Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fires_dreams]

In short -
My Hagwon basically is saying ignore letters from the pension office, and we are not paying though them nor are any of the other foreign teachers.
What do I do?

The whole situation-
My boyfriend and I have been teaching at a Hagwon for 3 months. We are supposed to have medical insurance, and pay into the pension fund.
The school is being very shady about both these things. Right now my only concern is about the pension, but the school lumped the two together.

About a month after we started teaching, the boss said he would give us 400,000won at the end of our contract and cover 75% of our medical.
Later our supervisor (different person) asked if we were opting out of the pension.
... I did manage to figure out that they had hooked those things together. And were trying to be sly, they didn't want us to know that we weren't getting 'real' insurance, and they weren't going to pay into the pension fund.
Just after that I got seriously ill, unable to stand, etc. I had to miss work, and had to go to the hospital a number of times.

The boss told me afterwards they wouldn't be able to cover my medical expenses, at all....
huh?
In the end they did pay me. So figured out what they were trying to do. (ie. not have to pay for insurance of the medical)
So we decided to take the ACTUAL insurance, and pay into the pension. So the Boss (who actually brought it up before I had the chance...), agreed.
Problem solved.
Except I got a letter from the NPS (pension office). Asking basically why we haven't been paying, and to make sure the home address they have listed is where they should send the Pension bill.
it's an offical letter.
I took mine (not my boyfriends Identical letter) in to work. My supervisor went all in a tizzy. She started making phone calls. She went in to the Boss, who told her to tell me, ignore it.

...
So here I am now, unsure of what to do. The form says we need to send it back by the 15th of jan (already passed I know ), and if we are paying into the pension through work to forward that information.
I get that we have to pay into the pension fund. I don't want to get out of it.
What do I do at work?
They are supposed to pay half right? (it says so in my contract)
Do I mail in the form?
Do I make a big deal?
And why are they tying it into the medical? (A co worker who didn't take the 'real' insurance was told they won't pay for her medical bills, which aren't even a lot, because it wasn't related to teaching....)
Should I call the pension office??

[Big Mac]

Call the pension office to find out what the deal is. Don't trust your boss.

If they're going into a tizzy then they're up to something. Perhaps they are taking the money off your pay and not paying it? Check into it, despite what they say.

[fires_dreams]

I'm definitely going to call the pension office *nervous*
I'm positive they aren't taking money off my pay.
They are barely taking anything, I have a detailed list of what, and the numbers check....
Thanks!

[Big Mac]

Something is wrong if they are barely taking off anything.

If they take off pension, you should be paying 4.5 per cent of you monthly salary to it. Your boss matches that amount...so every month 9 per cent is going to pension. That's why they don't want to pay. It costs them a lot of money.

You should be paying into medical insurance too. Don't have the exact figure on hand but it is about 2.5 per cent, also matched by your employer.

These things are mandatory. Your boss has no choice but to pay.

Since things seem so shady, you should probably call the tax office as well to make sure you are registered and that your boss is paying into that too. That figure should be less than 2 per cent of your pay, but depends on your salary.

[blackjack]

what country are you from?

[naturegirl321]

75% medical? BUt they wouldn't help you with your medical bills? Doesn't make sense.

[fires_dreams]

[reactionary]

here's my guess: the school is in a tizzy because they (and you) will have to not only BEGIN making pension payments, but also pay any back payments. I can't tell how long you've been here, but let's say a few months...for you and your boyfriend...that means the school will have to pay ~600,000 (depending on your salary) and so will you - but it's fine as you'll get it back.

Don't let them get away with it. If they aren't paying pension it's the same as them not paying 1,000,000 won to you at the end of the year when you get to cash in your pension. You want your pension. If they refuse it, then, well, they need to give you a raise of at least 100,000 won a month.


the same goes for medical insurance with regards to having to pay for back months (but it is not necessarily connected/lumped together with pension - I'm pretty sure you can have one but not the other, but most shady businesses will deny you both and reputable businesses will provide you both in most cases). this one is your call. you might be able to get some reimbursements on your past hospital visits, but you might not. If I'm halfway through a contract I'm not sure I'd want to make back payments for insurance during months I wasn't covered.

BTW, from my experience, the pension office (compared to the labor board) are like bulldogs. They will make sure your company is paying your pension. keep talking to them if your boss is giving you crap.

[ippy]

i think your hagwon owner is going to get in trouble for this. Its a legal requirement, also, dont you get a massive lump sum after you finsih up with a pension refund... half of which comes from your company? Youd be nuts not to make sure every last penny is paid into it.

[kiwispanker]

Then:
I had a similar issue last year. I worked for a small public school but had a "middle-man service" paying me and dealing with immigration. I believed the school paid them an extra million per month. My contract stated that I got health coverage and pension (paid 50% by each) but the middle guys claimed that I "opted-out". It wasn't until my appendix decided to blow up 30 miles from the nearest hospital that I decided that I really needed health insurance. While in ER, and refusing surgery until I had insurance, my middle-man company agreed that I would be enrolled in both plans (pension and health).

At the time I got 2.4 million (for some reason my paystub doesn't show any tax deductions). For the five months of work I put in, the company paid into the funds a full five months worth of both plans - also thanks to my kind school for advocating for me.

Health care was 636,000 (318,000 by me) for those five months of back pay.
Pension was 1,080,000 (540,000 by me) for those same five months.
In total, I was (gladly) forced to pay 858,000 won of which 1.08 I will get back when I leave.
The company did have a fit, but when both my school and the provincial offices were calling them, they felt it was in there best interests to pay.
On a side note: that middle-man company is no longer in business.


Now:
This is more of a question about my current situation (and has to do with pension).
I am with an after-school now here in Seoul. I was in a hurry to find a new job before immigration would kick me out for just chilling in their country. I grabbed a pretty good after-school job but it didn't offer pension - even negotiations failed. The contract clearly states that the company doesn't offer pension to its employees.

Now everyone has read on Dave's that pension is mandatory.
And everyone has read on Dave's that pension is not mandatory.
The NPS clearly states on their English website that pension is mandatory (yes there are exceptions but I don't fall into those).

Has anyone had any experience getting pension from a school/hagwon even though their contract prohibits it??

American/E2