Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

Interesting note about severance pay for hagwon teachers. Many times people post here saying they've been screwed out of their severance pay. Users have noted that by law a hagwon has to pay. As it turns out, this may well not be the case. If you work less than 40 hours a week, you're not entitled. Since most of us work 25 hour weeks, it would seem there is no legal basis for such a claim, aside from a contracted basis:

http://usembassy.state.gov/seoul/wwwh3550.html

SEVERANCE PAY (Taechikum)
The Embassy receives many inquiries and complaints about severance pay issues. It is a good idea to broach this subject early in your employment, and to be prepared for resistance. By Korean law, discussed below, all full-time employees, Korean or foreign, are entitled to receive severance pay of one month's salary for each year of employment. Employers cannot ask you to waive this, nor can they get around it by employing you on an 11-month contract. However, Korean courts have ruled that unless a Hakwon instructor actually TEACHES 40 or more hours per week, as spelled out contractually, he is NOT 'full-time' and is NOT eligible for severance pay.

[keithinkorea]

The US government is notoriously paranoid in Korea. I don't know a lot about law, but very few teachers don't get their severance pay. Many get screwed in other ways but your severance is almost guaranteed. American friends of mine get emails every so often saying "Be careful, every Korean is out to get you avoid the Hongkik Uni area" and other such nonsense, it's almost like they're trying to make Americans paranoid.

Maybe the Korean courts once ruled that part timers don't get severance and the Embassy misunderstood that we work on contracts. Anyway my BS detector went on red alert after reading your post. I think the US embassy is full of it.

It's in the contract and it is a none negotiabel thing.

[Grotto]

But isnt there a huge contradiction going on here?

To qualify for an E-2 visa you must be a full time employee.
Soooooo......even if you only work 25-30 hours a week are we not technically full time employees?

[Hagwon Muppet]

[dulouz]

The embassy might be right about one aspect of the interpretation. However....I cannot imagine an institute owner forking over W2,000,000
when they don't need to. Methinks they missed something.

Full tuime here here in korea, I think is not 40 hours. I think its more.