Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bbunce]

I don't like painting all the hagwons with the same paint brush but because of the countless times I've been screwed, I can only afford one...hehe...

Newbies- Insist on getting an official paystub from your employer as required by the korean labor contracts. No paystub means your boss is stealing your money and drinking at the soju tent. I guarantee no paystub is because you have no balance in your pension and don't have any insurance. Keep bugging your boss and tell him something like, if i don't get my paystubs again this month, I won't turn in the report cards for the students. I won't assign homework. Every place is different but you as an employee have a lot of power over the owner. He just doesn't realize it. Give the boss a deadline like he gives you. Something like, I need it by 3 pm tomorrow. He'll try excuses like accountants have run out of paper or his computer crashed. Just tell him, sounds like you got to get busy then! hehe (don't let him hear you "hehehe" If you have any questions let me know. I am in the same boat. My boss continues to delay it now for 4 months and I have a zero balance at the pension office and no insurance. Next week I'm notifing him that I'm leaving in 2 months (60 day notice) which is 6 month earlier than the contract end date. So I'll have completed half the contract and will pay recruiting fee, half of it, if I get all the other things I want. If you hear about a red headed teacher getting thrown out of the 7th floor building, on Monday, that'll be me....

[plato's republic]

Did you call the pension/tax office and report your boss/school? If so, what did they say? I'll be making a call early next week to confirm whether or not, most likely not, my boss has been making payments.

[Big Mac]

Even if they're giving you a pay stub and everything looks legit, don't assume it is. I got pay stubs from my first job that showed that tax was deducted. I found out later that none of that tax was paid to the government.

[ontheway]

It's always surprising that everyone isn't getting some kind of earnings statement showing all income and deductions and net income - which should match the cash your receive and all of which should agree with your contract terms.

Of course it happens, including one school where I worked - so, I made my own and made sure that I was paid the appropriate amount. The owner was happy to have the help and relieved to have no pay issues.

If your school doesn't provide a pay statement, or if your statement of earnings and deductions doesn't seem correct, you should make your own.

Use your contract. Determine the appropriate amounts for taxes, pension and health insurance - links are in the FAQs and in many Dave's threads. You may have other deductions for utilities etc. Calculate your net pay and then see if it's close to your pay level. Go over major discrepancies with your boss.

For Pension: You can check with the pension office to find out if the payments are being made and the amounts correct. Payments are billed to your employer on a monthly basis. If your first month was not a whole month it may be exempt. Pension is billed in whole calendar month increments with the payment due some time after, so there is a delay that doesn't indicate late payment or non-payment. Your required amount for pension is not 4.5% exactly, but is based on brackets with the acual amount set by the pension office. It is a flat, unchanging amount each month and does not change for overtime. Your school receives a pension bill (approximately 9% of your monthly base pay based on brackets) and the employer and employee should each pay exactly 50%.

For Health Insurance: Essentially the same as pension, this is a bill charged for whole calendar months, your first partial month may be exempt, the amount is fixed and does not change for OT, and the payment due date generally follows some weeks after your pay date. Employer and employee each pay 50% of the billed amount set by the government.

For Income Tax: Your rate should be according to the NTS withholding calculator, although this could be too low these days, but not a flat 3.3% or 3.5% etc. Korean tax rates are progressive, not flat. The total income tax should include a local tax, so an additional 10% of the NTS amount should be added for the local tax. Small employers remit withheld taxes infrequently according to NTS rules. This means that your witheld income taxes are due to be paid in only once or twice per year if you have a small employer, so you may not be able to verify payments since there is a good chance that none are due until you have worked most of your contract period.



(Since we don't actually recieve pay checks, we don't receive pay stubs, but we should be getting some kind of statement that itemizes earnings and deductions.)

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Even when I worked at a public school, my pay stub was just some quickly printed thing from word. You can easily make your own. I've gotten a few from my current hagwon boss, but I no longer request them.

More important than the piece of paper (that you could make on your own) is that you check your local pension office, to see your balance. My boss knows that I check every other month. Every other month, she pays it when I remind her to pay up. My national health insurance is linked.

[bbunce]

Should have not called it a "pay stub". But they are required to give you an itemized deduction list. This is what the law says:
Article 17 (Statement of Working Conditions).....(2) An employer shall issue a worker with a written statement specifying the components of, and methods of calculation and payment of, the wages

So if the aren't doing this, they are violating the labor law. My point is this...If they are giving you an itemized list of deductions every month, the chances are they are honest...(I'd still verify it) However, if they aren't, then they are hiding, more specifically, stealing something from you..your money...If you don't check from time to time, the only person you can blame is yourself for losing the money...CYA folks...

[Carbon]

Great thread. Good suggestions for taking some control and responsibility.

[bbunce]