Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wildbore]

Ontheway is correct regarding the legalities.

However, since in this case, an EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT was agreed upon, he should be classified as an EMPLOYEE with the tax office, as well as the health and pension offices.

It is quite dodgy, but you can bring your evidence of employee status to the tax office and file a complaint. But you should bring an esteemed Korean person to make the case for you, it will go much better.

[navogel]

Thanks for the insight guys.

Ive heard from a lot of people that are of the opinion that threatening to go to the labor board or actually going to the labor board and forcing their hand might cause them to fire you, but Im not so sure.

When you break down the additional cost to the hagwon of paying a teacher as an "employee", we are talking about approx 100k pension plus 60k health per month. (In my case, the school has already agreed to pay health insurance, so the additional cost would be 100k/mo.)

However, when factoring in costs of keeping employee vs firing and rehiring you have to think about replacement costs as well. My school hired me through a recruiting firm. I actually worked as a recruiter in the states so I know that a recruiting company will make 10-30% of a salary. Even at the absolute minimum of 10% (and ive heard that ESL recruiters can make quite a bit more than 30%) it is cheaper for my school to suck it up for 12 months, rather than pay another placement fee (2.6 mil @ 10%), and also another plane ticket (1 mil). That would mean an additional investment during a 12 month period of over 3.5 mil won. All for another teacher who could very well do the exact same thing after they arrive. it would be MUCH cheaper for the school to just pay for a teacher's extra 1.9 million won (max) over 12 months.

I almost want to challenge the school simply bc my contract gives a lot of evidence for employee status, and maybe through the process I could provide some insight into the best way to go about it for other teachers. No question it will be a massive headache though. I do have some access to legal assistance here in Korea, which I could use too.

Unfortunately, based on my calculations, switching to employee status will only get me an additional 500-1000k won over the course of the year (plus better insurnace). Is that worth it? Im still debating...

[John Stamos jr.]

You used to be an esl recruiter for korea and you still got suckered into the IC scam? Damn, son. They could also just hire some desperate person who's already in korea and who won't rock the boat on the little scam they're running. Doesn't sound to me like you're going to do anything though, which is fine. But if you know koreans, you know you'll be pushing them into a face saving situation, and they don't react well to those kinds of confrontations, so I'd start browsing the job listings if you plan on pushing the issue.

[navogel]

haha no, I was a corporate recruiter in the states.

[CentralCali]

Whatever your job was in the US, it has no bearing, other than job title, to that same job in Korea. Don't worry, it's a common mistake newbies make.

Another common mistake is to fight the fight while it's still a losing fight. If you're still in the magic 6-month window, mentioning the issue to your boss very well might get you fired. That's because you're still a probationer for the first six months. Also a mistake is pushing the issue before your safely into the last month of the contract. Now, some bosses might can you anyway, although it's a losing fight then for them. The key is that you time your battle correctly. Of course, the very best timing is to wait until you're working for another outfit and thus the last boss has nothing to hold over your head.

[navogel]

Im confused... are you saying I can go after my employer for the pension $ after ive finished my contract, if I have a contract that says "employee" and not "contractor"?

As in, after he has paid out my severance and my plane ticket home?

Because that is definitely what I would do. I was assuming once I filed taxes as a IC it was a lost cause...

[ontheway]