|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Walter Mitty
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Tokyo! ^.^
|
 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 2:36 am Post subject: Changes to the pension system? |
 |
|
I've done some digging through the past topics but couldn't come up with an answer to this, so I'm posting it.
Has there been a change in the way some schools are handling pension payments? Or has there been some recent change to the law to allow them to do so?
Here's why I ask. My school recently got found out by the pension department for not paying into the fund for the foreign teachers. As of our December end-of-month pay, they are. But instead of deducting 4.5% of gross and matching it, they're taking the full 9% from our checks.
I checked the National Pension Corporation website and found these relevant passages:
This part states teachers should only pay 4.5% (45/1000) and that the school should pay the same amount:
| Quote: |
http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/enact01.html?code=./enpa/b05.html
Article 75 (Collection of Contributions)
(1) The Corporation shall collect contributions from participants and employers for each month during their participation period to meet the expenses of the National Pension program.(Amended by Law No. 4909, Jan. 5, 1995)
(2) Of the contributions for workplace based participants, contribution shall be paid by the participant and the liability by the employer, and the amount of each source shall be an amount equal to 45/1000 of the Standard Monthly Income, respectively. (Amended by Law No. 5623, Dec. 31, 1998)
(3) The regional participants, the voluntary participant or the voluntary & continuous participant shall pay contributions amounting to 90/1000 of the Standard Monthly Income.(Amended by Law No. 4909, Jan. 5, 1995) |
According to this part, we are considered "Workplace based participants."
| Quote: |
http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/enact01.html?code=./enpa/b02.html
Article 8 (Workplace based participants)
(1) Employees and employers aged from 18 to less than 60 of the Workplace, based on the definition of the type of enterprise and the number of employed workers, etc., as determined by Presidential Decree (hereinafter referred to as the "covered workplace" or "CWP"), shall be taken as mandatory, workplace based participants . However, any person falling under any one of the following items shall be excluded.
(Amended by Law No. 5623, Dec. 31, 1998; Law No. 6124, Jan. 12, 2000; Law No. 6286, Dec. 23, 2000) |
At my last school (contract ended 30 April 2003) the payments were 50/50, and I can't find any record of the system having changed since then.
According to this page the pension law was last updated 23 Dec 2000. So either somebody isn't being honest here, or the NPC is slow to update their site.
I passed all this information on to my recruiter (who's also dealing with our management about this) and she told me that some schools are now writing their contracts to state that American and Canadian teachers pay the full 9% since they get all the money back. The thing is, our contracts don't state that. (Actually, they don't mention pensions at alll.)
So.....has anybody else run into a similar situation or heard anything relevant to this? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
prairieboy
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Location: The batcave.
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 3:20 am Post subject: |
|
|
There haven't been any changes that I'm aware of. You've searched out the law on the National Pension Corporation's website.
According to the law, the contributions are to be paid 50/50 by you and your employer. They probably don't want to pay their half seeing as if you are Canadian or American you will get all of the contributions refunded to you when you leave and apply for the lump sum refund.
I don't know what you can do about it except bring it up to them that the law is they must pay 50% of the contribution.
Good luck and Cheers |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 3:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'd say your school is screwing you!
Contact the pension office. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Juggertha
Joined: 27 May 2003
Location: Anyang, Korea
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 4:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I think Pink is right. Take your pay stubs with the 9% deductions to the tax/pension office. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dominic
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 3:59 am Post subject: i have the same problem sort of |
|
|
| I asked a bunch of times why we dont pay into the pension fund and never got a straight answer, if my a**hole boss finds out that I called the pension office and he ends up paying, then he would probably know it was me and fire me and i only have 5 months left before the bonus, only thing keeping me there actually, I told him 6 months ago that i wanted to pay into it and he said no, i guess i should have called the office then, my recruiter is useless so i guess i cant call her. WHen there's a contract "problem", she just says the contract doesnt say that or we are the liars. I want to pay into this but I dont want to get fired, why should i lose money i knew 6 months ago that i get it back since im canadian. Is my boss doing something illegal? Should I call the office and report him? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
prairieboy
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Location: The batcave.
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 5:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
dominic,
Here's a link to the pension law. www.npc.or.kr
There is an English translation of everything in the Act.
I believe that there must be 5 or more full-time employees at your workplace before it is required to participate in the pension scheme.
Maybe someone else can find this information because I can't locate it.
EDIT: I found it on this webpage:
http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/enpsk.html?code=./enpsk/a01.html
| Quote: |
(1) Workplace based Insured Persons
The contribution of Workplace based Insured Persons is equally shared between the employer and the employee. Acquisition of the pension right, loss of the Insured status, and payment of the contribution are conducted by the employer. The persons falling under the category of Workplace based Insured Persons are as follows.
* All employees and employers from 18 to less than 60 years of age shall mandatorily be Workplace based Insured Persons, if they are working at a workplace with more than 5 full-time employees
* In the case of the workplace with less than 5 full-time employees, regular employees and employers from 18 to less than 60 years of age can be the Workplace based Insured Persons, if the workplace is covered under the National Pension Scheme with consent of more than 2/3 of employees from 18 to less than 60 years of age.
* Those aged less than 18 working at a workplace covered under the National Pension Scheme may participate in the Scheme, subject to their employer's consent |
You can call 1355 to get the pension office nearest you and just ask some questions without telling them who you are. Get a korean friend to make the call and ask. If you believe that your hogwon should be participating then get report them. The pension office will investigate it.
Cheers and good luck. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 12:58 pm Post subject: Re: i have the same problem sort of |
|
|
| dominic wrote: |
| I asked a bunch of times why we dont pay into the pension fund and never got a straight answer, if my a**hole boss finds out that I called the pension office and he ends up paying, then he would probably know it was me and fire me and i only have 5 months left before the bonus, only thing keeping me there actually, I told him 6 months ago that i wanted to pay into it and he said no, i guess i should have called the office then, my recruiter is useless so i guess i cant call her. WHen there's a contract "problem", she just says the contract doesnt say that or we are the liars. I want to pay into this but I dont want to get fired, why should i lose money i knew 6 months ago that i get it back since im canadian. Is my boss doing something illegal? Should I call the office and report him? |
If the pension office is demanding that you pay, then IMO your employer should be paying half. Also did they want you to back pay into it? My employer pays half, but they didn't know we had to pay it when I first started working there. Eventually we had to back pay it, but my employer paid half of that as well.
If your employer is going to break the law on this, what else is he/she breaking the law on? Getting fired isn't the end of the world either, there are tons of jobs out there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
