Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alias77]

I just read through the labor laws and I didn't see anything specifically stating you had to work FT to get a full month's severance pay.

Therefore, whatever your average monthly pay would be, your severance entitlement should be equal to that regardless of the number of hours you work every month, PT or FT.

Am I right?

[Zaria32]

I don't know the answer to your full time versus part time question. But if you are on an E-2 visa, by definition you are full time, even if you only work 20 hours a week...if you're and E-2 English teacher, you are full time.

[Alias77]

Where can I find legal statements about an E-2 automatically being considered full time?

I'm just curious about the legal interpretation of working 20 hours or less. Take a look at the following from the Labor Standards:

Article 21 (Definition of Part-Time Worker)

The term �part-time worker� in this act means an employee whose contractual working hours per week are shorter than those of full-time worker engaged in the same kind of job at the pertinent workplace.

And, of course, I would still like to know if there is any difference in the entitlement to severance as a result.

[Zaria32]

In Korean law, 80 hours or more a week is full-time, less is part time.

However, if you are on an E-2 visa you are full time, even if you are working 5 hours per week. If you are part-time, you cannot work on an E-2 visa unless it's a second job, in addition to your full-time English teaching job.

An E-2 visa holder is entitled to severance no matter how few hours they've worked. If Labor Board tells you differently, call the headquarters in Seoul (search phone number on here) as the local/regional offices are usually staffed by less than well informed individuals. They even sometimes say "Oh, you're an independant contractor, says so in the contract." Doesn't matter what the contract says, if you are E-2, your are full-time and you are an employee.

Use the search function on here.