Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rhinocharge64]

Need some advice pretty quickly, so all help would be greatly appreciated. At the beginning of September i was released from my Hogwon and was to begin my contract to work for local government on the 20th of sep. It was to be teaching English to government workers, and my job title was a government officer. My new position requires exstensive checks which have to be done via Korean intelligence, nope i am not a double agent. They the government told me they were doing this over four weeks a go when they first offered me the position. So i cancelled my E2 visa went to Osaka for the E7 visa (at my exspense-nearly 1 mill), and returned to find out that i would not be starting work in September.

Despite the contract saying that i would start in sep, they now tell me this would be illegal until the checks have been completed. They acknowledege that they have made a mistake (not a big one though, a small one) and now tell me i will be starting on the 20th of October. They had forgotten to do the background checks and say if i was to start work then the director of Human Resources could go to jail. So i have no income, paying my own rent and currently wanting to know what my options are.

If this occured in the U.k. (yep, i know it's Korea) then i would have grounds to revoke their current offer and they would be legally bound to honour the initial contract stipulations. They have offered a new contract which means i can work 2 hrs per day and the contract would be for 30/45 days. However, the new salary would represent perhaps a mill and not the 3 mill per month the original contract was offering. They have told me not to worry and all will be good. However, i am extremely concerned, and do not have a significant amount of cash due to my previous Hogwon boss not paying my final month salary. I have not signed their new offer until i seek advice on this matter.

I did not think i would be turned over by the local government and stupidly thought that all would be good. Any advice would be welcomed. Do i have a legal case? Or is it the case that there are no legal laws for Waygooks?

Regards.

[huffdaddy]

[ChuckECheese]

If you and they signed a contract stating that you would start working and getting paid from specific date, you certainly have a case. However, if you just have a contract that only states that you will be hired upon successful completion of submission of all required docs and their verfication and checks, you are screwed.

With all that said, however, normally government office would not blindly sign a contract with a candidate until they have fully completed all those mentioned processes, checks, and are satisfied with result. They normally tell you not to quit your current job until after these checks and verification have been completed and satisfied. Afterwards, they would either send you the congratutory confirmation letter with effective date of hire to work, but in your case sign a contract with specific date of hire to work. And once you get this letter of confirmation or signed contract, then you would have a case. Even then you would have prove financial loss, i.e. caused you to quit your job which resulted in financial loss(If you quit your previous job legally, but not midnight run, you would have a good case), any expenses, etc. This is how things are done in the U.S., but then again, this is land of Korea....

You may want to post your contract here and have some one like Gratto look over it.

[RunAway!!!]

Same problem here with the hagwon not paying. I gave notice at the beginning of September that my final day would be payday (the 25th) and thought that was considerate. That was exactly the 6 month mark and longer than any previous foreign teacher there, so I had been told.

I did, however, have reservations about doing this as my school (logos), which is a small "Christian" academy in Ilsan/Paju gave me reasons to distrust the hello outa them from the beginning. When I arrived in Korea, the man with whom I had been communicating met me and after 1.5 minutes introduced me to the REAL person I would be working for who didn't know nearly as much English and was a nervous, nerdy, rather shifty-looking fellow.... hmmmm. Next, I had to sleep in the school (which was an old, on the verge of being condemned YMCA complete with trailors out back!) for a month and a half (no extra compensation. of course) even though I was told that I would have my choice of 2 flats upon my arrival. Next, when I was presented with a contract to sign, twice it was wrong and had things missing(!!!?) from the one originally mailed to me. Neeeeext, I had to wait 3.5 months for them to arrange my visa. I had to tell them I was quitting the following week if my trip to Japan was not arranged before then. All this time I was seriously thinking about bailing.

I had no guidance on what they expected me to teach other than I was the "Speaking and Listening" teacher. There were 3 other teachers (the Koreans) who taught grammar, reading, and writing (what a joke as their English was often not enough to hold a conversation with me and certainly not without mistakes). There was no coordination amongst the other teachers in terms of material being taught.

I was at a loss as to choosing material, so I created my own based on my title... we practiced speaking alot, making correct sounds, and increasing their speed with what they already knew. Anyway....

Gave my A__hole, I mean boss, notice and he asked me several times if I would reconsider, if there wasn't something they could do to make me stay (I had had enough of the, "Oh, the children need you!" BS and he knew it wouldn't work). So it was settled. Next day, I'm leaving work and Mr. Boss runs after me and says you need to stay until 5 like the other teachers. Well, I had usually left early when my classes allowed this and 'twas not a problem before. But, Ok, reluctantly, I stayed... told him the following day that I would be needing to leave early on Thursdays to finish mailing stuff, packing, getting ready to depart Korea... or he could just fire me now. "OK, no problem," was his response.

Had a feeling he'd try to pull some crap before I left with pay (but not to this extent) so I asked to know what my final paycheck would be and to have this info by Friday Sept 22. He informed me that morning that I would not be getting paid... because I was breaking the contract (BS, as I never actually signed one, but have the one emailed to me that I agreed to) and the final pay would be used to recoup their, get this, visa renewal costs (airfare, cheap-ass hotel in Japan, etc), my RT ticket (there was only a 1-way ticket which was arranged by me in the country where I was at the time as it lowered their expenses), their expenses in procuring my housing and non-refundable deposits (it was an office-tel), and on top of all THAT, my teaching had not been up to standard as I had not spent the required time in the office preparing. Well, that was a first. What a pile!

Anyway, I'm not trying to get this money by going to the office of labor in Uijeongbu-city. I'm originally from Richmond, VA which happens to be their sister city in the States, so I'm hoping this helps.

Anybody have any ideas about a plan of attack? Where to go first, what to say, do, etc?

I know not having a signed contract is not good, but there are bank deposits and the contract with the office tel...

Love to hear some ideas, short of lifting a few items from the school as "back pay"....

Hope nobody else has such heinous s__t happen to them! Beware...

By the way.... did you ever get paid my your hagwon? Bastards!

[ChuckECheese]

Is this "L"House Christian Academy in Paju?

I was offered a job recently, but the contract was pretty shady so I turned it down before accepting current job. If so, I made a good move.

Sorry to hear about your situation. How can you not have a contract with E-2 visa with them? If they didn't give you the signed contract, immigration must have a copy of your contract. You should go to immi and ask to get your copy of the contract. Since you don't plan to argue this issue with the labor board, with the contract from immi, you should at least have an ammunition and talk to the preacher in charge. If he doesn't budge, tell him in some religious way and ask if this is the way you spread your gospel by lieing not honoring his words. And would God approve of his action of screwing you this way?

[RunAway!!!]

My bad on the previous post... should have been "now" instead of "not" in reference to going to the labor board in uijeongbu city. I"m going there tomorrow.

I think they got me a D-6 visa because of the fact they were getting it so late after the fact (my arrival and beginning work).

The D-6 is classified as a religious worker's visa. That's a real load of ca-ca as I did nothing but teach English.

Hope that clarifies things....

and thanks for your post!

[RunAway!!!]

No, this is "Logos Christian Academy". Avoid them like the plague.

[ontheway]

"They" got you a D6 religious worker's visa? Didn't you have to sign your name to some paperwork to get the visa? Didn't you work part of the time illegally? Didn't you make the trip to Japan to get the visa? Where is your copy of the contract?

I'm not sure how much the labor board will help you with your case. You were working under a different type of visa, contract and different legal rules. Most of us here have experience as E2 or F something visas. This is new.

In addition, I'm not sure how much sympathy you'll get be claiming your illegal work time as part of your time worked.

Perhaps "they" owe you some money. Maybe you'll get some help collecting it. Good luck with that.

This just points out the lesson: do your research, get a good contract, don't work without the required visa in your passport, and remember, you are an adult and you are doing these things to yourself.

(This seems to be a hijack of the OP's thread. Sorry.)

[RunAway!!!]

No intention of highjacking the thread, but I see your point. Sorry about that.

Carry on...

[rhinocharge64]

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated. Currently will be working part-time for the government whilst background check is completed. The government have tried top do this but it's me who can only validate my background. They have been told this by the British authorities. Am i right in thinkling that for us Brits the way to do a criminal background check is via the British embassy? Secondly, i am trying to retrieve my last months pay via the Labour board, i will keep you updated on this matter.


Regards