Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elizabethbennet88]

As is commonplace, i apologize for asking a question probably asked before.

However, as is common, this site's search function is not working.

I am doing text book writing on an E2 visa. Is it legal to do this on an E2 visa? I have never doubted that it is legal, until I recently got told that the E2 visa is only for teaching.

Any comments appreciated.

[Skippy]

Did you get your E-2 Visa? If so you likely filled the requirements still. Technically I could see how it is illegal. From the HiKorea website

[r122925]

Your explanation isn't exactly clear to me. I see two possible scenarios.

1. You have an E-2 sponsored by a school/hagwon where you teach and you are writing textbooks part time on the side.
2. You are writing textbooks full time and the company you are writing for sponsored your E-2.

In case 1, it's illegal unless you have permission from your employer and from immigration and report the extra income to the tax authorities.

In case 2, it's illegal. Strictly speaking, the E-2 visa is for foreign language teachers only. If you're a textbook writer you should be on an E-7 visa. It's likely that the company you work for chose to sponsor an E-2 simply because it's easier for them, and you may not have qualified for the E-7 unless you have relavent experience and/or related degree. Will you get caught? If this is a large education company that also employs teachers (probably the only way they could get away with doing this in the first place, since only educational institutions can sponsor an E-2) then I doubt it. If immigration shows up (they won't) you tell them you're preparing the book for your next class or whatever. It's not exactly easy for someone to prove that you're not a teacher, especially when you work for an education company.

If it is case 2, I'm also a little bit curious about the contract that was submitted to immigration as part of your visa application. Did they lie and call you a teacher, or did they say you were a textbook writer? On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the immigration officers don't actually take the time to read those contracts.

[elizabethbennet88]

I can see how my question must seem unclear. Truth is, I didn't want to give more context because it is a hell of a context. Oh well, here goes. It's gonna sound like one of those crazy Korean hagwon horror stories, so skip this if you've had enough of the kind.

As per my contract, I work at a school teaching 5 hours a day and then write textbooks 3 hours day. So far, normal. However... The schools I teach at have a contract with my employer company - a big business. The textbooks are written for a different company where I do not teach. Until today I had assumed that there is an agreement between my writing workplace and my teaching workplace so the former pays a fee to the latter for the labour the latter is providing the former. Today, however, the shit hit the fan and my sponsoring company, the one that pays my salary, are now claiming they never knew about the work I was doing for the writing place. How on earth? Well, the boss doesn't speak english at all,so we all our communication was channeled through the head teacher. She also works at the writing place and it seems like she orchestrated the whole thing behind my boss' back.

The reason I was asking about the E2 visa, is because the boss is claiming it is illegal. I wanted to know if this is true, mainly because I wonder if my contract is compromised and also because I want to figure out who is lying about what.

I suspect that the contract sent to immigration was forged by said head teacher anyways, so I wouldn't read anything into what immigration does with it. (I mean, there is fraud going on anyways.)

What I understand so far from your replies is that writing is allowed as part of a teaching job. It is not allowed as a job per se. The grey area with me is that I don't work at one school anyway. I work for a company, at different schools. So I don't know if the writing job is then legal, because it has nothing to do with the actual teaching that I do.

Thanks for your time.

[r122925]

[Troglodyte]

Were you getting paid something extra for the textbook writing?

Do you have a copy of a contract signed by the school (the main employer)? If so, what does it say about the text writing? Is the writing even in there? Is there a part about "extra duties"? Most do.

If it's part of the head teacher's job to delegate work to the teachers and she told you to write then you did nothing wrong. Tell the big boss that you're angry that someone was giving you extra work like that.

[tardisrider]

From what I understand, if school X sponsors your E2 and you are teaching and writing a textbook for school X, that's probably okay. It doesn't sound like that's happening. If school X sponsors your visa and you are writing for company Y, that's okay IF your school says it's okay and you get registered with immi (and possibly the tax office, not sure about that) otherwise, it's illegal.

But...there's something else going on unrelated to the writing that may need some attention. My understanding, which could be out of date, is that your visa is tied to one company and to one workplace--and by workplace I mean the specific geographic locations registered with immigration. Unless something has changed in the past few years, working at different schools (unregistered locations) is treated the same as doing privates regardless of who you get your money from. I don't mean to scare you needlessly, but you might want to look into it.

[ghostrider]

You can only legally work for the employer who sponsors your visa (unless you obtain permission from immigration to work for a second employer). If your illegal activities are discovered you could face a fine of several million won and deportation.

[Son Deureo!]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[elizabethbennet88]

Thank you everyone for your comments. The situation is shady indeed.

My boss is not angry with me. I don't worry about having done anything wrong by her. She blames the head teacher. I now have the understanding that the following happened (more or less):

My boss did not want to pay benefits, so the head teacher arranged for me to work at another place which will add the benefits so my contract can be fulfilled. (By the way, I would just like to confirm that the writing job was in my contract. My boss claims she did not read the contract herself.) At the moment there are negotiations going on between my employer and the employer at the writing place. I'll have to see what happens. If everything gets settled in contract form I should be okay. The head teacher who orchestrated everything is fired, I assume. One would assume...

Once again, thanks for your comments.

[Troglodyte]

Were you being paid two separate salaries? Or were you simply getting money from the school, and some sort of benefits from the publisher?

What kind of benefits were you getting from the publishers? Do you mean health insurance? (private or national?) Pension? Severance pay?

Be very careful with this because when schools offer private health insurance instead of national, then it's usually the absolute bare minimum. It will only cover you while you are actually IN your workplace in specific situations. In some situations at work, you're not covered, and the moment you step out the door, you're on your own. I would never recommend that a teacher take private over national. If a large company offers private in addition to national, that's fine. I've received that at a couple places and the private covered additional stuff that the national insurance didn't cover. But private alone is just a way for the boss to save a few Won, all the while putting you at serious risk.

Not sure how the publisher could pay your pension contributions for the school job. Independent contractors aside (which would be specifically noted in your contract), your school is obligated to make pension contributions. Same goes for severance. Neither is contractual. Even if the contract says that you won't receive them (again, aside from ICs) that part of the contract won't stick because you're not allowed to contract away your rights.

If those things are in your contract, and it says that the school will provide them, then the school must provide them. At the end of your contract make sure that you get your severance and that pension contributions (from the school) are up-to-date.