Korean Job Discussion Forums

[losthooper]

My hagwon has shorted me about 200,000 won each of my checks, I asked multiple times for a pay receipt so I could see the deductions, each time they said they would provide it "this week," "tomorrow," etc., but they keep putting me off, which seems to be the standard operating procedure for this hagwon.

I had my mind made up that I was just going to chalk it up as part of the cost of being here, I knew coming in it was a risk and that if the school was dishonest I wouldn't have much power to fight. It's either deal with it or leave, and since it's inconvenient to leave I decided just to let it go for the time being. But then today I found that my hagwon was placed on a blacklist recently. I asked a current co-teacher about these facts and he verified these points from the blacklist review:

-In his final year working here, his pay was also under by 200,000 every month for 8 consecutive months
-After 2 years of working at the hagwon, on the last day of work, they deducted 720,000 from his check for housing maintenance fees

^^This was written by the last guy who worked for this school. Obviously I'm really worried about this happening to me, especially because they can screw you out of multiple things when you have one foot out the door. Besides making up charges they can withhold the severance or pay a smaller severance, withhold taxes, etc. You're at their mercy, and their track record of dishonesty really disheartens me and makes me wonder about what I should do to protect myself.

I've explored many scenarios thru internet research and so forth, but it seems if I press for the 200,000 won per month that they are shorting me right now, they will eventually screw me out of a lot of money at the end with fictional charges (housing repairs, miscellaneous deductions).

I've tried diplomatically to get my paycheck rectified, but to no avail. If I don't do anything dramatic at this point I will lose 200kwon x 12 months, plus another 200kwon off of the year end bonus, that adds up to 2.6 million won. So even if I just play the good citizen and stay quiet and they honor that by paying my bonus, airfare and tax refund, I'd still be out 2.6 million won and they'd be up the 2.6 so they're going to get me whether I argue for it now or wait until later.

Any advice or resources are much appreciated.

[some waygug-in]

If that happened to the last guy it will happen to you.

Contact the labor board.

If that doesn't help, threaten to go to the tax office.

That usually puts the fear of God in to them.

[Julius]

[nathanrutledge]

keep your mouth shut at work. you don't want anyone to know that you're about to rock the boat. even if your coworkers are foreigners, keep it to yourself.

[ontheway]

Getting shorted on your pay is common enough in Korea, but how can we actually know if it's true? You have provided no numbers.

You should have deductions for income tax, health insurance, pension and utilities. It's possible that your contract calls for a housing deposit as well.

You really do need to get an itemized statement. Barring that, you should do the calculations based on your contract to determine what deductions you should have and how much you should be getting and then you can calculate the discrepancies.

As to the former worker's maintenance fees, these are considered utilities in Korea and are one of the utilities that a teacher must pay as part of the housing under a standard teaching contract here. If this former worker hadn't paid his maintenance fees or hadn't had them deducted then this was a legitimate deduction from his final pay. 720,000 won is a lot all at once, but was it for a year or two years, or had he stopped paying?

There are too many unknowns in this puzzle.

[losthooper]

My check is only for 1.8 million but my contract says 2.2 million.

There is no deposit in my contract. Based on my calculations of health insurance, pension and income tax, I should receive 2 million every month. It doesn't take much more than basic math to realize that a 20% deduction of 400k per month is much too high. It should be 10%, or 200k deduction every month.

[braindrops]

ontheway has a great point about the previous employee's maintenance fees.

[losthooper]

What concerns me is that I had already calculated my pay was under by 200k each month, and lo and behold, this former employee had posted on a blacklist site that the was underpaid by 200k each month, along with another coworker, and only after complaining multiple times for 8 months did they adjust it. Clearly they have a track record.

[PaperTiger]

[losthooper]

I've asked every check. I've spoken with them about it 4 times. 2 times I initiated it thru a coteacher (who interpreted). 2 others times the owner/director came up to me and said they would provide it "this week" and then the next time they saw me they said they would give it to me "tomorrow."

That last time was two weeks ago. I rarely ever see the owners because they own multiple schools.

[plchron]

if they are going to shaft you all the way, including on your way out, first take you bank book and shove it into the ATM. That way you have a record of how much money you have been paid.

Next take them to the labor board with a a valid complaint and have them ask where the rest of your money is. When your boss starts lying about paying all the proper people (tax, health, pension) have the labor board people call them in both your presence. Once they see that your boss is a swindler thy will require him to pay you the remaining balance.

Another strategy is to wait until near the end of your contract until you labor board. Then you will be owed the amount of money shorted for the whole contract.

[ontheway]

[Wildbore]

[some waygug-in]

Actually, it depends where he is living. Some of the higher-end apartment complexes can have hefty monthly fees.

Maintenance fee is probably not the best term, it's more like a monthly management fee which should include utilities, cable, apartment fees etc.


If it's a budget apartment, it probably shouldn't be that much, but then again

if it's in Seoul, prices there tend to be a lot higher.


Still, I would not feel comfortable not having pay-slips and some bills to show the actual costs.

If your apartment complex has a management office, they should be able to tell you what the monthly fees are for your apartment.

[ontheway]