Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bibimbap]

Here's the story:

I've been working at the hagwon for 8 months. I went down to my boss' office two weeks ago and asked her why we haven't been paying into my pension. It was one of the perks that lured me here and I'm entitled to it. She said she'd look into it.

She now says she doesn't have to pay it at all because she has less than 5 full time staff. (Not true: there are 4 FT foreigners, 2 FT Koreans, 1 FT secretary, 1 FT administrative guy in addition to the 15 PT Koreans she has on payroll). BUT out of good-will she'd like to pay into it for my remaining 4 months.

Anyway, I gave her a chance. Now I'm going to call the pension office and they decide for themselves.

[ulsanchris]

I may be wrong but I think you contact your local Gu office for this kind of stuff.

[posco's trumpet]

I don't know who you contact, but here's the info for the NPC:

National Pension Corporation
Kukmin-yeonkum Building, 7-16 Shincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-725, Korea
Tel:82-2-2240-1114,
Fax:82-2-418-6894

you might also try:

International Relations Team
National Pension Corporation
Kukmin-yeonkum Building, 7-16 Shincheon-dong, Songpa-gu
Seoul, Korea, 138-725

Fax : 82-2-2203-6627

[waterbaby]

[prairieboy]

Dial 1355 for any questions. They will give you the number of your local pension office and from there you can get the address and other information you need.

I didn't wait for my employer to get me signed up. It was in my contract and he was deducting 4.5% supposedly for pension. When I got a letter from pension at the hogwon telling me I had to sign up I questioned him what it was about. He said it wasn't important and threw it in the garbage. At that point I took the form/letter out of the garbage and contacted them myself. I wasn't registered with them as it turned out.

When I signed up I found out that unless you are working for an exempted workplace, like some universities with their own private pension fund, or because of some other reasons they list on the application form, then you must pay national pension if you earn money in Korea.

The pension office will make a determination as to how much you should be paying. But you only have to pay a maximum 4.5% and the employer is supposed to match your contributions. You maybe assessed a lower rate initially but it will increase upto a maximum of 9% of your salary, which is to be shared equally by you and your employer. If your employer has fewer than 5 full time employees then she should take that up with the pension office AFTER you've been registered.

I went personally to city hall in my town and submitted my form. I then informed my employer that he was deducting too much in "taxes" as he called it and told him I thought I'd get a refund if I filed my taxes. He promptly refunded all of the "tax" money he had deducted from my salary.

Now I get the bill for my pension. I deduct my 4.5% and give him the bill for the remainder. I let him off easy but I also let him know that I'd caught him stealing from me and from the government.

Cheers and good luck.

[wylde]

if the info i have received is correct....


aussies can't get their pension til like they're 65 or something.. so if you're an aussie.. not paying it is probably better

[ghostshadow]

First of all, are you from USA or Canada? Since I believe those are the only countries where you get that pension tax refund back.
Here is the website for the Pension tax:

www.npc.or.kr.

[Grotto]

I also believe Germans get the refund when they leave the country.

Americans, Canadians and Germans.

Make sure your employer is deducting and paying into these funds as it can make a substantail chunk of change.

79,000 a month x 12)x2=1,896,000

My final paycheck 2,000,000+severance 2,000,000+pension1,896,000=5,896,000

nice chunk of change.

[waterbaby]

[DF10]

I'm American. I should get my pension back. My hagwon is hesitating to file the proper papers, which they say have to be filed. Every foreign teacher that I have spoken to in person says they didn't have to deal with their hagwon at all to get their pension refund. They just went to the office, filed their refund and got their money, either into their home country bank acct or Korean bank acct. I have the paperwork and already went to the office once, but because the hagwon's papers weren't filed, I couldn't file mine. I feel like they are doing something shady or else why haven't they filed(I asked almost 3 weeks ago). They keep saying "we will, we will file it on June 25". My ticket out is on July 1.

Did I read somewhere here that someone's hagwon gave them the money and not the pension office, though? Am I supposed to get it in my last salary direct deposit? I don't think so, but...any info would be appreciated...