Site Search:
 
Speak Korean Now!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Pension Office

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:31 am    Post subject: Pension Office Reply with quote

Has anyone had any luck at the pension office? I took my contracts to the pension office near Yatap station and had no luck. Despite my contracts, work visas, and bank history, they say there's no proof I ever worked at these schools because I'm not in the pension office's system. When I asked the lady, "Why don't you or another pension agent come to the schools with me? The students can confirm I worked there when I say I did even if the directors deny it." She said, "No."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
YTMND



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Either you are too late, you waited 12 months and had an epiphany to check with the pension office now, or you are early on and the school needs to register you.

In the future, check this stuff the 2nd month.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:43 am    Post subject: Re: Pension Office Reply with quote

EZE wrote:
Has anyone had any luck at the pension office? I took my contracts to the pension office near Yatap station and had no luck. Despite my contracts, work visas, and bank history, they say there's no proof I ever worked at these schools because I'm not in the pension office's system. When I asked the lady, "Why don't you or another pension agent come to the schools with me? The students can confirm I worked there when I say I did even if the directors deny it." She said, "No."



How many schools did you work at over how many years?
Were you enrolled in the National Health Insurance at these schools?
Was Pension withheld from your pay, or are you trying to enroll retroactively?
Did they withhold your Income Taxes at 3.3%?
Did you get any statements of earnings and deductions from these schools?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:00 am    Post subject: Re: Pension Office Reply with quote

ontheway wrote:
How many schools did you work at over how many years?
Were you enrolled in the National Health Insurance at these schools?
Was Pension withheld from your pay, or are you trying to enroll retroactively?
Did they withhold your Income Taxes at 3.3%?
Did you get any statements of earnings and deductions from these schools?


I worked 12.5 months at a school in 2006-2007, and I had national health insurance and pension. This was the only school that wasn't shady. I collected the pension balance before I exited Korea.

The second school was August 2011 through April 2012. All of the foreign staff but one left the week I also quit. I had no insurance or pension. This school owes over 1,500,000 in things other than pension which will have to go through the Labor Board.

At the third school, I got national health insurance halfway through the contract, but never got pension despite my contract saying "half of the national pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer, while the other half is to be covered by the teacher." I recently completed this contract. When I showed my contract to the Yatap pension office, the lady said I probably had never worked there. Yesterday, a different lady said the same thing. That was when I told them to go to the school with me and ask the kids if I have or haven't taught at the school for a year. I'm going to try a different pension office location tomorrow.

I can't remember the last time I ever got a pay stub, but I do have the banking history available from KB and Shinhan.

Income taxes have always been 3.3% at all three schools, but I have been getting sweet tax refunds.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:15 am    Post subject: Re: Pension Office Reply with quote

EZE wrote:
ontheway wrote:
How many schools did you work at over how many years?
Were you enrolled in the National Health Insurance at these schools?
Was Pension withheld from your pay, or are you trying to enroll retroactively?
Did they withhold your Income Taxes at 3.3%?
Did you get any statements of earnings and deductions from these schools?


I worked 12.5 months at a school in 2006-2007, and I had national health insurance and pension. This was the only school that wasn't shady. I collected the pension balance before I exited Korea.

The second school was August 2011 through April 2012. All of the foreign staff but one left the week I also quit. I had no insurance or pension. This school owes over 1,500,000 in things other than pension which will have to go through the Labor Board.

At the third school, I got national health insurance halfway through the contract, but never got pension despite my contract saying "half of the national pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer, while the other half is to be covered by the teacher." I recently completed this contract. When I showed my contract to the Yatap pension office, the lady said I probably had never worked there. Yesterday, a different lady said the same thing. That was when I told them to go to the school with me and ask the kids if I have or haven't taught at the school for a year. I'm going to try a different pension office location tomorrow.

I can't remember the last time I ever got a pay stub, but I do have the banking history available from KB and Shinhan.

Income taxes have always been 3.3% at all three schools, but I have been getting sweet tax refunds.



The first school treated you as employee, enrolled you properly but withheld at 3.3% anyway - which is too high, but perfectly legal to do, and you got a refund. So all OK.

The second school has apparently treated you as an Independent Contractor. Unless you can show otherwise you are probably out of luck at the Pension Office. However, you should go after your pay and everything else at the Labor Office. They still have to pay you as an IC.

The Pension Office should follow up on your third school. Since they treated you as an employee when they enrolled you in the National Health Insurance, you can get a statement from the NHIC to show the Pension Office. Focus on this one.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Skippy



Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: Pension Office Reply with quote

EZE wrote:
ontheway wrote:
How many schools did you work at over how many years?
Were you enrolled in the National Health Insurance at these schools?
Was Pension withheld from your pay, or are you trying to enroll retroactively?
Did they withhold your Income Taxes at 3.3%?
Did you get any statements of earnings and deductions from these schools?


I worked 12.5 months at a school in 2006-2007, and I had national health insurance and pension. This was the only school that wasn't shady. I collected the pension balance before I exited Korea.

The second school was August 2011 through April 2012. All of the foreign staff but one left the week I also quit. I had no insurance or pension. This school owes over 1,500,000 in things other than pension which will have to go through the Labor Board.

At the third school, I got national health insurance halfway through the contract, but never got pension despite my contract saying "half of the national pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer, while the other half is to be covered by the teacher." I recently completed this contract. When I showed my contract to the Yatap pension office, the lady said I probably had never worked there. Yesterday, a different lady said the same thing. That was when I told them to go to the school with me and ask the kids if I have or haven't taught at the school for a year. I'm going to try a different pension office location tomorrow.

I can't remember the last time I ever got a pay stub, but I do have the banking history available from KB and Shinhan.

Income taxes have always been 3.3% at all three schools, but I have been getting sweet tax refunds.


Because you where classified as an independent contractor as you mentioned paying the 3.3% tax. Since you collected the tax refund you by my mind have admitted you are an IC. Thus the pension should have been fully paid by you. I might be dense but you do not mention if the school collected pension. Now if the school collected pension and did not pay NHS you might have something to fight about.

Some schools offer health insurance but still do the IC route. What they do is just more of a middle man approach to paying health insurance. They just "help" in paying and managing it. The extra 2.odd percent is just a bonus in their mind. Yet they forget purposely to not pay the pension.

So in the end, you will have to pay back the whole missed time back yourself. Then you get to collect it later in a lump sum refund. Wow, a forced savings.

Good Luck, maybe you can get something back.
People this is a good reason why to get pay slips!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:33 am    Post subject: Re: Pension Office Reply with quote

Skippy wrote:

Because you where classified as an independent contractor as you mentioned paying the 3.3% tax. Since you collected the tax refund you by my mind have admitted you are an IC. Thus the pension should have been fully paid by you. I might be dense but you do not mention if the school collected pension. Now if the school collected pension and did not pay NHS you might have something to fight about.

Some schools offer health insurance but still do the IC route. What they do is just more of a middle man approach to paying health insurance. They just "help" in paying and managing it. The extra 2.odd percent is just a bonus in their mind. Yet they forget purposely to not pay the pension.

So in the end, you will have to pay back the whole missed time back yourself. Then you get to collect it later in a lump sum refund. Wow, a forced savings.

Good Luck, maybe you can get something back.
People this is a good reason why to get pay slips!



The 3.3% is just a withholding rate. It is a rate required for Independent Contractors and is higher than the rate for employees at low income levels to make sure that ICs have enough withheld to cover their tax liability, because it is assumed by the Tax Office that these ICs may have other sources of income that push them into a higher bracket.

Filing for a tax refund because too much was withheld does not mean that you have given up the right to claim that you were really an employee and should have been treated as an employee and not an IC. You are still able to file for a refund without losing any rights you may have had.



Oh, and YES! Always be sure to ask for a pay slip, demand a pay slip or make your own. Make sure all income and deductions are listed, that everything makes sense and is according to the contract, and have your boss sign it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
wylies99



Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!

PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The pension office takes their info from the tax office. If you check with the tax office and file returns then you might get it cleared up. But start at the tax office.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The ladies at the pension office near Chungmuro station were very professional and polite, but they referred me back to the pension office near Yatap station since it covers my area. And unfortunately, I just don't think the pension office near Yatap is going to do anything to help a foreigner.

When I showed the pension office near Yatap station the portion of a work contract that states, "Half of the insurance premium (2.93%) and Half of the National pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer, while the other half is to be paid by the teacher," the girl at the pension office was a total apologist for my hagwon. She said the reason the school wasn't paying into my pension was probably because they were trying to be more profitable, and she refused to do anything about it. I told her, "The only reason anyone steals money is to be more profitable."

They're not going to anything about this, not for a foreigner. I'm wasting my time and money going there again and again. The other day, one girl said she would contact me by e-mail. Today, the other girl said they don't have e-mail.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ontheway



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

EZE wrote:
The ladies at the pension office near Chungmuro station were very professional and polite, but they referred me back to the pension office near Yatap station since it covers my area. And unfortunately, I just don't think the pension office near Yatap is going to do anything to help a foreigner.

When I showed the pension office near Yatap station the portion of a work contract that states, "Half of the insurance premium (2.93%) and Half of the National pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer, while the other half is to be paid by the teacher," the girl at the pension office was a total apologist for my hagwon. She said the reason the school wasn't paying into my pension was probably because they were trying to be more profitable, and she refused to do anything about it. I told her, "The only reason anyone steals money is to be more profitable."

They're not going to anything about this, not for a foreigner. I'm wasting my time and money going there again and again. The other day, one girl said she would contact me by e-mail. Today, the other girl said they don't have e-mail.



Your first school treated you as an employee and did everything properly, you second treated you as a legal IC. So, I'm going to assume that you focused your recent efforts in Yatap on your third school.

The bureaucrats in these offices don't want drama or extra work. If you talk about breaking the law, stealing, etc. they will think you are the problem. It's human nature. This is especiall true about your second job since it's legal to be an IC, even on an E2 visa, and half of all Koreans are categorized in the IC group.

It sounds like your third school never deducted for Pension. This makes your case more difficult because they didn't steal your money, they just didn't enroll you at all. Since ICs have to enroll themselves, you have to prove to the Pension Office that you were an employee and your boss had a duty to enroll you.

Since you stated that the third school enrolled you in the National Health Insurance, this is what you should be showing them. This provides evidence that you were working and were an employee. The health insurance and pension are linked. When you are enrolled in the National health insurance the Pension Office will eventually get around to finding out if you are not enrolled in National Pension scheme. So, this is what you should focus on.

You probably need a Korean to go with you to help with language and cultural issues in the Pension Office.

All of these schools are in the past - are you working now? If you have a current job with National Health Insurance and National Pension it may help with retroactively dunning your third school.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EZE



Joined: 05 May 2012

PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't been going in there shouting, "I've been robbed! I've been robbed!"

The problem is as soon as I give them what they say they need, they move the goalpost again.

For example, after they told me my pension balance is "zero won", I presented a copy of my contract to them and showed them the part about pension, and I told them, "Article 7 clearly states, 'Half of the National pension (4.5%) are to be paid by the employer." The Yatap pension office lady told me, "Just because you have a copy of your contract doesn't mean you actually worked there." When I requested for them to go to the school and ask the students and their parents if I have worked there, they said, "No. We need something official proving you really did work there." That's when I pulled out a printout the Korean National Tax Office gave me, and I told them, "This is from the Korean National Tax Office and it shows the exact amounts my employers paid in taxes each month because I worked for them." She just sighed, handed the contract back to me, waved her hand for me to leave, and said, "Your employer is just trying to make her business more profitable." That's the point when I told them, "The reason why anyone steals money is to be more profitable."

They just laugh and do absolutely nothing about this issue. They're probably just doing what the higher ups in the Korean government tell them to do. Their goal is probably to keep as much money from leaving Korea as they can, even if it means supporting fraudulent business practices and the exploitation of foreign labor.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe
TEFL Courses, TESOL Course, English Teaching Jobs - TEFL International