Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elynnor]

Edit: To be fair, as of March 7, a few weeks after I posted this, I have in fact received my lump sum pension payment to my US bank account. Yay!

Although parts of the process were more frustrating and took longer than I would have liked (see below), I have been paid what I was owed and I want to make it clear that at this point, my former employer has compensated me fairly and according to contract.

I do know that other teachers are happy with this school. So...yeah, be cautious. Maybe not "very" cautious, but as cautious as you would be with any other hakwon.

Yay! I finally got my pension.


S h o r t version:

Choisun "Do Your Best" Academy is doing their best to keep me from receiving my pension, even after I've left Korea.

I am Not Happy about this, so I think it is only fair that I warn others about my experience.


Long version:

I worked for Choisun "Do Your Best" hakwon for one year. They have several branches and about 10,000 students; I worked at the main branch in Daechi. It wasn't the first place I had worked. I thought I was careful when I signed the contract. At that time, they offered a good salary, 3.0 mil to start, despite the long hours and mandatory 8 am Saturday mornings. My problem is that at the end of the day, if your employer decides to try to screw you over for whatever reason, they can and will do it.

My problem is not with the students, not with the Korean co-teachers, and not with my day-to-day experience, because that part was overall a wonderful experience. In fact, after the first month, I was given a 100,000 bonus because (according to the director) the students liked me and had given me a 98% approval rating, higher than any other teacher. Despite my issues with having undergone some kind of "approval rating" process without my knowledge, I took the money. I was always told by my co-teachers that the students liked me. In fact, when I filled in temporarily for one class, about a month, the Korean teacher came and asked me if there was a way for me to continue teaching the class because everyone thought I did a good job. I guess my point is that I want to establish that there were NEVER any issues with my teaching.

I signed a contract that included health care and pension deductions--one of the two "options" that they offer (a legal contract that includes deductions or an illegal contract that does not).

It took a good three months for them to get health care for me. It finally got to the point where I told them that I wouldn't be able to teach the next day if they were unable to get me the health insurance booklet. And what do you know, it magically appeared. Of course I was never reimbursed for the three months of health care deductions when I did not have health care coverage.

After a few months I decided to check if they were paying into my pension fund. They were not. I went back and forth between the pension office and the hakwon office. The hakwon office always tried to give me some BS line about how since my hire date was a few days before the next year, they couldn't file my pension retroactively and they had to wait for the pension office to send them a "bill" that they could pay. That's NOT what the pension office said. They called the school at least four times in my presence attempting to get them to pay pension.

Finally about 6 or 7 months into the contract, the school did pay into the pension fund. However, they only paid my portion of deductions--and it wasn't the full amount. They ended up paying about 2.5% of my monthly salary, not the 4.5% they were supposed to pay. And forget about their matching contribution.

I kept going back to the pension office. Some pension officers seemed to know what they were doing and some either had no idea or didn't care that they were not contributing the full amount required by law.

I also went to the tax office. Surprise, surprise, there was no record of me nor of any tax money paid in my behalf (from Choisun DYB hakwon) in their system.

During the year I was employed there, I visited the pension office AT LEAST 10 times, in addition to calling and having Korean-speaking friends call for me.

Finally, around my 11th month, I was really frustrated. At that time I was torn between staying in Korea another year and leaving. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay at that hakwon or not. But then I got fed up with all the BS of being ripped off illegally, and I went to the administration. I told them that they needed to pay the FULL AMOUNT of my pension, and that they needed to pay the FULL AMOUNT of taxes that had been deducted from my pay, or else I would report them to the authorities.

Clearly I was stupid and naive at how the Korean system "works," and as a brash, assertive foreigner I was out of place and needed to be taught a lesson.

So just after my 11-month mark they asked me to not come back--the lead foreigner teacher (thanks, Andrew, you're a gem) fully supports them in this decision, as I was clearly "being fired for being difficult." They paid me my 12th month's wages and my severance pay, of course deducting for medical and pension and tax, and sent me on my way.

I went to the doctor shortly after and discovered that my medical coverage had been stopped, despite the last month of coverage that they had deducted from my pay.

I did go to the tax office and report them, but I doubt if anything has come of that. I went to the pension office, and was promised that they could force the hakwon to pay my pension. I also went to the district office at Jamsil (three times, actually, twice by myself and once with a Korean lawyer that I happen to know). I was told at Jamsil that there was nothing that could be done, that they *had* paid correctly, that there was some kind of legal 70% reduction in the foreigner's pension rate that made it okay for them to only contribute the 2.5% to my pension.

After having left Korea MORE THAN TWO MONTHS AGO, I'm still waiting for my pension refund, which is about USD $2500 (CAN $2600, ha ha) and was supposed to pay my tuition this semester. Apparently there is some form that the hakwon has to file, some kind of unenrollment/disqualification paperwork that they refuse to send, so the pension office is "unable" to grant me a refund. They reportedly already called the school many times to try to force them to send the paperwork, but the hakwon won't send it. The pension office already has whatever money I would be eligible to receive, but I'm not going to get it because my school has decided to teach me a lesson.

The hakwon CEO, Mr. Rock Star, is apparently untouchable. Remember the big marajuana roundup that happened last August? Yeah, that was our hakwon. We lost at least 12 teachers and a few more in the wave of immigration visits that came soon after. The school couldn't get new visas for anyone until they paid off immigration too. I wonder how much money it took to keep the school's name out of the newspapers and off of the television. (Incidentally, the lead foreigner teacher would get angry and forbid the foreigner teachers from discussing it or mentioning any of the arrested teacher's names amongst ourselves, even when we were all alone in the foreigner teacher's prep room.)

In hindsight, I realize that I probably didn't do everything in the most harmonious way. I'm sure I was too aggressive at times, and I tried to use the official resources that I thought were in place to prevent this kind of thing. In short, I tried to use my street savvy and western culture to approach this problem, instead of lying down and rolling over as is the proper Korean custom.

However, my biggest mistake was this: I should have, while I was still IN Korea, gone down to the school when all the kids and their moms would be stopping by, and I should have taken a sign that said, in Korean, that my employer was withholding money that he owed me and that our school had employed many teachers that had been arrested for drugs. Of course the police station is about a block away, and I didn't want to get hauled off on libel charges. But honestly, being outspoken was really the last, best option that I had.

I'm sure that some teachers there are happy--I hope so, because I wish them the best. And I was happy too, at least with the teaching part. But just be aware that when push comes to shove, this is one school (with about 8 branches) that doesn't mind screwing you over.

Just keep this in mind. Maybe you'll be fine, maybe you won't. You'll never know until the very end.

[Insidejohnmalkovich]

You got your wages, you got your sevreance bonus, you got your apartment and your airfare, you even got a 100,000 won bonus.

Shut up about your pension.

[KoreanAmbition]

While I see you've had a rough year through this ordeal, I feel the need to make 3 points about your story:

First:

You say your Hagwon was only taking 2.5% off your cheque each month as a pension contribution, not the required 4.5%. Apparently that 2.5% was taken off your cheque but not actually done legally so basically they were stealing your money. But you DID get paid 12 months of salary and they even gave you the severance.

So even if you were earning $2500 a month then that amounts to about $32500 of salary over the year. 2.5% of that is about $812. Even if your school had ripped you off for 4.5% each month (which we know they didn't as you claimed) then you would have lost only around $1500.

I cannot understand how you are losing $2500 in pension. To my calculations they've ripped you off for about $800.


Second:

At the worst, they ripped you off for a supposed $2500 but they gave you $1300 of bonus you didn't expect?? So really you got ripped off for $1200.

However, I still can't figure out how you lost $2500 I can only find a loss of between $800 and $1500. Both of those amounts, when taken against your bonus of $1300, mean you actually lost nothing or might have even gained money.


Third:

Looking back on it, you actually think that your best course of action was to go and picket out front of the school to their customers? Ummm, isn't that where you end up dead, or at the best they just keep your severance money and anything else they can take??? Are you sure you learned a lesson from all this?



Here's my honest opinion:

The worst you lost was $1200 (that's $2500 - $1300 bonus). And I can't even figure out how you calculated that. No matter the case...

"That's all you lost???

How about going home each night and saying that they give you an extra $100 each month but steal $200, so you lose $100 a month?

Hmmm,

Here's a thought...

Tutor 1 private hour per week at $40. That's it, just one hour, instead of all your complaining.

$40 X 50 weeks = $2000.


There's your lesson for the day. Use your time wisely. In fact, you could have just told your story once a week to your private student and then you wouldn't have needed prep time even.



My take from all this? I'm happy. If YOUR problem is all that happens to me when I'm in Korea, I'll be a very happy camper.

Just one man's opinion.

[elynnor]

JohnMalkovich:

Thanks for your support by bumping my thread. By the way, I don't remember mentioning that I got an apartment OR airfare--apparently you just assumed that. Incidentally, you are incorrect in your assumption.

The problem with my pension is that there is money in my pension account from schools where I worked for some time BEFORE I worked at this hakwon. Now I can't get ANY of my pension, not just the pension that this school owes me.

I don't understand why it's so hard for them to fax the simple paper that releases my pension to me. The money is already being held by the pension office.

For that matter, why even offer a contract with the option of pension at all? Why not either offer me a lower starting wage or just refuse to pay into pension altogether? Why should I take the shaft on something that has been legislated by the Korean government, and CONTRACTUALLY OFFERED TO ME by my school? Hey, I showed up to work. I did my job, and I did it well. What is so difficult about giving me my fair pay, or faxing a stupid document to the pension office so that I can actually receive my fair pay?

But I do appreciate your concern--you cared enough to respond.

[Cheonmunka]

[elynnor]

KoreanAmbition:

I didn't give the whole background, so I can see where you might be confused. A few points of clarification.

My hakwon deducted a total of 9.5% of my salary each month; supposedly 4.5% of that deduction was going toward the pension fund. However, when I looked at the amount that had been deposited in pension, only about 2.5% of my monthly salary had been deposited.

Second, I did not get a $1300 bonus. I received a one-time bonus of 100,000 won after the first month of my employment, directly from the CEO, as a "thank you" for keeping the kids happy. I wasn't trying to brag. I was trying to establish evidence that the school had been happy enough with my work for the first eleven months, and it wasn't until I got pushy with the pension and tax issue that they fired me.

Part of the money that has been deposited in my pension account (and WITHHELD despite numerous calls to the school asking them to provide the proper paperwork) is from this particular hakwon. Part of the money was NOT deposited by this hakwon. However, I have been told that I cannot access ANY of it until this hakwon provides paperwork disqualifiying and/or unenrolling me in the pension fund.

I don't understand how that could be. If an employer could prevent his employees from receiving their pension, what would stop any of your employers from doing so?

If I were still in Korea, I could look forward to months and months of labor board proceedings that would hopefully help me get the pension that is OWED to me. Since I'm not, all I can do is have wetdreams about picketing in front of the school.

[elynnor]

I don't do privates. I really despise them. Working at a second job, now that's a different story.

But thanks for the encouragement to engage in illegal activity and risk fines and deportation as a solution to my problem.

[Mr. BlackCat]

So, this guy gets screwed by his employers and all the foreign community on Dave's can muster is:

1) You didn't get screwed that badly. Shut up!

2) You complain too much. Shut up!

Gee, I wonder why Korean bosses routinely walk all over their foreigner employees.

We've only got one side of the story, but when you believe him and you still dismiss it, that's pretty sad. And please don't say, "This is how the real world works, get some experience, etc." Would you let your boss steal $800 off you in North America just because he was nice enough not to steal $1500?

Good luck, OP.

[Cheonmunka]

I've been thru the mill myself a few times. I know it's horrible. Yet, what can you do? Even in Korea it would be a long haul waiting affair even with all the paperwork it can take years. I think the other posters are saying, 'count your losses.' It's a fair assessment of your situation.

[Netz]

[bassexpander]

[Netz]

[MrsSeoul]

[KoreanAmbition]

[Mi Yum mi]

Even if they owe the OP 100k they should pay. Doesn't matter how much it is...it should be paid.