Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dg7104]

Best advice is: DON'T WORK IN KOREA! Even the U.S. Dept. of State gives warnings not to teach English in Korea: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1018.html

If you ignore this advice and still find yourself getting taken advantage of, which is almost a national past-time, here is what you can do.

For anyone who threatens to not pay you, go to the the local Department of Labor office and make a complaint. Bring business card/contract with name of employer with as much information as possible. Bring your I.D. / passport. If employer kept your passport, don't panic, you can get another one, or they will be forced to give it back to you.

~Employers can go to JAIL and be fined anywhere from $25,000 for not paying their employees no matter what the excuses is. 1 day of work = 1 day of pay-period! Employer has a very limited time to pay you from the last day you worked. I believe it's 10-14 days.

~You can extend any E-2 work visa until your dispute is resolved. If you are kicked out of your apartment, there is something called a GO-SHE-WON, which is a type of apartment in which you pay no deposit, utilities are included in rent which is month-to-month. You basically get a bed and a desk, and that's it, but it's better than nothing.

~Do not be panicked or ANGRY while visiting the Dept. of Labor. Be calm. Bring an interpreter if you can. Look clean and nice. Don't complain.

~The Dept. of Labor employee may not even look at your contract, because it simply doesn't matter. The only question they may ask of your employer is if you worked for them or not, then they will explain the law, and that they are required to pay for labor, no matter what the dispute is.

~If the employer believes you broke your contract, THEY CAN SUE YOU AFTER PAYING YOU FOR THE DAYS YOU WORKED. They can't withhold your money.

~If your employer took out money for pension, you take your passport to the local pension office and have them forward it to your bank account.

~Don't taunt your employer with this knowledge. Simply accept that you are not working there anymore, and prepare to move out and move on. Collect what is owed to you, and return home or search for a head-hunter on the internet and they will try to find you another job.

~It would be wise to carefully save enough plane ticket money from your job to ensure you can leave in the case of an emergency.

~Do not carry more than $10,000 cash through the airport without claiming it to customs. They have special scanners that can find the money no matter how well you try to hide it. Send it home through your Korean bank to your home bank, and carry less than the amount in your wallet or carry-on luggage. You can be banned from re-entry after being caught violating the law.

Another thing to avoid problems is to read the book, "Ugly Koreans, Ugly Americans." ISBN: 89-7512-202-6. This will help you to stop inadvertently enraging your Korean boss.

If you click around the internet, you will read countless horror stories of people being stranded and penniless from employer's maltreatment. Threats of going to the police accusing you of child abuse so that they deport you, and also not pay you. Or taking out huge sums of your paycheck for some ridiculous excuse, and then never giving it back.

Save yourself the headache, and avoid teaching in Korea. There's many many more reasons to list. Perhaps if people want to know more, I will reply per question.

[Ranman]

The only problem I have at my public school is the relative boredom of the curriculum. I get paid on time, treated well by the school, and get along with my co-teacher.

There are crappy jobs with crappy people everywhere you go. Korea's no different.

[tardisrider]

[augustine]

[ttompatz]

[dg7104]

UPDATE ABOUT SCANNERS AT THE AIRPORT.

1. My Korean wife worked at the Incheon airport, and one of her jobs was to report to customs and translate from Korean to English and back.
There were COUNTLESS TIMES people were busted trying to sneak IN cash and sneak OUT cash. These people do nothing all day but search for cash. And the ingenious ways people hid it were always surprised it was found.
The customers paid a large tax for not reporting it. They missed their flight. Their passport / visa was flagged.

2. I was recently asked at an AMERICAN AIRPORT to hold a metal container filled with cash by a police officer for dog training purposes. I was surprised a dog could sniff through metal, and that cash had a special scent. Apparently it does.

Don't be a fool. Send it electronically, or carry the cash and simply claim it instead of risking losing a lot more.

[Captain Corea]

I had a buddy that was busted smuggling something across the Us into Canada. It had no odor. But the dods keyed on it right away. Turns out, they were trained to smell for adhesives.

He had it taped to him.

[TheUrbanMyth]