Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nfarney]

My wife and I just signed a contract for our first time coming to Korea. (Yay us). It looks pretty good, and we talked to the director and a teacher and everything, but I just noticed something:

It says that 4% will be deducted from our paycheck for taxes (which is fine) and 9% will be deducted for pension payments. I don't really have a problem with this, but after I read about pension payments at this link: http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/enpsk.html?code=./enpsk/a01.html It seems like we should only be paying 4.5% and they pay the other 4.5%.

Our school employs over 10 foreign teachers, so it seems like we should fit into the "Workplace based insurance persons."

Anyway, I could be totally off, or I may be misunderstanding the wording of the contract. What happens on your paycheck for the pension?

The 4.5% split seems like a pretty good deal--like getting paid an extra 4.5% when you get it all back. Especially when there are 2 of us working.

We might have to just wait till we get over there and see what's up too.

Thanks!
Nathan

[Seoul Skye]

According to the National Pension Corporation

Pension contributions amount to 4.5% of an employee's salary and monthly contributions are limited to KRW162,000.

[The Lemon]

Some of us (depending on where we work - some private universities, for example) belong to mandatory pension plans that are not administered by the NPC. These ones aren't nearly such good deals, and are sometimes used to avoid paying severance - in effect, your monthly deductions are paying for part of your own severance if the school uses this scheme. And the amount contributed by the school is negligable.

[JackSarang]

If you work at a hogwan your monthly pension contribution should be 4.5% of your salary. Your employer is then required to contribute an equal amount (another 4.5% of their money) to your pension.

If you're being deducted 9%, then your employer is deducting the amount THEY are required to pay from your salary in order for it to not cost them anything.

The net total of deductions from your paycheque should be roughly: 3.3% (Korean Tax) + (1.7% Health Insurance) + (4.5% Pension) = Net Deduction of 9%.

[nfarney]

Thanks Jack,

That's what I thought. It could just be a translation issue with the contract, but I'll make sure that I check our paychecks when we get over there.

Nathan