Korean Job Discussion Forums

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

My employer had told me that "we don't support the pension tax" and "Americans don't have to pay it" which set off my "you are a lying sack of sh!t"-meter. So with a friend I got my ARC number checked at the pension corp. office.

Sure enough, I am registered as a non-salaried part-time worker. This makes me angry both because it is probably illegal and it is just a flat insult to me considering that I am very much working full-time. What are my options now? With the junior English camp coming soon I doubt they would fire me for raising a stink now, but they would certainly start shopping to replace me as soon as possible. And I doubt I would get support from any other teacher, foreign or Korean.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

It may not be exactly what you are thinking. A lot of Koreans mis-translate 'temporary worker' as 'part-time'. At least in many companies, only 'full time' employees get all the benefits. The temporary workers work just as many hours, but have no job security or benefits.

Not that the terminology is all that important.

Is your boss paying in to the pension plan? It sounds like he is not, and that sucks. There is a minimum number of employees necessary before a company is required to pay into the plan.

I think your best bet is to contact the pension office and complain to them. They have the power to force compliance.

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

Says here...

http://www.nps4u.or.kr/eng/enpsk.html?code=./enpsk/a06.html

...that you should be covered even if you're the only employee.

Questions:

What kind of visa are you on?

What does your contract state?

As Yata-boy said, you may want to go into the pension office again and bring your contract with you to see how they interpret it.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

saint_moi · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:46 pm Post subject: tax

If your boss registered you as a 'non full-time employee / freelancer / independant contractor', he/she most likely did it to save on tax. By registering you as such, your boss has no tax obligations incurred by hiring you, and you now pay 3.3%.

According to the NTS website, on a salary of $2000 one should pay 28,950W a month in withholding tax, your employer also responsible for certain taxes. But when you're registered by your employer as a 'non full-time employee / freelancer / independant contractor' you pay 66,000W on a salary of $2000, and your boss pays none.

I advise you contact the tax help line for foreigners is 02-397-1440.

farfromhome · Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Location: seoul

^thank you!!!

i was wondering where the 3.3% deduction from my paycheck came from.

sconner · Joined: 26 Jan 2006 Location: South Carolina

I'm having a similar problem. My boss doesn't believe in paying into the pension. A teacher I work with who just left got a letter from the pension saying he had to pay in and our boss told him not to worry about it. I just checked and found out he reported only half my income, as with the other foriegn teachers, and changed the date on my contract to the day I went to immigration. I talked to the pension office and they said he hadn't paid in as of now and when I told them what my salary actually was they said only he could change it and if I wanted to fight him I would have to go to the labor board. Does this sound right? She also implied that it would affect my other coworkers, two of which do not get it back and the Korean teachers and I don't want to screw everyone over because our boss is a scumbag. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

If you don't want to screw over Brit or Kiwi or whatever co-workers, that's your choice. However, your boss is screwing you and any other NA co-workers over. Most likely, what he's doing is illegal. You can walk away and do nothing if you want, making sure that you have everything crystal clear in your next contract before signing, or you can go ahead and fight it. Your choice.

sconner · Joined: 26 Jan 2006 Location: South Carolina

It is clearly written in the contract, as are a few other things he has not upheld. His is a jerk and he says contracts don't matter in Korea. I just found out about this this week after fighting with him for months and then having him lie about it. He even made a copy of my arc card saying it was for the pension office. I was just trying to figure out a way to do this without screwing over everyone else. It looks like the labor board is the only way to go though, and then there would be a few other things to throw into the mix.