Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zyzyfer]

[Grotto]

the five employee requirement is no longer required

all full time employees are required to be covered by law and have been for the last 6 years.

Foreigners working at the workplace with more than 5 full-time employees were included in the mandatory coverage in August 1995 and those working at the workplace with less than 5 employees including self-employed foreigners were also included in the mandatory coverage in April 1999. Accordingly, foreigners aged from 18 to less than 60 who reside in Korea must be, in principle, covered under the Scheme. But foreigners falling under any of the following items are excluded from the coverage.

��Û Those whose country does not mandatorily cover Korean citizens under its pension scheme.
��Û Foreigners who are not registered under the Immigration Act, or to whom the forced deportation order has been issued under the same Act, or who are staying in Korea without being permitted to extend their term of stay.
��Û Among the registered foreigners under Immigration Act, those whose stay status falls under any of the followings; culture & art, studying abroad, industrial training, general training, religion, visiting & living together and others.
��Û People excluded from the mandatory coverage of National Pension Scheme, by the social security agreement.

[TrouserX]

Hi everyone... thanks for the info so far, even if most of it didn't directly address my original three questions.

To clarify, the 6% tax deduction does not include pension, which I am not (yet) signed up for, nor does it include the health plan, which I am also not signed up for.

When pressed, my boss admits that my tax rate is really 3.3-3.5%, and the rest of the 6% 'tax' deduction goes to other taxes, as well as a mythical "accident/workplace/school insurance" thing that I didn't sign for and have no documentation about. I don't know what this mythical school insurance thing really is, I don't know the terms or benefits, and I don't know what I'm supposedly paying for it, seeing that I have no receipts and it is some unspecified part of the 6% 'tax' deduction. In fact, I strongly suspect it doesn't exist at all, it's just a ruse the boss has made up to justify pocketing 2.5% of my pay (assuming that the other 3.5% is being remitted to the govt, of course--my boss says that none of it has been remitted as yet because they do it in a lump payment once a year, which also strikes me as somewhat suspicious).

As for the size of my school, it has 5 foreign teachers (at least one of which is working illegally), 10 or 12 Korean teachers, and 350+ students. Apparently none of the employees are on the pension or medical insurance, and the boss wants it to stay that way.

I'm pretty sure the boss is using all sorts of distortions and creative accounting to misrepresent the size of the school, number of employees, etc. and has managed to dodge the pension and health plans so far. So basically, my inquiries and request for my pension threaten to throw unwelcome light on my school... after all, if I sign up for the pension, these agencies will want to know how many other employees there are and why aren't they signed up too?

So the boss has at least two reasons to fire me. First, I'm on to this questionable pay deduction thing. I've had 480,000 won deducted so far and have no receipt of any kind--and if my boss can't justify these deductions, then I figure all the money should be paid back immediately. Multiply these deductions by several foreign teachers by several years, and that's quite a bit of fraud that's been committed. Then there's the threat of me signing up for the pension (and maybe the health plan too, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the 'we'll just pay your medical bills' health plan the school offers....).

Apparently the mythical school accountant will be showing up later this week bearing documents and explanations galore. However I'm pretty sure I won't be satisfied with what I get. (And how is it possible that there isn't a single scrap of paper documenting the existence of the mythical school insurance policy in my boss' office? And why the hell would the accountant have all this info? Doesn't that go considerably beyond the scope of what an accountant does?)

I could rant about this for half the night, but suffice to say the situation stinks and i'd rather do without the whole mess. All I can say is, if the boss offers me an attractive early severance package to get me and my completely reasonable demands out the door, i think I'll take it.

As ever, any advice or insights would be appreciated.

TrouserX

[Squid]

Yes Peppermint, it kind of makes it easier to cross check if things are right because you can go to "either or".

[inkoreaforgood]

[Grotto]

to reply to your questions.



So I badly need advice. How can I��

1) Pre-empt a wrongful dismissal? Can I file complaints with some agency or agencies that will make it harder for them to fire me?

2) Force my boss to provide proper pay slips/documentation of my pay deductions?

3) Force my boss to sign me up to the National Pension Plan?

1) this is Korea you cant pre-empt a wrongful dismissal it happens here all the time. You could file complaints with the labour board and immigration about his illegal activities but that has its own risks.

2) other than putting a gun to his head you cant 'force' him to do anything. He has apparently decided that ripping off and intimidating foreigners is more lucrative than obeying the laws. Keep track of every cent you are given and how much is deducted. He is supposed to supply a monthly statement but again he doesnt want to.

3) apparently you are not registered in the health plan either. If you were in the national health plan you would pretty much be automatically registered in the health plan.

Your boss sounds like a real peice of work!

Taxes for teachers:
1,900,000 - 1,910,000 35,510
1,950,000 - 1,960,000 37,990
2,000,000 - 2,010,000 40,670
2,100,000 - 2,110,000 45,710
2,200,000 - 2,210,000 55,260

You might want to look at blackmail. Sit down with the moron and tell him that you are going to immigration as well as the labour board unless he gives you a letter of release and 10 million won.
The fines for this kind of crap can be quite substantial.

[mindmetoo]

About the health insurance, next time you have a cold, say you need to go to the doctor and ask him how to go about using the health plan you're paying for to do this.

[Hollywoodaction]

Ask for your health insurance card.