Korean Job Discussion Forums

[leejean85]

Hey guys,

Recently I sent in a letter of resignation to my boss for a host of reasons, but the most important one being he refused to give me a contract in English. I am F-4 Gyopo, and my Korean speaking is casual fluent, and my writing and reading comprehension is sub-middle school level. Anyhows, I started my job three months ago and the story goes as such:

1. I go in for the interview, he asks me if I can speak Korean, I said yes, but I say I am more comfortable speaking in English to iron out the fine points of employment negotiations. He says he can't speak English, so I bear with him. I ask for a fluent interpreter (as there are bilingual teachers in the hagwon) and he refuses. We agree verbally on certain principals, but the fine point is I kept asking for a contract in ENGLISH. He refused. Instead he offers to have one of the employees read and explain it to me. I said its unacceptable and I want a contract in English. He says ok, come back in three days.

2. I come back in three days and ask if the contract is finished and he says he's been too busy and hasn't gotten it done. I was inbetween jobs and needed the job in order to secure myself financially so we verbally agreed that I would sign now, but if I had any doubts I could get someone to translate it for me and we could edit/update any items that were not originally agreed to verbally. He insists on having one of the bilingual teachers to explain the contract to me.

3. When the bilingual teacher does, its apparent and its obvious that while she is fluent in English, the nature of the language present in a formal contract is well beyond their ability to translate properly. I ask again for a proper contract in English. I get the general ideas (concepts that are universal to almost all languages) but as anyone knows the important details of the contract are in the FINE details which I need to protect myself legally. He again refuses and says, you can have it translated after I've begun work. He needed the worker, I needed the job, we verbally agreed and I signed the contract based on our verbal agreement.

4. Work begins and I ask if I can take the contract home so that my mom can look over it (who is Korean, but raised me in the US my whole life) and he refuses. I ask him why not, he says he doesn't allow any copies of the contract to leave the hagwon. I call BS and ask him for a personal copy, he staunchly refuses and indirectly hints at possible employment penalties. He says I can use a dictionary and translate it in the hagwon. (lol right?)

5. I continue to ask the front desk if they'd allow me to make a copy. They refuse. I tell my boss and my bilingual supervisor that its important to me that I understand the fine details of my contract, my bilingual head teacher agrees, boss still wont let me leave with a copy of the contract, or a scanned file, or any digital copy. This goes on for 2.5 months.

6. It just so happens that another foreigner who is quite proficient in both Korean/English was at the hagwon for a visit. I asked him if he'd mind going over some parts of the contract with me and I find lots of things he "conveniently" forgot to mention to me:

a. I was finely labeled as an independent contractor and not an employee.
b. That I could be fired/terminated instantly with "proper" cause.
c. A few vague and unclear details about the nature of my vacation, sick leave, and Saturday work. Not as bad as the above two.

7. Upon hearing these I immediately wrote a letter of resignation and he accepted. I dated my last day and he agreed. we verbally agreed to my last day and it is written in my letter of resignation when my specific last day would be. So time goes on, and about a week and a half before my last day he "fires" me, but never directly says so. He says he's hired a new teacher and has no need for me. He said I haven't worked for the hagwon for over 5 months so he doesn't need to give me notice. I'm obviously upset, but I keep my composure and I'm seeking if my rights have been violated.


There's my story, but my main questions are:

Were my rights violated and am I able to lodge a complaint because:
1. He refused time and time again to provide me with an English contract despite originally agreeing to do so then later backing out, then preventing ways for me to have my own copy of the contract or having it professional translated.

2. Firing me without notice despite a verbal agreement and written resignation letter which clearly states my last day. Its clear he fired me to avoid paying me.

Thanks a ton!

[plchron]

1. He wasn't required by law to provide you with an English contract.

2. Before the six month mark he has a right to fire you at any time. Goes for all of us. We are probationary employees for 6 months.


Take him to the labor board just to waste his time. You are F4 and here for the long haul, sue him for defamation and emotional fatigue.

You can just hop to another job in any city. I know it is inconvenient and your old boss is a tool, but you can get a new job in an hour and without the paper work hassle.

p.s. just thought of this. hang out outside his hagwon and try stealing his students. not kidnapping, but when you see the parents hand them a business card and tell them you can privately tutor their kid, etc.

[YTMND]

[CentralCali]

No matter how much you are in need or think you trust the employer, please, please, please remember this one very important fact:

There is no such thing as a verbal agreement.

No doubt the apologists will come in and jump all over that statement. They will be wrong, though, as there is absolutely no way for you to prove that there was such an agreement uttered.

Do you want protection? Then get a written English contract.
Do you want to understand the contract? Then get a written English contract.
Do you want a job? Then get a written English contract.

To the OP: Please take the boss to the Labor Board if for no other reason than to make him jump through some hoops for a change.

[leejean85]

There were definitely some mistakes made on my part. Make mistakes, live and learn.

I'm not the vengeful type, as it is possible even for hagwon owners to make mistakes out of ignorance, while I seriously doubt that is the case here. I believe I should've found work elsewhere when he threw an office chair at a receptionist who's been on the job for just a week.

While I'm generally inclined to forigve what I really dislike are ones who take advantage of potential ignorance.

If there are any legal grounds for me to proceed, then I will. It just bugs me that he would never allow me a copy of my contract, which I found odd.

While he may not be legally forced to provide me with an English contract, shouldnt he at least give me access to a copy for my personal records?

[YTMND]

[CentralCali]

[ontheway]

[leejean85]

Yeah, I've decided to heed the advice and just move on. I got to leave on my own terms, despite being canned a week early, but that's ok, I have new worked lined up anyways, so I'm alright financially.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Live, make mistakes and learn.

[littlelisa]

What you should say next time: "You can't get me a contract in English? Okay. Please give me a copy of the Korean contract and I'll take it with me and think about it."

If he refuses, do not work there; there must be something fishy in the contract he doesn't want you to spot. If he gives you a copy, get your mother to look it over.

He doesn't need to give you an English contract, but he does need to give you a copy. If you didn't have someone who could translate, you could even see about getting it professionally done. Better safe than sorry. If no English contract is a dealbreaker, don't work unless there's an English contract. How can two parties have a contract without each having a copy?

But most importantly, never sign anything that you haven't understood completely first.

[CentralCali]

[12ax7]

So, you weren't given a copy of the original contract in Korean? I bet if you checked with the government to see how many taxes you were paying and how much you contributed to the national pension fund, you'd find out that your declared income was a lot less than your real income.

[ontheway]

[Troglodyte]

[ontheway]