Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gorf]

I've been lucky to have signed a contract with an after school program today, the same day as being told I will be fired from my current crapwon beginning December 1st.

My current boss has agreed to give me a LOR (I'm using this one.)

My first question is what I should put down for the dates on the letter. My current job will end December 1st and my new one starts December 5th. If I put November 30th on this release letter as the last day I worked for them, will it cause a headache at immigration and screw things up? Will dating it in the future cause a problem? Should I just use today's date, or is there only a certain window of time I can list as the date and still have it be valid for a transfer?

My second question is regarding my new housing. I have to provide my own. What I should do as far as moving my stuff. How costly will it be to move some guitars, some clothes, a laptop, a keyboard piano a bed (maybe) and a few pieces of kitchenware? How do I go about finding services to move stuff and what's the best way to do it?

A thousand thanks to you, oh gods of internet knowledge.

[koreatimes]

I'll answer backwards.

I asked my first school to help me move my stuff. One hagwon simply shipped my stuff (movers came to pick it up I understand), and I was able get it delivered after I initially moved into the new apartment.

Another move was piece by piece with my ex-girlfriend, where I was temporarily at a goshitel. I am fairly certain you won't need nor want to go this direction.

The third one is what I suggest if you don't fully trust your first owner. See if they can contact a moving company for you. They will come to your apartment and you give them either an address to take your stuff or you hop in the car with them and pay after they deliver. The first hagwon just needs to make a simple phone call and it guarantees you'll be out the apartment.

You could try to get the second school to help moving, but generally this is not a good thing to do starting off.

As for the visa dates, I think what you have planned is fine. I finished on a Wednesday and didn't start until Monday. So that's about 5 days and immigration didn't seem to care. It's better to get this early, and if there is a problem by immigration then have the first school make another release letter with a later date.

[Gorf]

Good stuff. Any ideas about cost? Will it be less than 100k wont move my stuff across the city? I know a lot of service stuff is cheap and whatnot, so I'm hoping it's just a simple matter of having some ajosshis show up, help me move my stuff onto the truck, I ride with them, unload it and move it up and then drop some cash.

Still looking for a clearer answer on the dates thing, but thanks for your experience. I'm still not sure how well a future date on the release form would look, but as I only have 4 days between start and end, I wouldn't want to risk them giving me a new E-2 visa in such a short time frame.

Another thing, about the letter. It seems that all of them say they need a seal. Is that the buisness's stamp, or a signature of the owner, or what?

Last thing, I was hired and started work on August 1st. My school Told me on the Nov 15th they wanted my last day to be Nov 30th. As I understand it, labor law says I should get 30 day's notice or 1 month's pay. Does that mean I should be paid for this full month of work (my pay period ends Nov 30th) and then another 15 days as well, since they didn't give me the full amount of time required by law?

[ttompatz]

[theevilgenius]

Hey ttompatz! I might be over paranoid but I am half expecting to get an 11th month firing at the end of the month, but have already signed a new contract with another school with the contact starting after my current contract ends. So I guess I'm just wondering what would happen if I do get fired at the end of the month, can I just wait a month until my new contract starts?

[koreatimes]

[koreatimes]

[Gorf]

Dang, I wasn't sure if it was 3 months or 6 months for the "30 days or 1 month's pay" rule. I was kind of hoping that would be a bargaining chip on my side.

That said, I offered the sample contract to my boss today and she told me she would give it to me on my last day. Considering how I'm not on the best of terms with her, is there any chance my last day could come about and she pulls a switcheroo and screws me? I have a job lined up, a 2-year cell phone plan... I just don't see how someone could do something like that for no benefit other than to be passive aggressive, but that's just my worry, since it's the last piece of the puzzle I need.

Also, my contract states that I have to receive 20 days' notice before I am fired after a written warning, which I have never received. I am also contractually obligated to give 2 month's notice before I resign from my job. I'm being told that I'm supposed to give her a letter of resignation and then on my last day I can get the letter of release. I'm not really sure who's wrong or right but I feel like they've breached the contract and I'm being forced into doing so as well in hopes that I can get the LOR. Here is my contract's section regarding release and quitting:

[Gorf]

Also, one more heart-attack inducing thought: If they DO pull the switcheroo, what's the best way to convince them that they are making a mistake? That I have a new job lined up? That I have a 2 year cell-phone contract? That I have a Korean girlfriend? The aforementioned contract shadiness? Threatening to expose them to the labor board and slander them all over the internet? All of the above?

[koreatimes]

The only real leverage I see is that you aren't leaving the country. After your release letter is signed and visa is transferred, make it quite clear you won't stop contacting them and visiting them to collect on anything you feel owed.

I left my last employer (China), giving them an apartment for a replacement teacher. I kept calling and calling to get reimbursed for the final months. Finally, they negotiated 90% of what I felt owed.

I told them I was ready to move into a new apartment and I needed the money (even though the new school paid all).

[sing81]

I wouldn't contact a former Korean employer for jack. They are all worthless and looking to cheat you. If I were you I would ask my parents for money. They are the only ones you can count on. This year, I'm spending X-mas at home. I'm so happy my CBC is expiring in December, so I have another excuse to relax at home

Yeah! No more Korea.