Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jacl]

[Homer]

[Gia3000]

Update
I had a Korean buddy call the pension office with this sory:

"A Canadian friend of mine has been working in Korea for 7 months. Due to a death in the family, he must return home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, his contract has a clause that states that he must give a 2 months notice. The hagwan is not willing to make an exception in spite of the situation. Not wanting to wait that long, he just wants to leave now and be with his family. Can he claim his pension money or will he lose everything?

If he can claim the money, what does he need to bring with him to the pension office? Passport, flght information printout and his Canadian bank account information? Anything else?"

They said no problem! Bring the passport, plane ticket, banking info and alien registration card. That's it.

For the people who enquired about my job/situation:

I know for a fact that people are given hell at my school even for "not resigning for another year." The hagwon owner made a grown man cry in his last month here because he chose to go home at the end of his contract. The girl whom I replaced had a horrifying last month. I just have this feeling deep inside that things will go sour if I let them know I'm quitting.

Also, I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work the other native teacher and I are asked to do. We just don't have time to do anything. It's insane! And, come July, it will get even worse: make syllabi, homework sheets, vocabulary lists, etc. And, we teach non stop so we only have 1 hour each day to do all of this. I put up with all of it but when my boss cut my 20-minute dinner break down to a 5 minute break ("because you have to do phone English!"), that was the last straw.

I made a list of pros and cons for staying in Korea and except for money, there's nothing on the list of pros. In my book, it's just not worth it. I can make money back home. And, the list of cons is REALLY long.

I know running away is cowardly but all I can think about right now is that in 2 weeks I'll be seeing my friends and family, eating my mom's cooking, sleeping in my bed, breathing clean air. And, no more communication problems! Heaven.

[spliff]

What's the story if someone gets fired? I know they can apply for and get the pension up to the time they paid into it, but do they need to get a letter of release? I've heard conflicting reports on this. If a teacher is fired don't they just have to leave the country and after their visa is officially cancelled they can come back to work at another school? And what about if a school fires you isn't it a good idea to get it in writing...what if after they fired you they turn around and say you quit, pulled a runner?