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sallymonster
Joined: 06 Feb 2010
Location: Seattle area
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 Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:15 pm Post subject: I have national health insurance, but no pension? |
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I've always read on here that NHIC health insurance and pension were tied together, so that if you had one you had the other (or something like that).
I have the national NHIC health insurance, and I have the card to prove it. However, I just checked my pension balance, and it hasn't received any contributions since June 2011, when I finished my previous job.
How is this possible? |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:03 pm Post subject: Re: I have national health insurance, but no pension? |
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| sallymonster wrote: |
I've always read on here that NHIC health insurance and pension were tied together, so that if you had one you had the other (or something like that).
I have the national NHIC health insurance, and I have the card to prove it. However, I just checked my pension balance, and it hasn't received any contributions since June 2011, when I finished my previous job.
How is this possible? |
They are not tied or linked together in a physical sense. However they DO have access to the other's records so they can check for law-breakers. Such as your employer would appear to be. However who knows when they will get around to checking YOUR file?
Your boss may not know the law or may be gambling that you will finish your contract and leave before they check your file and start asking questions.
So to answer your question that is how it is possible. Now the question is What do you plan to do about it? |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:49 am Post subject: |
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Tell the pension office about this.
Has your employer been making deductions from your salary? If so, then he's pocketing it. |
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Skippy
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:59 am Post subject: |
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Well I am too lazy to search but things that could effect are
Are you South African? If so you are not eligible to get.
Are you working for a private University? Good chance you might be registered with a private pension fund.
Are you an Independent Contractor? If your taxrate is 3.3 then you likely are. Well the boss might have made you one and through some dealings pays your health insurance, but avoids paying your pension. But if you are an IC both become YOUR responsibility.
Plus what did you previous contract or contracts say. I have seen an after school program contract offer health but no pension. Bet people signed without really reading it and assumed that they get both because there friend from another school got both.
So more details please and dig a bit deeper. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:54 am Post subject: Re: I have national health insurance, but no pension? |
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| sallymonster wrote: |
I've always read on here that NHIC health insurance and pension were tied together, so that if you had one you had the other (or something like that).
I have the national NHIC health insurance, and I have the card to prove it. However, I just checked my pension balance, and it hasn't received any contributions since June 2011, when I finished my previous job.
How is this possible? |
You work at a university.
. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:47 am Post subject: Re: I have national health insurance, but no pension? |
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| sallymonster wrote: |
I've always read on here that NHIC health insurance and pension were tied together, so that if you had one you had the other (or something like that).
I have the national NHIC health insurance, and I have the card to prove it. However, I just checked my pension balance, and it hasn't received any contributions since June 2011, when I finished my previous job.
How is this possible? |
Hello Sally. You haven't provided enough details to know your situation, but here goes.
Recently you posted elsewhere that you currently work at a hogwan. You apparently were enrolled for both Pension and Health Insurance at your previous place of employment.
No Pension contributions have been made since you started your new job but you still have your old account and you have a Health Insurance Card.
Questions:
1) Is this the same Health Insurance Card you had at your previous job or is it a new one you received from your new job? Have you actually used your health insurance recently
2) Has your current workplace been deducting for Pension and/or Health Insurance? How much or what percentage rate?
3) Income taxes: How much or what percentage rate is being withheld?
4) What does your contract say about Pension and Health Insurance? And what does it say about you being "an Employee," "Independent Contractor" or something else?
5) Have you asked your boss? What did he or she say?
As far as the link between the National Pension and National Health Insurance, that is only for checking that you are enrolled in both. Since you actually have accounts for both, you are enrolled for both. So, this link will have no further affect.
In any case, some people are exempt from one or the other or both. There is a long list of exempt individuals on the enrollment form for the National Pension and other exemptions are also available but not listed: Over age 60, citizens from South Africa, enrolled in a University Pension Plan, enrolled in another elegible alternative Pension plan etc. I'm guessing that none of those apply to you.
Since you haven't mentioned that no deductions were being made and you since you are surprised that nothing has been paid in to your Pension account, it follows as an assumption that your boss is making deductions for Pension and Health Insurance from your monthly pay.
Possibilities:
1) There is a very small possibility that your Pension deductions and the matching amounts have been made but were somehow misapplied at the Pension Office. Perhaps you have two accounts in your name or the payments were applied to the wrong account. This is rare and unlikely, but it happens.
2) It's possible that your current boss has made the proper deductions and is just behind on payments. They could have registered you for Pension and Health Insurance as an employee and due to some financial difficulty they are behind on making payments to Pension and maybe both.
3) It's possible that your current boss signed you up for Health Insurance but not pension. Maybe using the delay to hold on to the cash till the end of your year. Maybe hoping you wouldn't notice and they could keep the money. Since you have an existing account, the Pension office may not have noticed that your new job didn't register you.
If my assumption above was wrong and your boss hasn't been making Pension deductions and may or may not have been making Health Insurance deductions as well, there are many other possibilities including the common situation of being registered as an Independent Contractor. This is a legal possiblity under current law on an E2 visa, although IC status may or may not be legitimate depending on your contract. |
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sallymonster
Joined: 06 Feb 2010
Location: Seattle area
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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More details:
- I work at a hagwon
- I got a new national health insurance card when I started working for my current school.
- I read my contract again, and it doesn't mention pension. It does mention a tax rate of 3.3%, which I suppose could mean that I'm registered as an independent contractor. However, the contract also uses the word "employee" in reference to me.
- While I've always received my pay in my bank account on time, I haven't seen a pay slip in several months. Last time I did, I don't remember it mentioning pension deductions (I remember it listed deductions for taxes and health insurance). I'm guessing that my boss simply never deducted the pension.
- Other than this pension issue, my school has treated me well and, like I said, my pay has always been on time and in full (I make 2.2 million a month, and my take-home pay has been just over 2.0).
To be honest, I'm conflicted about reporting the pension issue. I won't finish my contract for another 3 months, and I'm slightly worried about losing other forms of compensation (like severance and flight). More than that, though, in today's employment market I'm going to need a good reference for future employers, and for that reason I want to keep a good relationship with my boss. Unfortunately, all too often being a whistleblower can work against you. (if someone can advise me on this that would be great) |
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matthews_world
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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Always keep your pay stub for future reference.
They usually only give you one copy and can be used to give to your national government for tax purposes if you happened to get audited and as well to verify that you worked in said country.
And your nationality is...? |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| If you are owed pension, you can go to the pension office when you are at your next school. You will have to backpay your portion though (50% them, 50% you). |
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Mr Lee's Monkey
Joined: 24 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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ppp
Last edited by Mr Lee's Monkey on Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:13 am; edited 5 times in total |
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hogwonguy1979
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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how about some paragraphs mr lee, I lost it at about 3 sentences.
op sounds like you got ICed, welcome to the new world of hogwon teachers in Korea. Just another way schools can keep more money |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| hogwonguy1979 wrote: |
op sounds like you got ICed, |
No. She said that her contract refers to her as an "employee" not "contractor". With CDI, they tried to get around this by saying that the teachers were ICs because it said so in their contracts. The OP is clearly an employee.
Like others have said, you can report the school after your next job starts. By the way, since you'll be able to transfer your visa after this job, the job market is wide open to you. Almost all schools and recruiters prefer applicants who don't have to wait for documents or visa applications and such. Your visa transfer process can even be started before your current job ends. You can start work the day after your current job finishes. Employers love that. You can also point out to the recruiters that your current boss was cheating you on your pay or benefits so you're prefer an honest employer for the next job. So, when they ask for a reference from your current employer, you can tell them you prefer not to because he's upset that he had to back pay your pension. |
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hogwonguy1979
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den
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| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| Troglodyte wrote: |
No. She said that her contract refers to her as an "employee" not "contractor". With CDI, they tried to get around this by saying that the teachers were ICs because it said so in their contracts. The OP is clearly an employee.
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Her contract could say " Employees job title is to be "Queen of the Universe" but if they are witholding at the IC rate etc then she's an IC, thats where the problem lies.
until somebody in the Korean government gives a rats behind and makes things consistent then this will continue to happen |
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bbunce
Joined: 28 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| Talk to your boss in private about it and stop guessing. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:38 am Post subject: |
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| sallymonster wrote: |
More details:
- I work at a hagwon
- I got a new national health insurance card when I started working for my current school.
- I read my contract again, and it doesn't mention pension. It does mention a tax rate of 3.3%, which I suppose could mean that I'm registered as an independent contractor. However, the contract also uses the word "employee" in reference to me.
- While I've always received my pay in my bank account on time, I haven't seen a pay slip in several months. Last time I did, I don't remember it mentioning pension deductions (I remember it listed deductions for taxes and health insurance). I'm guessing that my boss simply never deducted the pension.
- Other than this pension issue, my school has treated me well and, like I said, my pay has always been on time and in full (I make 2.2 million a month, and my take-home pay has been just over 2.0).
To be honest, I'm conflicted about reporting the pension issue. I won't finish my contract for another 3 months, and I'm slightly worried about losing other forms of compensation (like severance and flight). More than that, though, in today's employment market I'm going to need a good reference for future employers, and for that reason I want to keep a good relationship with my boss. Unfortunately, all too often being a whistleblower can work against you. (if someone can advise me on this that would be great) |
It's interesting you would check your pension account when no deductions were being made for pension from your pay. Anyway, you did.
However, if you are having about 9% of your pay deducted each month and it doesn't include pension, what is the rest? You need to find out. Tax at 3.3%, the Independent Contractor rate, plus about 3% for Health Insurance (maybe) plus ?
Speculating: It could be for utilities - Do you pay your own or does your boss deduct for utilities? It could be you're paying 100% of your own Health Insurance or even none of it. We can't be sure that any Health Insurance payments have been made at all.
We also can't be sure how much, if anything, your boss will remit on your behalf for your Income Taxes.
So, you do need to check with your boss about your deductions. You should try to find a nice way to ask for pay statements showing your gross, all deductions and your net pay. You may want to do this without tipping him off as to your concerns about Pension or whatever. (Perhaps you need the statements to apply for grants and scholarships for graduate studies in a couple of years.)
It does appear that you have been enrolled as an Independent Contractor. Since you have signed a contract as an employee, such enrollment would be fraudulent. It isn't the IC status that's illegal, it's the fraudulent use of a contract that states that you are an "employee" and then registering you as an IC that is illegal - it constitutes civil fraud and should be criminal fraud as well, although this is very difficult to pursue in Korea.
This means it's possible that you were registered as being responsible for your own Health Insurance and Pension payments and that your boss has been remitting Health Insurance payments on your behalf - which means you can't be sure he's made all of them.
It's still possible, but doubtful, that your boss has registered you as an employee and is either late with the payments or the payments were misapplied.
The bigger picture, as you've pointed out, is that you want to get your end of contract payments and a recommendation and a new job and don't want to rock the boat until after you've accomplished those goals.
Perhaps the best way to do this, as others have suggested, is to wait until after the payments have been made and your visa has been transferred and you've begun working your new job. This is reasonable since the loss to you from losing paid work time will be greater than the loss of the Pension.
However, once you are safely in your new job, you should report your old boss for his fraud.
Since you signed a contract as an "Employee" and it looks like it will turn out that your boss has fraudulently used the IC status to cheat you, you should definitely pursue this at the time that seems most convenient to you. |
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