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slopey23
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
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 Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:56 am Post subject: My hogwan fired me, rehired me, sold me,then fired me again |
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After 8 months at the same school on November 25th the boss of the English floor called me into the office and told me the big boss is letting me go. She told me we are going bankrupt (exaggeration) and they are sending me home without severance on Jan 1st. I told them they had to pay me the portion of my severance that I paid in and I would get a lawyer if I need to. I went back to my desk and applied to all these winter camp jobs and got a bunch of offers. I was really happy about being let go. My school cannot afford 2 English teachers, our pay is always late and I would like to be in a bigger city.
The next day i came into work and they told me the great news! I was rehired. They told me they cannot afford to pay me ontime, but I have my job back. I told them that I need to be paid ontime and if they cannot keep me then we could work something out. They assured me they could keep me.
Payday for December came and went.... pay was late, of course.
On December 17th I went into work and was informed that the following Monday I would be transfered to a Hogwan an hour away. I pulled out my contract and showed them the part that said I would only work at the location I was at. They then explained to me that they owned me and I have to go where they tell me to go. I told them it was illegal and they told me they called immigration and it's not illegal. After a few days of being screamed at and told I was selfish I went. I didnt feel like arguing anymore. They told me the new hogwan was part of their chain, it wasnt. They sold me to a friend with another school.
The new hogwan was about an hour away. It was terrible- it was just me and the director and his English was very limited (there were few textbooks, it was just bad). I kept asking him to fix my visa and he kept assuring me everything was legal. I worked there Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday I went to the police. I told the officer of foreign affairs about my problems. He called my hogwan and informed them what they did was illegal. They told them that they had no idea. They assured him that they would bring me back to the old hogwan and keep me to the end of my contract or give me a letter of release. They told him that I wanted to go to the new hogwan.
When I got back to the old hagwon on Wednesday they called me into the office and told me that I agreed to go to the new hogwan so it was my fault. They told me that they would find a legal way to fire me without pay.
On Friday night they sent me home to get my contract so they could translate it and fire me.
This afternoon when I got to work we had another meeting. They told me that I am in breach of contract because I arrive at work at 1:45 instead of 1:40 (my old boss told us we dont need to be here until 2 pm, no one comes in at 1:40- however I am generally first). They said my old boss is gone therefore we must defer to the contract. The second breach of contract is that I have been working a second job. My contract says that I can work 2 jobs with the permission of my school. I told them that I am not working a second job and I volunteer. They asked for the name of the volunteer organization. I said I dont know (its korea and at the time i couldnt think of it). They came back to me and told me that they need my bank book (of course to check if I have worked two jobs).... I said no.
They came back a while later with the terms of my dismissal.... here goes:
I am to come in ever day and work from 1:40- 9:10 (my contract says until 9). I have no classes. My last day of work is on January 9th. However they will only pay me until December 22nd. They will not give me severance or airfare.
Is there any chance in hell that they can ever get away with this? I have the detectives number and he should call me back soon. What can I do to assure that they never get another foreign teacher, beyond blacklisting?
Thanks in advance for your help! |
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toowise
Joined: 27 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:16 am Post subject: |
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Kind of serves you right for having no spine whatsoever.
You should always demand things in writing(something that has taken me several years to understand..so you are not alone)
Why did you accept late payment? For me that is a deal breaker right off the bat!
No one owns you, slavery went out years ago and never really existed in Korea! So some lying Korean tells you that something isnt illegal....and you believe them.....why?
my 2 cents.....contact the labour board, post the name of this sack of excrement online and save others from suffering your fate! |
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slopey23
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: |
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What do you do if your hagwon pays you late? Everytime I said something and I think that is why they fired me. It was generally 1 or 2 days late.
I will go to labor tomorrow.
Refresh my memory how am I so spineless? |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| OP, how much of what they said do you have in writing? |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:53 am Post subject: |
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congrats Slopey - haven't read a bad ass story like this in a few years - !! 
sorry to hear tho - really getting the screws put to you -
call Labor 1350 surely they can help - if anything to work out your terms of leaving and get you some money - |
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slopey23
Joined: 19 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:55 am Post subject: |
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I have a new contract in writing for the other school that has the new directors signature and I have my contract that says I can work other jobs with their permission. I took that to the police and nailed them with it. However, I dont have anything else. They are korean- they hate paper work.
I gave them a letter of release to sign 4 hours ago- and i havent gotten it back yet.
Is there anything else i should get today? What do I do if they wont give me back the letter of release?
Can they get away with giving me 15 days notice and have 5 of them be retroactive? |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| moosehead wrote: |
call Labor 1350 surely they can help - if anything to work out your terms of leaving and get you some money - |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:19 am Post subject: |
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Slopey,
I can sympathize with you as my first employer was pretty similar (though I refused to go to the second school). They ended up releasing me after two months (the crap started pretty much at about the 4 week mark) and I ended up finding another job.
The only thing I can suggest is getting a hold of the labor board and seeing what they can do to help you. Also take a look at the St. Andrew's thread to read through what another user on here has been through and possible solutions that might help.
Please keep us updated on this. There are many people who will want to know what's going on with your situation. |
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justaguy
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:32 am Post subject: |
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OP I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. These sorts of things happen so often when the hogwon's business goes bad. Late payment is always a red flag even if its only one or two days. Korean payroll accountants always follow procedure unless someone above them told them not to.
What irks me is that so many Korean bosses will tell their foreign employees that its ok to do things that are clearly illegal. And who gets busted? The foreigner does.
It's sad to say, but it seems like foreign workers in Korea need to take a visa law course and a labor law course before woking anywhere. |
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roknroll
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:08 am Post subject: Re: My hogwan fired me, rehired me, sold me,then fired me ag |
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see below
Last edited by roknroll on Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:14 am Post subject: |
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| Labor Board doesn't care about Pension. On the other hand, the Pension Office cares and cares a lot. On top of that, the Pension Office has the legal authority, which they love to use, to force payment from dishonest hagweon owners. |
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roknroll
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:15 am Post subject: Re: My hogwan fired me, rehired me, sold me,then fired me ag |
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| slopey23 wrote: |
After 8 months at the same school on November 25th the boss of the English floor called me into the office and told me the big boss is letting me go. She told me we are going bankrupt (exaggeration) and they are sending me home without severance on Jan 1st. I told them they had to pay me the portion of my severance that I paid in and I would get a lawyer if I need to. I went back to my desk and applied to all these winter camp jobs and got a bunch of offers. I was really happy about being let go. My school cannot afford 2 English teachers, our pay is always late and I would like to be in a bigger city.
]Are you referring to pension payments as opposed to severance? Severance is the extra lump sum payment (equal to one month's pay) if you complete a one-year contract. If you did have pension/medical deducted, it's highly unlikely they've made the payments by the sounds of it. In the case of pension, you could go to the pension office{thanks Cali} (after verifying if payment was made or not at the tax office). With the severance, the whole idea on their part is to get out of paying that and airfare by getting rid of you before you complete a year. If they really are going bankrupt, you are probably out of luck (I'd guess from what I've read before) with regards to severance and airfare. How big is this place? Are you the only teacher? If so, they need to give you a release letter before they can hire another teacher. And this is what it sounds like, why would they need to find a way to legally fire you (as you mention below) if they are going bankrupt? So, they're likely working on a way to get you out of there well before the 11 month to avoid this well-known and unsuccessful ploy with immigration. How many students are there? Do you think they're going under?
The next day i came into work and they told me the great news! I was rehired. They told me they cannot afford to pay me ontime, but I have my job back. I told them that I need to be paid ontime and if they cannot keep me then we could work something out. They assured me they could keep me.
Payday for December came and went.... pay was late, of course.
On December 17th I went into work and was informed that the following Monday I would be transfered to a Hogwan an hour away. I pulled out my contract and showed them the part that said I would only work at the location I was at. They then explained to me that they owned me and I have to go where they tell me to go. I told them it was illegal and they told me they called immigration and it's not illegal. After a few days of being screamed at and told I was selfish I went. I didnt feel like arguing anymore. They told me the new hogwan was part of their chain, it wasnt. They sold me to a friend with another school.
Of course you never should've gone, but that's history now.
The new hogwan was about an hour away. It was terrible- it was just me and the director and his English was very limited (there were few textbooks, it was just bad). I kept asking him to fix my visa and he kept assuring me everything was legal. I worked there Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday I went to the police. I told the officer of foreign affairs about my problems. He called my hogwan and informed them what they did was illegal. They told them that they had no idea. They assured him that they would bring me back to the old hogwan and keep me to the end of my contract or give me a letter of release. They told him that I wanted to go to the new hogwan.
That's quite brave and interesting. Nice they didn't fine you a million and the school up to 3 million, i think it is. Anyway, seemed to work for you.
When I got back to the old hagwon on Wednesday they called me into the office and told me that I agreed to go to the new hogwan so it was my fault. They told me that they would find a legal way to fire me without pay.
On Friday night they sent me home to get my contract so they could translate it and fire me.
This afternoon when I got to work we had another meeting. They told me that I am in breach of contract because I arrive at work at 1:45 instead of 1:40 (my old boss told us we dont need to be here until 2 pm, no one comes in at 1:40- however I am generally first). They said my old boss is gone therefore we must defer to the contract. The second breach of contract is that I have been working a second job. My contract says that I can work 2 jobs with the permission of my school. I told them that I am not working a second job and I volunteer. They asked for the name of the volunteer organization. I said I dont know (its korea and at the time i couldnt think of it). They came back to me and told me that they need my bank book (of course to check if I have worked two jobs).... I said no.
First off, they were in breach of contract by paying you late. Second, they should have mentioned something to you about simply coming in 5 minutes sooner. This is good for debating with them, but obviously they don't care about anything other than getting you out and not paying the extras.
Second, don't mention the volunteer stuff again, just say you don't work two jobs-->finished. Volunteering technically requires permission from immy, and at any rate, they're just looking for a red herring.
They came back a while later with the terms of my dismissal.... here goes:
I am to come in ever day and work from 1:40- 9:10 (my contract says until 9). I have no classes. My last day of work is on January 9th. However they will only pay me until December 22nd. They will not give me severance or airfare.
Sounds like your working for free now. They need to give you one month's notice or in lieu of that the full pay for one month starting from today's notice. Get the paperwork from today (DON'T SIGN ANYTHING, JUST TELL THEM THEY ONLY NEED TO SIGN) and you can work until Jan 9 and then go to the labor board and claim until Jan 28 (you got the paper to prove it and it's their discretion whether you actually work the full final month).
Is there any chance in hell that they can ever get away with this? I have the detectives number and he should call me back soon. What can I do to assure that they never get another foreign teacher, beyond blacklisting?
Again, if it really is bankruptcy your quite limited, except for the pension if you paid it (of course it's 'in the bank' until you leave korea and your from the right country). If it's not, they're really pulling a lame one considering they could make up something better than what they're trying. Again, they need no excuses if they are going bankrupt.
Thanks in advance for your help! |
Your quite welcome. Good luck, you're gonna need it  |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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whatever
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: Korea: More fun than jail.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: |
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| ^ Funny how all the kids are aware/educated about the slavery in the United States' past, but not in their own country. Face saved, I guess... |
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toowise
Joined: 27 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| i stand corrected! |
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