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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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daxdefranco
Joined: 04 Jul 2009
Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju
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 Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:56 pm Post subject: Listed as 'self-employed', pension-****ed? |
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I've worked for three hagwons over three years here, each with their own set of problems, but no 'nightmare' scenarios (at least comparatively  ).
I'm 10.5 months into a contract at an afterschool hagwon in Gwangju that has been fraught with problems, but the kind of problems that you barely notice after a year here. 2 months in, I noticed that I was getting my full wage every month (ie, nothing taken out). I asked about it, the school said they would take care of everything, and since I'm the first foreign teacher at this school, i thought 'fine, they're a bit behind with this sort of paperwork. no worries.'
fast forward though a lot of time, a lot of checking, lots of promises, confirmations and trips to various agencies with my boss, and many calls to the local pension office, i learned today that i'm still listed as 'self-employed' and no money has been paid into my pension account from this job. it turns out the school isn't even registered with the NPS.
it's not quite zero-hour, but it's getting close. i'm NOT self-employed and i know that it's not even possible to be self-employed on an E2 visa. my boss is teaching right now, but he received a call from the pension office this morning after I spoke with them for the umpteenth time and i plan on speaking with him ASAP.
Any advice on what I do now? labor board? ask for cash? it's not a 'nightmare' school, in many ways they're very reasonable, so even though i'm very angry about this, i'm not gunning to ruin the school and i want the money so for both of those reasons i'm not going to do a runner or anything. |
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koreatimes
Joined: 07 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| It all depends on if you are leaving Korea or staying. If you stay, don't make any offers. Try to collect 100% of what you are owed. If you need to leave, then make offers as a last resort thing. |
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daxdefranco
Joined: 04 Jul 2009
Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju
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| Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| koreatimes wrote: |
| It all depends on if you are leaving Korea or staying. If you stay, don't make any offers. Try to collect 100% of what you are owed. If you need to leave, then make offers as a last resort thing. |
Oh yeah, definitely leaving. flight is booked for 6 March. One thing I think I didn't mention in OP is that for the past few months they have been taking money out of my wage each month - but that money hasn't ended up in pension, so it's a bit of a mystery where it is. That's a big deal, sorry for not mentioning it first time around as it kind of changes things. |
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bbunce
Joined: 28 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Maybe they are paying your taxes? (3.3% of your wages) You should be getting some kind of pay stub listing your salary and all deductions. You'll get your taxes back right before you leave. Ask them for a pay stub so you can keep track of the deductions. If you ask for pension, you'll also have to be enrolled in Kimmi's insurance program. You'll have to pay for all the months you haven't paid. Once you figure all that into the equation, you won't end up with much. I would just find out what deductions they are making now/have them give you a paystub. |
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daxdefranco
Joined: 04 Jul 2009
Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju
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| Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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| bbunce wrote: |
| Maybe they are paying your taxes? (3.3% of your wages) You should be getting some kind of pay stub listing your salary and all deductions. You'll get your taxes back right before you leave. Ask them for a pay stub so you can keep track of the deductions. |
I'm trying to get stubs, but they've actually already deducted more than my yearly tax already (although I didn't know I could get it back...how does that work?)
| bbunce wrote: |
| If you ask for pension, you'll also have to be enrolled in Kimmi's insurance program. You'll have to pay for all the months you haven't paid. Once you figure all that into the equation, you won't end up with much. I would just find out what deductions they are making now/have them give you a paystub. |
I'm already paying for insurance, I want the pension because they have to match my contribution. It's a ~1,000,000 won difference so I'm not too keen to just let it slide. |
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bbunce
Joined: 28 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry, I didn't know you were already paying for insurance. From what I've read here and other forums, you can't get one without the other. Meaning, if you were paying insurance you were also paying into the pension. They should have been paying too. Definitely get some paystubs for the whole time so you can see exactly what they've been deducting. Sounds like they just don't know what they are doing yet so you'll have to educate them.
As far as getting your taxes back, check under "Job-related discussion forum" and getting your taxes back it will explain the process. Good luck |
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