Korean Job Discussion Forums

harixseldon · Joined: 27 Nov 2004 Location: Anseong

Things came to a climax between myself and the boss of my old hogwan today.

When I left there, he promised to pay me for the last month I worked there. He never paid and didn't respond to my emails or phonecalls until I threated going to the labor board.

In the email, he wrote that the recruiting agency told him that he didn't have to pay me that month because of the cost from my plane ticket. I responded that my contract didn't say anything about me paying back any money if I was dismissed. I was sort of right. I looked at my contract, here's an snipit:

"Round trip airfare will be provided by the Institute. If the instructor fails to complete the full year term due to negligence of duty of failure to honor the terms of this contract, the institute may request reimbursement from the instructor for the amount of the airfare. If the Institute voluntarily elects to dismiss the instructor, through no fault of the instructor, the Institute may not request reimbursement for the amount of the airfare."

Now I think that I was dismissed through no fault of my own. Later on in the contract it states:

"Dismissal
The employer and employee agree that this agreement is fully legal and binding under the laws of the Republic of Korea and may be terminated by the employer at any time should one of the conditions arise:
d. The employee's class enrollment drops below institute's average enrollment for the three consecutive months."

This is why I was fired. So who's right? Me or him? It's tricky wording. I feel that I was voluntarily dismissed not through negligence of duty.

Grotto · Joined: 21 Mar 2004

This is one reason people need to stop signing stupid contracts with stupid clauses.

Why did you sign a contract with such ambiguous clauses?

harixseldon · Joined: 27 Nov 2004 Location: Anseong

pegpig · Joined: 10 May 2005

I think you'd have trouble winning that one in a country with enforced laws. Korea? Forget about it.

You may want to try to have him deduct for half of the airfare. In any case I wouldn't think that your airfare would be an entire month's salary unless you were getting squat or you had an expensive flight.

Col.Brandon · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Location: Seoul

You could go to immigration and say you have no way to get home. Your boss has sponsored you, so he's responsible for you in Korea. Not sure if that would fly, (excuse the pun) but it may be worth a go. Does anyone know if that would work?

turtlepi1 · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Grotto · Joined: 21 Mar 2004

From what I have heard the labour board has taken the stance that the airfare is prorated over a 12 month period

6 months for the ticket in and 6 months for the ticket out

So if you work 5 months and then leave you are supposed to pay the employer 1/6 of the cost of the ticket here.

pegpig · Joined: 10 May 2005

prosodic · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: ��

I'm thinking that it would have to be a pretty expensive plane ticket for it to be equal to your entire last month's salary. I could be wrong about that, but letting us know how much the plane ticket cost and the amount of salary owed might help the discussion to move along.

harixseldon · Joined: 27 Nov 2004 Location: Anseong

I'm not sure how much the plane ticket was. The point is not does he owe me some of my last month wage. The point is, from what I read in the contract, I don't owe him anything. Enrollment going down was in the contract as a reason for dismissel but enrollment wasn't mentioned in my duties. There wasn't a faliure to complete my duties.

Oh and I should mention that I was only given a week of notice when I was dismissed and I had only taught there for 2 months, not 3 months like in the contract, when I was dismissed.

I'm going after my money because the idea of me getting the labor board involved scared this guy enough to finally respond to my emails and phonecalls.

tommynomad · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Location: on the move

peppermint · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject:

I know that when the school applies for the blue paper, they have to sign a legal document saying that they are responsible for you, and your transportation home- this has to be notarized and everything ( got a copy of the doc on my home computer). It's part of the paperwork that immigration requires to issue an E-2

I've been told that the labor board doesn't really deal with that document, but perhaps if you took the director to court, it might hold some weight.

Gord · Joined: 25 Feb 2003

Why were you dismissed? That pretty much will be the sole deciding factor.

harixseldon · Joined: 27 Nov 2004 Location: Anseong