Korean Job Discussion Forums

[baedaebok]

Avoid or be careful when applying to the Findateacher editing job. This job has been posted in the Job Board here. Their office is in a difficult-to-find industrial park in Osan. These are the reasons to NOT work for them:

(1) They cheated me out of W3million after we agreed upon some editing work. We agreed upon this payment. After I finished editing, they made extra requirements that they said I didn't fulfill. Therefore, they did not pay me.

(2) When we met, I had no idea about the payment levels of editing. Naively, I suggested W400,000 for a 700-page document. They accepted this. I later found out that W3 million is bare minimum. Thus, they are dishonest and try to cheat teachers they hire.

(3) They didn't make a written contract but only an oral contract. Thus, allowing them to easily refuse payment.

[T-J]

To your first point, if you agreed to 400k then they didn't "cheat" you out of 3M.

As for points 2 & 3, those are really on you, no?

[PRagic]

Oral contracts are legally binding in Korea. You can represent yourself, best done with the help of a K friend, in small claims. Don't blow any money on a lawyer. There's so much info on the net in Korean that a friend (or, if present, a relative) should have no problem finding out what needs to be done to open a case. It's basically a bit of paperwork.

You have a copy of the completed work that hopefully reflects all the editing you did. Use it when you go to court. Best case scenario is that you simply file a case, they're notified, and then they just cough up the coin.

The amount of payment not received is 400,000 won. When you file, tag on a few extra hundred thousand for them being such a pain in the arse. There is no 'bare minimum' for translation or for editing. You get what you agree upon.

Depending on the diffiuculty of the material, and the extent to which it needs to be re-written as opposed to merely proofed, rates can vary from 5,000-10,000 won a page to all the way up to 50,000 won a page or more. The higher end is usually charged for technical or academic proofing.

[PRagic]

Rather than small claims, you might want to pursue a payment order. Looks cheap and painless by comparison.

http://jifi.scourt.go.kr/foreigner/en/html/proceedings/civil/procedure_tab01.html

[PRagic]

see the 'Demand for Payment' Procedure link...

[The Doctor]

that's annoying. You can get your significant other to complain strongly. If you did the job they have to pay you. I would take the advice of others here who have experience in this

[SeoulNate]

bit of advice for the future with editing work:

1) if you are working for someone that you do not know, or do not trust, when it is time to show them the final document, inlay a watermark across every page of the document and send it to them as a lo-res PDF (word can do all of this). Request payment before sending the final version to them.

2) anything less than 5$ per page for real editing work is a ripoff