Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shl82]

So I am in a situation.
My public after school program is closing one month prior to finishing out my 1 year contract. So I havent had the "talk" with the boss man but is he suppose to pay me for the 1 month I am entitled since he is making the decision to shut down the school earlier. Our after school program has been hit hard because the city opened an English center(city of Gunpo/Sanbon) and basically half of our students went there last month. Anyways, I am supposed to get the severance pay after completing out the contract, now it seems unlikely since he is shutting it down. I cant help but to think that its slimy of him to shut down the school one month prior to finishing out the contract. So should I ask my boss for the extra month pay? Should I ask him about the severance payment? Airfare? Worst scenario, I am sure he will try to be cheap but if he is not paying then I will have to go to the labor board. Which brings up another question, where is the labor board near Sanbon area? Thank you all for reading.

[hockeyguy109]

1 month before leaving! Talk about bad timing. Thats rough, my apologies.

[mmstyle]

I wonder if this sort of thing is covered under 11th month laws (ie, they can't fire you to get out of paying all the end of contract stuff).

I don't know where your local board is, but if you call Seoul at 1350, I would think they can tell you about a local contact number or address or something.


That sucks-I feel for you!

[OculisOrbis]

doubt they would consider that an '11th month firing' in the classic esl teacher in korea sense because he wouldnt be fired - he would be laid off for lack of work, which is legal. as long as they give the required 30 days notice or pay in lieu of, there wouldnt really be a winnable case at labor board.

the best way to deal with this is to try work work out some kind of comprimise between the employee and the employer regarding payouts that they can both live with.

[shl82]

dont korean owners need to give 30 days notice before closing down school?

[OculisOrbis]

OculisOrbis wrote:

as long as they give the required 30 days notice or pay in lieu of, there wouldnt really be a winnable case at labor board.

notice or cash before releasing an employee - so yes, one or the other. the employee would also get call-back rights should business improve and require a new hire in lay-off scenario.

your labor board case would not include severance and airfare for the reason stated earlier - it was not a tactic used to prevent payment of benefits, it was because there was no work for you

if they didnt give you written notice of at least 30 days or the cash equivalent, only that lost wage would likely be recovered with a case at labor.

as before, try to work something out with your boss about getting SOME of that end of contract payout included - or see if there are classes at another school he has a contract with, that way you finish the contract and he gets to make the full payout of everything to you. just make sure you go to immi and change your workplace address if you go to a different school for that last month. no charge to update an address

[shl82]

thank you all for your responses. it clarifies everything.
can someone tell me where to go as far as website that states the labor laws. i would really appreciate that. thank you all again

[OculisOrbis]

http://www.molab.go.kr/english/main.jsp

1350 then 7 to speak to english service labor rep

[cruisemonkey]

[bliss]

Your boss probably has many after-school programs operating in various areas.

He may try to find you another school - have you considered that?

[shl82]

well i found out that boss is shutting down the school because of low numbers but he wants to restart the program next year in march when there is new enrollement of students in the new school year. now i understand if he wanted to shut it down for financial reasons i understand but i doesnt make sense that he happens to shut it down 1 month prior to me finishing out my contract. it only seems like a tactical way of dodging the severance payment. what do you guys think??? my boss has 3 years contract with the school to run the after school program for 2 more years. also, i know he can put me in other schools which he operates the after school program but there are all filled already. i am suppose to have the big talk with him next week as far as payment issues. thank u all for your thoughts on this.

[lifeinkorea]

If it was an honest closure, and they paid you regularly, I wouldn't do anything. Look for a new school.