Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bellum99]

Lets be logical:


1: I have never seen a normal contract that deducts salary from you if you are working under hours. He can't deduct the salary.

2: He pays you on the 10th of every month, so he is holding 2 weeks of salary. This is normal even in Canada..there is a cut off period for pay.

3: Your hours are long but he is paying you. He appears to be following the contract as he sees it...READ YOUR CONTRACT. See if you can use the wording of the contract to justify what your are saying to him and speak to him using the contract and explain that it is really not liveable for you. Try to be reasonable with him.

4: Suffer until you have enough money or are over the 6 month mark.


----The best thing to do is to appeal to his sense of compassion. Look very tired and sick and say many times that you are getting too run-down. Go to the doctor a few times and then explain the situation to him. After he cuts the hours or changes things some, look better.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Next week, after you've worked 30 teaching hours, just stop working until he resolves this.

[fleart1]

hi one more thing. I know its too late but I heard that I shold no have to pay anything for the visa run but this guy made me pay 55.00 for the visa and didnt pay me for the 2 days I flew to japan.

[denverdeath]

[the eye]

[fleart1]

I read someone elses posing a few months ago and cant find. It says that I could report him to the income tax if he cheats me.
When I got here he accused me and my agent of lying because I said I was younger. I coudnt get ahold of my agent for 3 days, not reply and had to sign a new contract here that was on 6 dec 05. NOw I was supposed to get my visa run 0n 13 dec by my aget when I left US but he cancelled that dateand stll startedme working7 dec05. by28 dec he said he had anew contract for the first of the year and I had to sign, this is when he witheld 2 weeks pay and made it 2months notice be fore I quit. I went for my visa run on 6 Ja 06 but when he paid me on 10 January for Dec 05 he took out 56.00 tax.
How can h charge me tax if I didn wae a work visa?? I think I was working illegal and he commited a crime with me.
what can I do to check the taxes paid for DEC06 to ensure I wasnt illegal?
They hang up at the tax bureau because they dont speak English?

[denverdeath]

Tax of 56,000won seems a little high, but I cannot verify that until you say how much your salary is. Regardless, you shouldn't have been working without a visa and you shouldn't have signed another contract, especially if you didn't review it completely and ask some questions if some clauses seemed odd. But, I guess you didn't know. Why was two-weeks' pay withheld? Was it because you really only worked three weeks in December and three weeks in January? If so, I understand your pay being pro-rated for those two months. Even though we are paid monthly, most places operate on a monthly schedule and you usually don't get paid a full month's salary if you start halfway into the month. Regarding the tax issue, you will probably have to have a Korean acquaintance call for you. You should be having tax, health, and pension deductions each pay. Tax depends on your salary. Health is 2.24% of your salary(employer pays the same amt). Pension is 4.5% of your salary(employer contributes same). If you really hate the place, give two-months' notice, effective today. Again, you should probably also get a letter of release post-dated for two months from now to try and cover any future problems.

You may also want to ask why you shouldn't be taxed even though you didn't have a visa at the time in question. I guess that would be assuming that your boss is a good boy and reported all taxes the way he should. But, then again, you shouldn't have been working during that period anyway. I wouldn't try to fight too much over 10 or 20 dollars, but that's your choice.

[fleart1]

man, if you read above it isnt fighting over 10 or 20. dollars. He has me working m,w,f from 10 am till 8:30 pmand this week just satred making my 10:am classes 20 minutes. I am there for 5 hours with only 1 1/2 hours pay. He is taking me all the way.as ripped as he can go.

2) the way he witheld 2 wees pay is the clause I didnt understand at the time that he adid a bit to. It read that salary was by the month and paid on the 10th of the month.. With this he was able to take 2 weks pay..

3) If this creep used me as a victem of a crime and I was illegal and he tookmoney for taxes I will threaten him to give me all my money back and a leter to walk or I will turn him in. I dont give a shit. Money isnt th epoblem. this guy is a criminal and the longer I stay the worse it will get and probably even criminal chages down the line. He is getting worse and worse and my agent cant stop him.

[denverdeath]

You mentioned an issue of 56,000 tax for the month of December, I believe. That was what I referring to that you shouldn't be worried about. If he is taxing you appropriately now, tax is not a big issue. A year of 10 or 20 dollars is a bigger issue, if you don't get a refund. I'm trying to understand your situation, and I'm not making light of it. There's also no need for you to get angry. I wasn't trying to offend you.

[fleart1]

I am not as much worried about the money as I am if he paid it to the TAX department. I want to know if I was working illegally and were taxes realy paid. If I was I am going to confront him and change things drastically.

[Captain Corea]

You were working illegally, regardless of taxes paid (or not). You were not legal because of your visa, no ifs ands or buts.

If you try to go after him via the tax route, good luck! Do you honestly think any tax office cares about $50? Hogwons have very creative ways of paying taxes. I worked for one for 3 years nad found out later I never paid personal income tax. They swung it into another work fund. Do you know what the tax office said? NADDA! They could care less.



The problem is your schedule. You were not careful about signing and are now paying the price. I agree with the above posters in talking to your employer and or being firm with it (just make sure oyu are in a position to do so).

[the_beaver]

Your schedule sucks.

But, prep time is not teaching time.

[bellum99]

Remember that it is your fault you were working illegally. You can't use that as a threat because nothing will happen to the boss now. In fact it is your reponsibility to be sure you are legal in this country...ignorance of the law is not a defense. You needed to be firm before.
If you hate it so much then you have no real choice. Have a serious talk with the boss and then give notice (prepare to have to go home until the contract is over).

[Grotto]

Usually I dont dis someone for spelling or grammer in their posts...but MAN! Clean it up a little!

If you are having a bad time, feeling ripped off from your boss and treated like crap. Leave, find another job and dont look back. Get a stack of papers and ask him to sign them, letters to your parents etc...slip a letter of release into the pile and then stamp it with the school chop. Get paid and get out.

[fleart1]

He told me I was working legally. According to you he has no liability. I got a visa for the counry and was told that it was legal temporarily/ I guess you will say that even if he kept the taxes he isnt liable. What am I liable for ?? What are the consequences?
As for slipping him something.
I tried to get him to sign tht he refusd to give me overtime last night and he would not sign. He owes me 16 hours for doing evaluations.
Also, 2 weeks ago he gave me a temp schedule and said it was good for 2 weeks. for term break. Monday he called me at 12:00 (not in morning but afternoon) and said I was late. There is nothing I can do, he is taking 1/2 day pay now... He is going all the way..
you guys keep saying that he cant do things but he does them and you say there is no way to stop him. You keep saying that it is my fault for signing the contract. Well the contrac doesnt mean anything because he just does as he pleases, got it!