we were leaving the country on a trip for x-mas. All I know is that we really had a lot of rights in Canada that just do not exist here. Meanwhile she still tries to micromanage me on every aspect. I may be in Seoul with friends if I do not travel over x-mas. I guess there is no where I can really stop in and make my case. All I am reading from others is to show up at your nearest labour board with a translator. I can not do that, bc i do not know anyone who can do that where I am. I am in the middle of nowhere outside of Gumi, with absolutly no foreigners around, what a crazy job.
Anywas I have been empathizing with other people's sob stories and I just can not believe the cruelness of Koreans, even when it involves friggen' children.
J

[sheba]

Wow... that IS crazy!

For future reference for you and other people in a similar situation, remember that passports do not beling to us - they belong to our government. If you have any problems with your passport, contact your embassy as soon as possible and they will sort it out.

If your boss keeps your passport it becomes a govt issue.

[braunshade]

If my boss ever got hold of my passport- I would just go get a new one! Report it stolen first.

Then I would wag it front of her/his face!

[DHC]

Passports are property of your government. Under NO circumstances may an employer keep your passport without your permission. If this occurs contact the consular section of your embassy. If necessary , report your passport stolen to the police and obtain a copy of the police report.

[willneverteachagain]

these guys are right 100%, passports are issued by the government and no one has the right to hold it. Ur boss is the devil. I know it's none of my business at all but i dont understand how she got it in the first place.

[Real Reality]

Trafficking of English Teachers?
There is something incongruous about being a native-speaking English-language teacher in South Korea.... Sadly, though, despite numerous complaints to their respective embassies here, nothing effective is done to ensure their rights are upheld when problems do arise....

Speak to most native-speakers teaching English here and they will have a multitude of firsthand experiences or have knowledge of coercion, intimidation, non- or under-payment of wages, withholding of passports and/or university testimonials, fraudulent deduction of money for non-existent health insurance, turning off heat and water supplies to apartments should teachers threaten action with the authorities, and many, many more such incidences.

Korea and the various consular representatives here need to wake up to reality.

From a different perspective, the lack of good faith expressed by Korean employers in teaching contracts amounts to nothing more than deception, an aspect often raised in human trafficking.

Before you laugh, consider the United Nations' view: "Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. And finally, this: Victims often consent to the initial stage of trafficking because they are misled or deceived by traffickers.
By Chris Brockie, Korea Times (March 17, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200603/kt2006031716054754060.htm

Foreigners Experience Difficulties in Living in Korea
by Jae-Dong Yu and Soo-Jung Shin, Donga.com (July 4, 2004)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448

[crazylemongirl]

[rawiri]

Why did you bring your daughter to korea with you? This place and working in a hagwon isn't really fit for bringing your kids over to.

[jewelz]

I considered all avenues believe me. If you report your passport stolen or in another person's hands whatever, it is then automatically cancelled. That means umpteen hours and money to get it back... It is not like you fill out one form and presto you have it back, obtaining a passport to begin with has many methodical steps involved, at least for Canadians. If you are in the middle of nowhere it is even harder to deal with.
And the part about my daughter, well she has done quite well in S.Korea in the school sytem, better then me. Korean children get far more spoiled over here from what I see then in Canada. At least, generally speaking; tonnes and tonnes of unlimited candy, games, toys etc. Furthermore, bc she is a foreigner she receives even more attention then she ever did back home. So as far as kids goes, Korea is perfect for them.
On the whole, I gather the person who commented on my child has no clue of the economic reality for single mothers in Canada. Not a pretty sight, no matter how educated you are you will never get ahead.

[riley]

Well, good thing that you got your child's passport back.

Could you spend some time and post the whole story about your boss and how exactly she got the passport and all of the other problems? I think all of us would love to know all of the dirty details.

[grainger]

My sister couldn't get her passport back from her boss. Turns out immigration was holding it because her employer owed them money. She just called the Canadian consulate, who called immigration, who gave her back her passport like there was a fire lit under their asses.

Once your boss had confiscated it I still would have put in a call to the Canadian consulate. One inquiring phone call from them probably would have cleared the whole thing up.

Just remember that action, any action, is your best escape from becoming a victim.

[jewelz]

ha ha Riley, sounds hilarious. I would love to get more into the details but it would take a drink and a kleenex, or three tears and a hankey.. something like that.
Calling the consulate.. ok. A friend of myne advised me to not do that bc when he informed them a while back they made him cancel it and reapply. However it was lost and then found, perhaps I could have done that.
When is someone going to make a national documentary through CBC or something like that back home in the media... This stuff is crazy.. or did someone already try and the media not interesetd in some expats going abroad to find employment and treated like second class citizens.

[bellum99]

Nothing worse than a psycho on a power trip. You needed a place to live and work and so you couldn't afford to stand up for your rights (daughter needs a home). Glad you are okay.

[ED209]

When your ordeal is over please come back and post your full story with the name of the school and boss. Shame them. Blacklist them. And dam them to hell. This kind of intimidation should also be reported to the labour board. Although this would be difficult to prove a few months from now. You could still file a compliant and get them to keep it on file. There is an English number for them 1350. I'm sure they can give you advice on how to make a complaint.

Good luck on your new job and hope your daughter enjoys here stay here.

[spliff]

Please post the schools name so we may save some other poor tefler from this sort of abuse!