Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tram204]

I had been working at a Hagwon for just over 11 months when it suddenly shut down. Apparently my director had not paid rent for the building for nearly a year and a half. She was taken to court by the building manager on November 8, 2013 and lost the case on November 28, 2013. She was ordered to pay or leave the building. (This all happened without the knowledge of the employees). In the following months, she chose to ignore the court order. On February 5, 2014 I came to work at the usual time to see 20 Korean men dismantling and hauling away what was left of the former school. The staff were then informed that the school was shut down indefinitely and the reason behind it.

Aside from the gross negligence and irresponsibility of my director, this incident triggered obvious outrage from the parents, students, and employees affected. She is now claiming she is broke and cannot afford to pay employees what was agreed to in our contracts, or to reimburse parents for their tuition fees. I believe some of the parents have already taken legal action.

After recalling the troves of horror stories that I have heard about shady hagwons, I know that because I did not complete 12 months of my contract, I am not entitled to severance pay or a plane ticket. However, I do feel entitled to be paid in full for the month of January that I worked in it's entirety.

As today (February 10, 2014) is technically pay day, I waited until today to give my director a chance to do the right thing. She decided that paying employees 60% of January's wage, and 70% of parents tuition was doing the right thing. Granted, this is better than nothing, but I am still not satisfied with this decision.

For reasons beyond my control I am now unemployed and homeless in Korea. Even with my savings, 60% of last months wage doesn't quite keep me afloat in Korea for the next two months (assuming that I can secure full time employment and housing for March 1st), or cover a plane ticket home.

I guess my question is: Do we have a case to claim 40% of our wages or are we just another statistic in another nightmare hagwon story?

[YTMND]

[Tram204]

I am simply asking if I have a case by presenting the facts. Not looking for sympathy. I do understand the concept of saving, which is why I have paid off a significant portion of my student loan over the last 11 months and do have a small cushion for as well as a credit card as a safety net.

I commend you for being debt free and being able to save 75-90% of your income, but your condescending tone toward those of us who are not yet in that position is coming off a tad douchey.

I appreciate your concern by giving me hindsight advice and believe you when you say I probably won't get anything. Despite my enormous blunder, I will take your sage advice and move on. Unfortunately, until I build my nest egg I will continue to be a sub-functioning member of Korean society.

[YTMND]

[Keeper]

It is not worth the trouble in getting any money from this litigious owner. She will fight it for as long as possible. You need a solution now. Get the letter of release. Go to immigration and transfer to a D-10 visa. You will have 6 months to get another job.

You do have 2 months to get a new job according to your post so start searching for a cheap housing solution. That would be a hostel. Do you know Korean or have a Korean friend who can help you with it? If not go to TripAdvisor's website and ask on their forum for help finding one or ask here.

You should find work within the next month if you focus on that as a priority. First things first - get the letter of release for immigration.

[Troglodyte]

See the PM I sent.

Quick rehash:

-You don't need a LOR from your (ex-)boss. The LB can give you their equivalent. In situations like this, they'll give you one right away.

-Find a friend who will store your stuff for a few weeks in case you get booted (illegally) from your apartment.

-Find cheap places in your area to stay a few nights if necessary.

-Since you can transfer your visa to a new employer, you should be able to find a job within a week or two. (Within a week if you're not picky.)

-If the owner really has gone bankrupt, you're probably not going to get any more money but you should at least try to get it. You can file a class action suit with the other employees. If nothing else it will at least go on the owner's record and make it harder for her to start up a new business in the immediate future. If you're lucky, you might actually get something out of it eventually. (You don't know what assets the school had on paper and whether the owner has other funds which the court might award you and your colleagues.)

[Troglodyte]

By the way, from your original post, it looks like you can stay at your current apartment until 1 March. If so, then your situation is not so dire. It won't take you that long to find something new.

Bottom line: Don't worry about it. Take a breath. Relax.

[Rockhard]

They could make the argument that you accepted the settlement by accepting 60% of your pay.

Even still, you won't get anything because
a) you don't even have money to hire a lawyer
b) you are at a huge disadvantage as a guest worker
c) clearly she likes to ignore judgements, so good luck trying to get anything even if you win the case, which you won't

My advice: you got burned. consider your initiation complete. everyone. EVERYONE who's been here longer than a few years has gotten burned at some point. I've been had for at least $8,000. that's the cost of doing business in Korea. When you go fishing you accept the risk you might not catch anything. When you work in Korea you accept the risk that your boss will screw you for money and the government won't do crap about it. Lesson learned. Move on,.

[Troglodyte]

[Tram204]

After talking with the labor board I was told that we are not only entitled to the remaining 40% of January's wages, but because we were dismissed without just cause, we are entitled to one months salary and a one-way air ticket.

This was written into our contracts under the heading: Rights upon Termination - Section 9 (Vii)(vi). It states:

If the employee is dismissed by the Company without Just Cause during the term of the Agreement, for example due to the financial difficulty that the employer faces, the Employee will be provided, upon dismissal, with a lump sum payment equivalent to one (1) months' base salary, less applicable deductions and withholdings required by law. The employee will also be provided with a one-way air ticket from Incheon, South Korea to the airport that is closest to the employee's hometown. These payments will represent the Employee's full entitlement from the Company, under, without limitation, statute and by the common law. Any balance left in the Utilities deposit will be returned to the employees as per Section 6 (V) iv).

For those who do not require a one-way air ticket, they are still entitled to the remaining 40% plus one month's base salary.

That is all I know for now.

[YTMND]

Well, running out of money is just cause. If the school has paperwork showing they are going out of business and that there are no funds, you might have some rights to money, but only if it is available. In addition, there might be other people owed money. So, it's possible you are not first in line to collect.

Do you really want to go through this when your irresponsible acts are what brought you to your situation by relying so heavily on a hagwon owner to keep you employed?

[Tram204]

Okay buddy, I'm sorry to inform you that your misguided rhetoric is falling on deaf ears. Perhaps our discrepancy lies in our differing views of the word homeless. You seem to believe that because I used this term that I have been financially irresponsible and am hopelessly dependent on handouts from my former employer. Nothing could be further from the truth. And to take a quote from The Big Lebowski "You're out of your element Donny!"

Much like the word unemployed does not mean I am unemployable, being homeless does not mean that I am unable to obtain a home. I merely used this term to accurately define my current living situation.

As I mentioned, in addition to paying off a large portion of my student loan, I have managed to save a small cushion and have a credit card as a safety net. So don't fret your pretty little head, I am going to be just fine.

I stand behind my statement about 60% not being enough for two months in Korea. After minimum student loan payments and security deposits for two months there is not much left even if one were to eat for $9 a day. Fortunately, I do have my safety net, but I don't know if I can say the same for some of the other employees.

I created this thread to see if others have been through similar situations and what their outcomes were. I have been to the labor board representing myself as well as nine other employees, not to look for handouts, but to stand up against unjust dismissal of employment. If we are being screwed, at least we can say that we explored all of our options and did not just sit around and take it.

Now for some reason you feel it is necessary to take this thread and shine the spotlight on yourself highlighting your bank account and your other financial achievements since you've been in Korea. And I'm sorry, but if you think that living with no clothes, no electronic gadgets, no flights to Thailand, no outings with friends is "functioning", well then there is another term that I think we disagree on. I have built a very comfortable life for myself in Korea and have no regrets about the decisions that I have made.

In the future if you do feel the need to further pat yourself on the back while simultaneously shitting on those in less fortunate situations, I suggest you go down to the labor board and spew your rags to riches story to all the financially irresponsible people in line. Don't forget to tell them that all you need to do to build a nest egg is to sacrifice all of your physical, mental, and social well being. Now if you will please excuse me I have bigger fish to fry this week.

[miiooan]

[YTMND]

[Cacille]

Some people don't come here to save all their money and do nothing else. Some people weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths and mommy and daddy paid for their college education. Some people put it all on student loans because they had no other option but knew they had to get their degree for a chance of a better future.

I 100% fall into the third category. I have no savings. I throw all of my money (keeping no more than 1/4th of my paycheck for myself for internet, phone, food, ondol oil, and electricity), except for travel on the holidays, into my American account to pay my college loans. I'm down from 75k to 55k in two years. To those who are bad at math, that is not just "20k in 2 years". That's 20k plus 6.8% monthly interest in two years!

Why am I posting this? To remind people who might need the reminder that many people don't come over here to save, they may not have the luxury when they have debts like, or even over, my own. There's a teacher near me who literally scoffed at me when I said I had 75k debt. He was like "That's all? That's NOTHING compared to mine!" I can pretty much surmise that he has nothing in savings either. One thing I'm glad of - we are public school. Our risk of our jobs being pulled out from under us last minute is nil. End of contract, maybe. But 11th month? No way.

Not everyone can save, not everyone can plan for every emergency. I hope the OP has good luck finding a decent school to work in, and if he has to move, that it won't be too stressful. (I'll help you move if you promise to help me move next year, lol!)