Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cornie_man]

Dude, people talk. From personal experience, I know that there is no such thing as privacy around here, especially in smaller places. For instance, I know from running into one local doc around here who speaks a bit of English, pretty much everyone's business in the local area, not that I was asking either.

Same applies to banks. After coming back from a stroll to a local branch, I walked into the school staffroom and everyone was talking about what I was doing at the bank and, now with a suspicious look, why i would ever want to move x amount of money back home.

Basically, there are no boundaries when it comes to foriegners. Beware.

[Grotto]

its a total lie that you cant work at schools when taking anti depression drugs

I know several people who use xanax, prozac and a myriad of other drugs as well. Some of them long time posters

Immi doesnt tag files with this type of info...chances are your recruiter did it!

[alabamaman]

http://efl-law.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1362

1. Grounds permitted under Korean law for termination of employment

When it comes to the matter regarding termination of employment, Korean labor laws are known to apply strict criteria in determining whether a specific termination was just or proper. Let's look at the specific grounds for termination of employment that are prescribed in the Labor Standards Act of Korea (LSA).

Under LSA, an employer may terminate employees pursuant to (i) taking any disciplinary actions taken (with regard to any improper acts committed by the relevant employee) and (ii) laying off of employees due to managerial reasons.

(i) Dismissal by disciplinary action

It is first noted that Article 30 of LSA requires a justifiable cause if and when an employer takes disciplinary actions, including termination of employment, with regard to its employees. Korean courts have held that a justifiable cause refers to such causes as criminal offense, serious illegal acts, and gross negligent acts, etc. which would make maintaining of the relevant employment relationships no longer possible under generally accepted public notions.

Especially, because a termination of employment is the most extreme measure, taking away an employee's means of making a living, Korean courts are known to be very strict in applying the above-noted criteria, when it determines whether a particular termination is justified. Thus, unless an employee's specific conduct is something that makes current employer-employee relationship no longer possible to continue, it would be advisable for an employer to take less severe disciplinary actions such as suspension of employment, reduction of salary, or reprimand.

In addition, under the LSA, where an employer wishes to terminate an employee in compliance with (and validly under) the law, there must also be procedural justification to that termination. In other words, the law requires that proper (legally justified) procedures be taken in disciplining the employee, including providing the employee with a proper opportunity to defend himself/herself, no matter how egregious the employee's actions are, and failure to do so will constitute an invalid termination.

(ii) Dismissal due to managerial reason

Further, as regards the employment termination, under LSA, an employer may also terminate employees where the employer can establish an imminent managerial reason. Article 31 of LSA provides that before an employer terminates a group of employees, the employer must have made its best efforts to avoid termination and have fair and reasonable standards of termination in place. The termination of employees must have been based on such standards for termination and the employer must have given notice to and consulted with the employees?relevant labor representative (i.e., labor union).

It is the firm position of the Korean Supreme Court that an imminent managerial reason exists if the employer's termination of employees is rational from an objective standpoint. The Korean Supreme Court has recognized the existence of an imminent managerial reason in the following cases: (a) the employer has continuously experienced deficit operation; (b) due to continuous labor disputes, the operation of the employer is expected to worsen to a degree that half of the capital amount of the employer has decreased for one year; (c) a part of the business is changed to a sub-contract system due to continuous deficit operation and, as a result, the employer terminated the employment of related employees; or (d) in the course of privatization of a public corporation, reorganization of the corporation has been taken.

In light of the foregoing, it can be concluded that an imminent managerial reason to terminate will be found to exist where it is inevitable that the employer must terminate employment in order to overcome actual difficulties in management. However, even where an employer with a positive balance sheet terminates the employment of a group of employees in order to overcome actual difficulties or to generate additional revenues, the existence of an imminent managerial reason will not be found to exist unless the inevitability of such termination can be proven objectively.

Therefore, as described above, unless there is a legitimate, objective reason to terminate employees, it is not easy under current Korean labor laws to establish a justifiable cause or imminent managerial reason to terminate employees under LSA. However, as an alternative to termination, it is sometimes recommended that an employer attempt to persuade those employees whom it wishes to terminate to voluntarily retire from his/or her office. It is customary practice in Korea for an employer to induce the early retirement of employees whom they wish to terminate by offering them a reasonable severance package. Though not required by Korean law, a Korean company will ordinarily offer early retirement employees additional severance pay in addition to severance pay in accordance with standards set forth in LSA or the employer's employment rules and regulations.

2. Procedures regarding a court-sponsored mediation

There are two kinds of mediation that could take place in the course of litigation before a Korean court, which we briefly note below.

Under Korean law and practice, courts sometimes suspend pending litigation to request that the parties in the litigation try to reach a settlement. The courts may take such measure even after the close of hearing. The courts often rely on such procedure, which is called court-sponsored meditation, when the legal issues are highly complex or are not clear-cut, or if they believe that the dispute is better suited to a settlement rather than a decision entirely in favor of one party. In such a procedure, the court will typically hold a mediation session in court. If the parties cannot reach a settlement, then the mediation is stopped, the suspension on litigation is lifted, and litigation resumes.

It is also noted that there exists a less voluntary variation on court-sponsored mediation (so-called court-ordered mediation). Under this approach, rather than request the parties to try to reach an agreement, the court may present a settlement proposal for the parties?consideration after listening to the parties during the mediation hearing(s). In such case, any party can reject the settlement order within 2 weeks of receiving the written notice of the court's settlement order. However, if neither party files their objection within the 2-week period, the court's order becomes final. It is then entered into court records as the final decision in the case. If any party rejects the settlement order, the mediation is dissolved and litigation resumes.

[dulouz]

Wow after being told that, I bet you really need those pills now huh?


Keep the trap shut next time.

[huffdaddy]

[Dan The Chainsawman]

[alabamaman]

Deleted

[alabamaman]

[Gwangjuboy]

[Cerriowen]

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Ok then.. cheer up.. its nothing at all to do with you.

They went out of business. Now go get yourself a new job and chalk this one up as your manditory crappy hogwon experience. I mean seriously we all need at least one to laugh about later.

Though... might want to not say anything about the anti-depressants in the future.

[Roch]

[Dan The Chainsawman]

[Roch]

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Sorry I won't be trolled, nice try though.