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magicmajenta
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Location: Saint Paul Minnesota
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 Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: Passport being taken?? |
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| I am still considering working in Korea, and my mom is rather hesitant. Her particular concern is if there are employers that take your passposrt from you. She keeps asking that because once that happens everything is out of my control. Please let me know if this happens as well as some of the other devious things that employers do. I intend on working in a public school by the way. |
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Absolutely not. You do need to turn it in to get your Alien Registration Card (ARC) processed, but then you get it back.
The embassies of most countries here do little for us, but the one thing they will deal with, and damn quick about it is if someone takes and keeps your passport. You do not have to worry about that.
Lot's of other things to worry about mind you..... |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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Hogwans do try to take the passport sometimes to keep you from doing a runner. You can get it back, either by asking or by contacting the police or your embassy.
Public schools don't try this crap (usually).
Don't worry, if you are in a bad situation, you can leave the country anytime. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| You only need to surrender your passport to immigration to get an alien resident card. If your employers ask's for it that's a red flag |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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| poet13 wrote: |
| The embassies of most countries here do little for us, but the one thing they will deal with, and damn quick about it is if someone takes and keeps your passport. |
The Embassies provide quite a lot of services to their citizens, services connected with their citizens' relations with their own countries. They cannot, and therefore do not, function as legal counsel in civil or criminal matters in local courts.
The passport is the property of the issuing government, not of the bearer and certainly not of the employer. |
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, I agree CentralCali.... I was referring to help in terms of employee/employer difficulties... |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Right. What I've wondered quite often is why so many people (not you, but many, many others), believe that their home country's government will come charging in like the Cavalry in a B-grade movie whenever things don't go well for them. I've also wondered why so many people think that the laws in a foreign country never apply to them while they're in that country. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| poet13 wrote: |
| The embassies of most countries here do little for us, but the one thing they will deal with, and damn quick about it is if someone takes and keeps your passport. |
The Embassies provide quite a lot of services to their citizens, services connected with their citizens' relations with their own countries. They cannot, and therefore do not, function as legal counsel in civil or criminal matters in local courts.
The passport is the property of the issuing government, not of the bearer and certainly not of the employer. |
Actually, in my personal experience over many years and many visits for different things, the staff at the Canadian embassy (both consular section AND visa sections) were about as polite as a drunken ajoshi puking on the street and about as useful as a snowblower in downtown L.A.
Having said that, the one thing they do help with very quickly (and likely the only exception to the rule) is an employer who is holding your passport.
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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:48 pm Post subject: Re: Passport being taken?? |
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| magicmajenta wrote: |
| Please let me know if this happens as well as some of the other devious things that employers do. I intend on working in a public school by the way. |
Public schools tend to be less shady than hogwons. But employers can, have, and will:
Not pay taxes and/or health and/or pension but take the money for it and pocket it.
Not abide by the contract, for example "that's not teaching time even though you're babysitting the students, so you don't get overtime" or "there was a holiday this month and your pay is figured by the month, so you're screwed" and so on (personal experience).
Give you too few hours and then refuse to pay your salary.
Hold back money ("deposits") as a way of keeping you here (public schools do this).
Refuse to pay you, then evict you, then tell you you need to live in the school (speaking from personal experience, here).
Steal your mail from your apartment so that you don't get notice of the Labor Board meeting (personal experience).
Fire you with unjust cause and undue notice (personal experience).
Come to your house to see if you're actually sick (sort of personal experience here).
Come into your apartment while you're not there, just to check things out and/or steal things. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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Make sure you get back your diploma certificate as soon as possible. Hagwons have a nasty habit of losing these, denying ever receiving them, using them as coffee coasters, or handing them back folded in three with a corner missing. Your mother would be mortified to see the parchment she keeps framed in the hall way treated in such a way. Here it's just a piece of paper. Get back everything that immigration doesn't keep.
After this you can worry about not being paid, getting fired for being fat or not white enough, living in a fire trap, getting fleeced on pension, healthcare, taxes, over-time and vacation, getting a phone and ATM card, receiving your severance, airfare, correct amount of pension refund.
Welcome to Korea land of the sparkling. |
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| If you're worried about that sort of thing, you should probably work in a public school. |
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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| True, but public schools also practice Korean Bookkeeping. |
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Atavistic wrote: |
| True, but public schools also practice Korean Bookkeeping. |
Ya, but at least public schools don't run out of money.
There are good hagwons out there, but for a newbie with no special qualifications you're probably better off in a public school. |
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Zaria32
Joined: 04 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Atavistic posted a good list...but left out (unless I read over it...) that hogwons often have a fixed (too high) percentage that they take out for income taxes...often 3.3% At a salary of 2.1 to 2.3 it should be less than 2%. Sometimes they tell you that the fee for National Health Insurance is higher than it actually is...so that in fact you are paying twice what you should for health insurance. |
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Toju
Joined: 06 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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| No, never and no again to anyone other than immigration even seeing your passport. It is illegal for any school to keep it. |
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