Korean Job Discussion Forums

[freethought]

So I work at a university.... and I haven't been paid yet. Should have been paid on Friday.

What are my options? Can I simply choose not to work until they pay me?

[Juregen]

[freethought]

[blade]

[Goon-Yang]

Call in sick. Tell them you can't afford any medicine so you might be sick for a long time. Maybe they'll get the hint.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Olivencia]

What university?

[sulperman]

It's only a day late. This might rile up a bunch of posters, but I say don't cause a fuss over one day. You work at a uni, not some failing hagwon, you're gonna get paid.

They may be disorganized, but it doesn't sound like they are trying to cheat you. Just patiently tell whoever is in charge that you need the money for some student loan payment or something.

You could be the guy who makes a big deal out of it, but I personally don't like to be that guy. No sense making yourself known as the one whos whining about labor laws and all that after one day. Be calm, but make it happen.

Doesn't sound like a problem to me.

[freethought]

I can't name the university, but this is a bigger problem than being a day late. It's going on day 5 of being late, technically. Friday was supposed to be pay day, then they had the weekend to get things in order. Now monday has come and gone and still no pay and they couldn't tell us if it would happen tomorrow.

There was an incident back in July of the same nature, though it got deposited in the closing hours of pay day, but we were informed that we wouldn't be paid at that time, we just lucked out that we were.

The first 2-3 weeks were protests on campus over a few issues.

This is an on going and growing issue.

But a big part of the issue is the fact no one is telling us what's going on. It's a little disconcerting given the other issues/events.

[mongolian spot]

Im sorry but im with the OP on this one. How fu*in dare they not pay you on pay day.

If they have money problems, this happens, then they should tell you before you work the month ahead not wait till payday for the bomb.

This is just bs and i know for a fact koreans wont put up with this crap, give it strong and hard to ensure it wont happen again. Getting paid is priority number 1.

This is business, if i stop paying my phone bill then i dont get use of my phone. Seriously stay at home and wait for the phonecall, this is not charity for christs sake.

I feel sorry for you man. This happened to me a year ago and i called my director 10 times on a saturday morning till he found what was mine. If you even go sick the mongols act like you just pumped their grandmother.

DO NOT BE TREATED LIKE A KID THIS IS BUSINESS.

[chris_J2]

I am supposed to get paid on the 17th, but last month, I was paid on the 19th, instead. There was a change in my school's administration & as usual, the foreign teacher gets told last, if at all. I got paid on time this month. I thought about taking the Monday off (21st Sept), but decided against. A good decision, in hindsight. This is only the 2nd time in 34 years that my employer has paid late.

[cdninkorea]

If you really want to go nuclear, tell you students you haven't been paid.

I don't mean this seriously. You don't want to publicly shame the university unless it's an absolute last resort.

[English Matt]

I've accidentally been not paid by my school once, and also by a large multinational (twice) in Canada and in the UK. In all instances, once I brought it to the attention of administration, it was dealt with within a few days.

Clerical errors happen all the time in all sorts of organisations, all over the world. I would definitely heed the advice of others on here before starting a war over this.....admin / payroll depts generally don't work weekends, so I would discount the weekend. You were supposed to be paid on Friday. It's a day late on Monday and will be two days late later today if you have still not been paid. I would keep on working until the end of the week.

Have you thought about getting a Korean friend involved....do you know any of the Korean staff (maybe an older Professor) who might be able to throw their weight around and get some 'solid' answers out of the university? When you take the language barrier out of the equation and people have to qualify themselves in front of a higher up (in Korean) things usually seem to go a lot smoother here.

[freethought]

Thanks to those who have responded.

to clear some things up:

1. this is not an 'accident'.

2. this is not due to a change in administration

The university has serious issues. I would expand on that, but it would make the university name very easy to figure out with a simple search, and I am trying to avoid all of those pesky Korean libel/slander laws, whereby even if what you say is true, you can still have problems.

The previous 'almost' late pay issue was due to a person quiting--- apparently over frustration about how bad things were. Again, this isn't some minor thing, but rather a strong statement about what's going on at the university.

As for the weekend doesn't account comment; yes it does. The bank may not be open, but they, like any large business, have a sophisticated online banking system. If they choose simply not to fix the problem over the weekend even though people weren't paid, that's unprofessional and a legitimate grievance.

The language barrier is an issue, but our immediate coordinator speaks fluent english and studied in England.

So now on day 5 and still no word on pay. I have all the info I need, I think, but feel free to continue to discuss if it's of interest to you.

[chris_J2]

In that case, I'd go higher up the the chain, taking care to point out you've received no firm answers from the people you have approached. I'd also include photocopies of all the bills you currently have, with the diplomatically worded complaint, to stress financial hardship.