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kardisa
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Location: Masan
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 Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:23 am Post subject: If you are taking a job in Masan in Aug or Sept READ THIS |
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I am posting this for a friend who is being screwed by this school. Because they're still currently working there, I don't want to post the name on this forum. If you'd like more info, please PM me for details.
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My school is trying to fire me because they don't want to pay pension, healthcare or the appropriate tax rate.
They told me just today that they've found a new person via their recruiter (Sorry I can't give a name due to libel laws) who will start August 15th (or perhaps September 1st). This recruiter (my recruiter) has cut off communication with me completely and won't answer my calls or return my emails.
If you or someone you know has accepted a job in the Changwon-Masan area for August 15-September 1 start date, PLEASE PM me for details.
It's extremely important that I warn you about this academy before you get tangled up.
I signed an English-only contract that very clearly says I'm an Employee and have these benefits, and they have been trying to not pay them.
This WILL happen to you if you work here! When I went to the tax office I discovered this has happened to at least one other (and possibly four other) previous English teachers.
The school deducts for pension, health insurance and 3.8% tax rate, and then pays only 3.3% of 40% of your salary (they underreport to the tax office), pocketing all the money. The previous teacher's final payment (severance + 45 days pay) was only 50% of what he should have received, and he never was enrollled in health insurance or pension.
Again, please if you or someone you know is taking a job in the Changwon-Masan area in August or September 2011, PLEASE please let them know about this post and contact me. You will potentially save him/her/yourself from months of stress and grief. |
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kardisa
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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for a friend:
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bumping this. The start date for this job should be September 1st, but because I have now quit, they may ask you to work illegally starting from next week (or the earliest you can come).
Please if you know someone who is taking a job in this area get in touch with me as soon as possible. |
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DaHu
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:07 am Post subject: |
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| It's not illegal to start working next week. |
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koreatimes
Joined: 07 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I signed an English-only contract that very clearly says I'm an Employee and have these benefits, and they have been trying to not pay them. |
1. We don't know the situation. We don't know what happened. Just because we are fellow teachers doesn't mean we should give automatic support, just like the recruiter with the school by not contacting the teacher.
2. More importantly, if the teacher was wronged, then they should have no problem going to labor board and explaining their situation.
3. Even if the teacher was wronged, and the school is doing some heinous act, they still have the right to continue their business.
4. I suggest the teacher continue their business. Contact labor board, make a case, win the case, find a new employer. Get paid for whatever is owed before or after the new employer. |
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isisaredead
Joined: 18 May 2010
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: If you are taking a job in Masan in Aug or Sept READ THI |
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| kardisa wrote: |
I am posting this for a friend who is being screwed by this school. Because they're still currently working there, I don't want to post the name on this forum. If you'd like more info, please PM me for details.
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My school is trying to fire me because they don't want to pay pension, healthcare or the appropriate tax rate.
They told me just today that they've found a new person via their recruiter (Sorry I can't give a name due to libel laws) who will start August 15th (or perhaps September 1st). This recruiter (my recruiter) has cut off communication with me completely and won't answer my calls or return my emails.
If you or someone you know has accepted a job in the Changwon-Masan area for August 15-September 1 start date, PLEASE PM me for details.
It's extremely important that I warn you about this academy before you get tangled up.
I signed an English-only contract that very clearly says I'm an Employee and have these benefits, and they have been trying to not pay them.
This WILL happen to you if you work here! When I went to the tax office I discovered this has happened to at least one other (and possibly four other) previous English teachers.
The school deducts for pension, health insurance and 3.8% tax rate, and then pays only 3.3% of 40% of your salary (they underreport to the tax office), pocketing all the money. The previous teacher's final payment (severance + 45 days pay) was only 50% of what he should have received, and he never was enrollled in health insurance or pension.
Again, please if you or someone you know is taking a job in the Changwon-Masan area in August or September 2011, PLEASE please let them know about this post and contact me. You will potentially save him/her/yourself from months of stress and grief. |
i find this very hard to believe, and i'll tell you why once you give us the name of the hagwon. |
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kardisa
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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| koreatimes wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I signed an English-only contract that very clearly says I'm an Employee and have these benefits, and they have been trying to not pay them. |
1. We don't know the situation. We don't know what happened. Just because we are fellow teachers doesn't mean we should give automatic support, just like the recruiter with the school by not contacting the teacher.
2. More importantly, if the teacher was wronged, then they should have no problem going to labor board and explaining their situation.
3. Even if the teacher was wronged, and the school is doing some heinous act, they still have the right to continue their business.
4. I suggest the teacher continue their business. Contact labor board, make a case, win the case, find a new employer. Get paid for whatever is owed before or after the new employer. |
as OP's friend:
I understand there are a lot of people on this board who have no idea about any of the laws or processes in this country. I assure you I'm not one of them. I spoke with the tax office, pension office, labor relations committee, immigration, and health insurance office about problems with my school.
I won on every account, and they've been fined on multiple occasions now. I'm getting a new job, and I have no problems anymore with this school. That being said, I guarantee you the next foreigner who works there will have to deal with all of this again.
I explained pretty clearly and succinctly exactly what the school has been doing insofar as stealing parts of the foreign teacher's paycheck. To say "we don't know the situation" is trolling at best.
No school has the right to break the law. Continue its business yes, but not break the law. They've been stealing from foreign teachers for at least four years, and I have the records to demonstrate this. The only reason I got all of my benefits and pay is because I fought them for 4 months.
No teacher should have to go through this in korea, and this place is pretty much the epitome of what to avoid when looking for a job.
Unfortunately, because many foreigners who take jobs in Korea (even 2nd timers) don't due their due diligence, hagwons like this one are allowed to continue on without changing their ways.
It's one thing to reserve your own judgment, but it's quite another to advocate people look the other way when I'm clearly withholding some information about the school since I am still in Korea and will be for the foreseeable future (and therefore am subject to libel laws).
I'm doing my best to find out who this new teacher is so I can warn them and arm them with this information, but whoever comes I still plan to contact them in Masan in person. Aborting the visa application process will make getting a new job easier, but because of the recent changes to the regional immigration office, the teacher won't need a new set of paperwork to get a new job in the same area.
All this said, that you have the audacity to badger me about trying to warn someone about an academy that steals several million won from its foreign teacher over the course of a year is abhorrent. |
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lawyertood
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul, Incheon and the World--working undercover for the MOJ
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:03 am Post subject: |
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Not trying to be snarky, but wouldn't warning someone about the incident still put you at some risk for defamation (slander) provided word got back to the institute that you caused the new teacher to break/rescind the contract with them?
Not that people should not be warned, however.
Keep in mind, based on personal experience, the newbie will not always listen.
Good luck. |
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koreatimes
Joined: 07 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:39 am Post subject: |
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| I understand there are a lot of people on this board who have no idea about any of the laws or processes in this country. I assure you I'm not one of them. |
No need for a superiority complex. Let's work within the system not against it. From your post, it does seem like you have to some extent. Why feel other teachers won't?
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| I won on every account, and they've been fined on multiple occasions now. I'm getting a new job, and I have no problems anymore with this school. That being said, I guarantee you the next foreigner who works there will have to deal with all of this again. |
Not necessarily, because you did the right thing, maybe the hagwon will change. Maybe they won't do the same thing again. How do you know? Is it illegal to blacklist a hagwon? You can't mention, at least in general terms, what happened and the name of the school?
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| No school has the right to break the law. |
Ok, and it looks like they either did the time or paid the price. You can't convict a murderer for a second crime until they commit it. Likewise, you can't accuse a hagwon will do it again until they do. That's just the way it is. I know you are upset, and I don't want to work there either. However, they do have the right to continue their business, and I highly doubt you will be able to notify every candidate for the job. Sooner or later, that opening is going to get filled. Continue your crusade, but realize we need to shape the ESL world together, not just one school or person can affect the mountain of bad hagwons.
Cases like yours can be used as precedent for future problems.
| Quote: |
| No teacher should have to go through this in korea, and this place is pretty much the epitome of what to avoid when looking for a job. |
If that's true, then warning people about this one school is going to have ZERO effect on its own. There are plenty of other hagwons that screw people. But, since you took action and did something about it, you made the ESL world better. Now, it's time to move on to your next school.
| Quote: |
| I'm doing my best to find out who this new teacher is so I can warn them and arm them with this information, but whoever comes I still plan to contact them in Masan in person. |
If this new teacher is informed and you accomplish your task with them, another teacher will fill the spot eventually. You expect to be able to contact every person?
| Quote: |
| you have the audacity to badger me about trying to warn someone about an academy |
It's not just one person. If one person finds out, another person will eventually take the job. I see 2 things that could be done:
1) You could just stay there until the new teacher comes or visit when you think they are there, and show them the documents and paperwork (along with steps you took) that were involved in the cases against the school, and how you won. If they run into the same problems then they can do the same. This will make the hagwon even worse off.
2) Another idea is to build a foreigner community in the area the school is located. What you do is, everyone copies their contracts. When they leave, they give someone who isn't leaving the copy. You keep any documents such as yours and copy pertinent stuff. These are kept on file with another foreign teacher. When they leave, they hand the reins over to someone else who isn't leaving (like a torch). You have a documented history of schools foreigners taught at. You could provide contact information such as an email or something, so if they need to get a hold of you they can.
If you want to truly win this battle against bad hagwons, you can't do it alone. You will need to collaborate in some way. |
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bigwilly999
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:44 am Post subject: |
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| I think all the OP is saying is to be weary and do some due diligence. They are giving a warning. Whats wrong with that. Proceed with caution. |
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