Korean Job Discussion Forums

[zoeksk]

My director pulled me aside today (its my third day at work, second day teaching) and asked if I was free on saturday to go with her to the hospital to get my health check for the ARC (I had plans but I'll change them)

I thought this was good until she said that she had spoken to her accountant and he said until I have my ARC it costs too much for insurance, so when I get my ARC (which she says takes 3 months) THEN she will pay for the insurance. In the mean time she says she will pay 50% of any doctors fees I inccur.

She then said something about my tax is only 3.3% so this way I get to keep more money.

Please can someone confirm this is the right amount of tax to pay and whether waiting 3 months for an ARC and insurance is normal.

[ttompatz]

welcome to the "sub-contractor" scam.

You just got screwed.

.

[YTMND]

[ttompatz]

[zoeksk]

So what do I do, I like my school, and I don't want to leave Korea. My director seems really nice theres just a slight language barrier.

I dont mind waiting to get the ARC and I don't mind waiting to get the insurance until after the ARC (and to be honest as I'm English I cant collect the pension anyway) So do I go in guns blazing and demand a lower tax rate? Or just subtly mention "Oh by the way I need payslips that show all deductions for my insurance, pension the tax rate of 1.7 (?) when I get paid next month for my student loan company" (which I was going to do anyway)

I guess what I'm asking is, if I call her on the tax rate is she likely to back down? I really dont want to leave Korea and finding a new job etc seems like a lot of hassle if I can get her to do everything legally. Surely it will cost her less than having to hire someone new?

[Rutherford]

[Skippy]

Also do you not have to submit a health check in 30 days or less.

Really 76,000 won and less per month is too expensive. NOT including pension Unless she has been not been paying the insurance for many many months. No way is it expensive.

You are being BSed. Actually OP are you even legal? Have you got a visa? Or is the boss also waiting for a time when you can go to Japan.

Also ask the question of yourself. If you visit the doctor 2 times in a month and pay full price of about 40k won all together. Is the boss going to for over the 20k. Likely. What about if god forbid a taxi strike and you get a broken leg which can cost hundreds of thousands of won. Do you think the boss is going to pay. Not likely. All you will get is a pink slip with your cost and hospital bill.

[zoeksk]

yes I am legal, I have a visa stamp in my passport and everything, also I only got here a few days ago so no I haven't been running around with no insurance for months blithely unaware.

I will be confronting my director about this and I'm in contact with my recruiter still so I might ask him to speak to her for me. What I need to know now is does anyone know the how best to phrase it. If you have had this happen to you did you manage to solve it, or were you forced to leave the country? What's the best way to approach my director and get her to see that actually me being 100% legal in terms of insurance and pension is good for her too?

When I say I dont want to leave the country I mean it, I really enjoy it here and I've only been here since last thursday. But if I have to, I will look for another job. In this case what are my options? I didn't think I could get an L.O.R. or apply to have my visa changed to any thing until 3 months into it, so do I stick it out for 3 months and hope I don't have a horrendous accident or is it better to cut my (substantial) losses go back home, and reapply from scratch?

[CentralCali]

Talking to the recruiter is a colossal waste of time. The recruiter is no longer responsible to you. Actually, the recruiter was only responsible to the person paying his fee: the employer.

Also, merely having a stamp in your passport does not guarantee your status is legal. You are required to have your ARC by a certain date after your arrival in country. Once you pass that date and have not obtained the ARC, you are no longer legally in the Republic of Korea. Care to guess who gets the shaft on that, you or the boss?

Your school is not nice. Get that out of your mind. The longer you think this scum who is cheating you three ways from Sunday is nice, the longer you will likely wait to see if they really are nice. And that is an ill-advised move when it comes to immigration, pay, and benefits issues in this country.

My experience in dealing with a hagweon boss who cheated on insurance, health, pension, and tax payments was not fun. Luckily for me, I have legal independent income so I was not dependent on her deigning to honor her financial obligations to me. The other two foreigners (one Canadian, one Chinese) and I staggered our cases with the appropriate governmental agencies, starting with the Pension Office and the Labor Board. As she was obviously losing the cases filed by the Canadian, the bint finally saw the light and settled with all three of us.

By the way, from personal experience, I can tell you that hospitalization of approximately three weeks for a severely broken bone costs about three thousand dollars. That was in 1998. No doubt, the cost has risen since. I would not venture outside in Korea for even one minute without insurance coverage.

To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, "You gotta ask yourself. Do you feel like you have the money to fight this?"

[hogwonguy1979]

yup tom's right you got screwed by the independent contractor scheme, yeah as somebody will tell you its quasi legal (kimmig says its illegal but the tax office says its legal so nobody is really sure). its a way for employers to get out of paying into pension and nhic

tom can clear up the immig issues if you leave before 3 months regarding resubmitting docs et al.

if hes screwing you on this, the smart money is on him screwing you out of other things