Korean Job Discussion Forums

[therandom9]

I am going to give my employer notice on Monday that I will be leaving, and I want to make sure that my ducks are correctly in a row before doing so.

-My contract says that if I give notice before payday (10th of each month), I can leave by the end of the month. I will give notice for middle of September, so this should be ok.

-the stickier bit is that my contract specifies that I am part-time, even though I am on an E-2 (negotiated this awhile ago). I get paid $X for each hour worked. I want to make sure that if there are any labor board disputes I can verify my hours worked easily. Currently the system in place is fairly lax (a sign-in sheet for myself and other part-time workers, mainly F-4 people). Any recommendations as to how you would lock this down and make sure the evidence is unambiguous? I also record these hours myself to have a backup.

-are there any possible issues with the labor board not recognizing a part-time E2 contract? Seems unlikely, just double-checking.

A labor board issue is quite possible, my ex-coworker had one that she won fairly easily when my boss tried to not pay after she quit, although she was full-time.

It is possible/likely that my employer will threaten a groundless lawsuit. Should I line up a lawyer, or is that unnecessary?

Thanks in advance for pointing out anything I haven't thought of here.

[Troglodyte]

Let's lay out the facts here to get a better perspective of the situation:
- there's no real way to prove how many hours you work (and hence how much you're owed;
- the boss tried to swindle a previous teacher
- you get paid 10 days after the month worked

He's going to tried to cheat you as well. The signs are there.

The question is, do you want to take the time and effort to fight him when the time comes? Or do you just want to get paid for your time and leave?

Can you take a sick day? If so, then take Tuesday and Wednesday (maybe also Thursday) as sick days, come in for work on Thursday and Friday. Get paid on Friday. Fly out on the weekend or Monday. If you want to hang around in Korea for a bit longer, then just move into a youth hostel or minbak. On Monday inform immigration that you've quit and want a week or so in order to sort out your affairs before leaving.

There's nothing that your boss really can create a law suit around. No employee is obligated to work. You can quit with a moment's notice. Even if he CAN come up with something for a CIVIL law suit, there's no way that he'll get it set up before you're out of the country. It's not something that you can just call up the courts for and arrange in 5 minutes.

You don't need a lawyer.

[luckylady]

honestly don't know anyone that has given notice they're leaving and it's gone well.

[YTMND]

[viciousdinosaur]

The whole not-paying-people-who-quit thing extends to everyone in Korea, Koreans as well. Most Koreans never take it the labour board, which is why employers keep doing it.

I see this situation as pretty straight forward

1) You are leaving Korea for good: Just take your last pay and fly out the next day
2) You are staying: follow their guidelines for quitting as spelled out in the contract

[therandom9]

I want to leave the option to stay, not gonna pull a runner.

I was mainly curious as to whether people had knowledge about the parttime thing or the keeping track of hours thing.