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timolein23
Joined: 08 Sep 2009
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 Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:31 am Post subject: Free airfare even if you are not flying home? |
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| So my contract expires in January and I have asked for a letter of release form so I can switch employers. I am probably not going to go back home between contracts. Can I still legally claim my return airfare when I complete my contract even though I wont be using it? |
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mongolian spot
Joined: 15 Sep 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| Not unless your director likes to give free money to the great unwashed |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:26 am Post subject: |
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From your post, it's not clear whether you're actually completing your contract or not.
If you're not, then your boss owes you nothing.
If you are, and your contract doesn't say that your boss must give you the cash equivalent of airfare home, then your boss is required to buy you a plane ticket back to where you came from. If you don't want that ticket, then you should try to negotiate with your boss to get some cash. If he's reasonable, he'll see that giving you W600,000 that you'll actually use makes more sense than buying you a W1,000,000 ticket that you won't. But whatever you do, don't let him get away with not paying, just because you decided not to go home. If you've fulfilled your end of the bargain, he should fulfill his.
Next time, get "cash equivalent" written into your contract. |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:41 am Post subject: |
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| But whatever you do, don't let him get away with not paying, just because you decided not to go home. If you've fulfilled your end of the bargain, he should fulfill his. |
The airfare money is for transportation, it's never agreed to that they will pay you for transportation not needed (if so, I want limo service money).
So, you don't get that money in the end. Even if you paid for the flight first and are reimbursed, you are at minus and then getting the money. You are never in the +. Either it is zero or -
If you got any money and didn't leave, then you got extra cash. This is NOWHERE stated in any contract I have ever seen. You can try though, but don't expect it and you will just make yourself look bad. It most likely won't work.
If you renew your contract with the same school, then I would say it is possible to negotiate a flight home and a flight back.
And if you do get a school willing to just hand out extra cash you don't need for transportation, at least ask yourself if you really want that or possibly more time off. Personally, I would try to negotiate more time off during the year. |
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timolein23
Joined: 08 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:33 am Post subject: |
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yeh I will have completed the contract. Im going on holiday to Bali so maybe they could pay for flights there and back.
it says in my contract party A agrees to buy a one way ticket for party B from south korea to his/her country.
Do most hagwons actually physically buy the ticket or just give you the money for it? |
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mongolian spot
Joined: 15 Sep 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:38 am Post subject: |
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| Depends if you trust them. I would not trust most with a glass of beer |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:40 am Post subject: |
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| lifeinkorea wrote: |
If you got any money and didn't leave, then you got extra cash. This is NOWHERE stated in any contract I have ever seen. You can try though, but don't expect it and you will just make yourself look bad. It most likely won't work. |
I've gotten this, and it was written into the contract. I did not have to negotiate for it. At the end of the year, my boss looked online, showed me a quote for the cheapest ticket she could find (about W750,000), and gave it to me with my last paycheck and severance.
| lifeinkorea wrote: |
| And if you do get a school willing to just hand out extra cash you don't need for transportation, at least ask yourself if you really want that or possibly more time off. Personally, I would try to negotiate more time off during the year. |
Not a bad idea if you can pull it off, if it's your preference. I suspect that cash might actually be easier than extra vacation time, but you may be right.
My point is that the OP's boss has a contractual obligation to pay for a ticket for him regardless of whether he uses it or not. Since he doesn't plan to go home, it could be the starting point for a negotiation to get something that might cost his boss less, and actually be useful to the OP. Maybe cash, maybe a roundtrip ticket to Southeast Asia, maybe even some extra vacation. This could be a win-win situation if his boss is willing to play ball.
If I were in the OP's shoes and the boss wasn't willing to play ball, I'd demand he buy me the ticket, and set it on fire before I let him get away without giving me anything at all. |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| My point is that the OP's boss has a contractual obligation to pay for a ticket for him regardless of whether he uses it or not. |
Where does it say this? If it is a public school, then they might be able to get it cause it doesn't cost them. I don't see how any hagwon owner who knows better would just give out that money.
Again, the money is for transportation. If they won't pay you for bus fare or subway costs, then how do you expect them to pay airfare?
It also doesn't seem morally right to demand that money when you won't use it for the purpose it was intended for.
Please post:
1) what it stated in your contract which would hold them to return airfare regardless if you leave Korea or not.
2) whether or not this was a hagwon, public school, etc...
3) whether or not this was a normal contract with normal hours and such. Just because they paid for the flight doesn't necessarily mean the "deal" as a whole is better. I used to work at a hagwon, they screwed all the teachers by not paying them for May, two other teachers (a couple) lost up to 8 million won and were evicted, I wasn't paid for my last month with them, and they would fire on the spot any part-timer that came to fill in the gaps. One teacher did get paid for a flight home before his 2nd year. It's still yet to be known if the school will pay severance and flight home again when he finishes, but that could be similar in your situation.
On the whole, normally speaking, I have never seen a school just outright paying for a flight knowing it wasn't going to actually be used for the teacher to return (home or back to the school for another year). |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:16 am Post subject: |
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| lifeinkorea wrote: |
| Quote: |
| My point is that the OP's boss has a contractual obligation to pay for a ticket for him regardless of whether he uses it or not. |
Where does it say this?
[quote= "timolein123"]it says in my contract party A agrees to buy a one way ticket for party B from south korea to his/her country.
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| lifeinkorea wrote: |
| Again, the money is for transportation. If they won't pay you for bus fare or subway costs, then how do you expect them to pay airfare? |
Because his boss promised him that in his contract.
| lifeinkorea wrote: |
| It also doesn't seem morally right to demand that money when you won't use it for the purpose it was intended for. |
I'm not sure what morals have to do with this, but let's say for the sake of argument that we were talking about a W400,000 per month housing allowance instead of airfare. The OP finds an apartment he likes that only costs him W300,000/mo. Would the OP have a moral imperative to return the extra W100,000 because he wasn't using it for rent?
| lifeinkorea wrote: |
| On the whole, normally speaking, I have never seen a school just outright paying for a flight knowing it wasn't going to actually be used for the teacher to return (home or back to the school for another year). |
And I have seen it, and I've gotten cash equivalent of airfare from two different hogwons. It wasn't that hard to negotiate. And I didn't feel guilty about not using the money to buy a plane ticket home.
OP, you should have room to cut a deal with your boss here. Good luck. |
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