Korean Job Discussion Forums

[plokiju]

The school is called
Win School (Winschool) English Academy,
93-67, Beom-Eo dong,
Su-seong gu
Dae-gu

I work at their location in Sinmae-dong, though my contract has the other address listed. The owner's name is Su Bok Lee and his wife who is the director of my school in Ran Ok Kang.

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I've come to realize just how much my boss is cheating me and the severance works out to less than nothing so here's the math.

My boss doesn't pay into the pension.
Money saved: 2.2M x 4.5% x 12 months = 1,188,000

My boss had me teach morning classes in the summer. I was told I'd be paid overtime for every class but was paid according to the overtime hours. I was working Saturdays (not in my contract) for less hours per week (4 classes under the overtime threshold) so they basically lied and then screwed me out of more money because I did them a favour my working Saturdays. Doesn't make sense to me either.

23 unpaid classes at 15,000 won = 345,000 won

I also realized yesterday that my overtime wage is actually less than what I make for contract hours.

2.2M /(34 classes a week x 4 weeks)= 16,176 won per class (OT 15,000 ??)
16,176 x 1.25 (amount overtime should be)= ~20,000

44 classes x 20,000 = 880,000
880,000 - 315,000 (overtime they did pay me) = 565,000

I complained about the Saturday classes after I finally got underpaid for the summer classes a month late and they agreed to pay me the piddly overtime wage for them after I threatened to quit working them since they weren't in my contract but they neglected to ever pay me for them.

12 Saturday classes total x 15,000 won = 180,000
or
12 x 20,000 won = 240,000

My boss is also skimming off wages through excess taxes (5%) v. what they tax offer told me (3.3% with residency tax).

2.2M x 5% - 2.2M x 3.3% = 37,400 won
37,400 x 13 (including severance) = 486,200

My school has 2 locations and all the teachers live in the same building so my boss can save money on rent. He refuses to compensate the ones at the farther school for the subway. So this is what I pay solely to get to work everyday.

2 trips a day x 5 days a week x 4 weeks a month x 12 months a year x 720 won per trip = 345,600

This doesn't include various other ways he and his wife have tried to take withhold money from me. Accidentally charging me for the last teacher's phone bills or forgetting to pay overtime, trying to get me to work Saturdays and holidays (I stopped working Saturdays)

So here's the tally:
2.2M - (1,188,000 + 565,000 + 240,000 + 486,2000 + 345,600) =-624,800

That's right so not only has my boss not paid me fairly by denying overtime wages, paying minimal overtime, not contributing to the pension, forcing me to take the subway twice daily to save money on rent, but he can actually pay the entire severance payment and still have saved over 600,000 won.

How's that for a Halloween scare.

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I've actually filed a complaint with the labour board. I've been teaching at the school for 5 months. I'm not finishing my contract so I don't know whether to bother with the pension issue. Even if I only get the 15,000 won for overtime, the school still saves 345,000 won after the severance not counting money he saves by having me live in a building he owns 6 subway stops away. Oh, I also forgot to mention that there would be morning classes in January also so more potential for saving money. Probably enough to cover the airfare as well. So basically I'd make less than 15,000 per class after taxes and after having to pay to get to and from work, and have no severance or airfare (I suppose I do get accommodation). Meanwhile, he takes in a hell of a lot more than 15,000 per class from the students. So even after I net 2,040,000 won per month after overdeducted taxes and all I'm still being screwed out of over 2M won by the end of the year.

[ChuckECheese]

That's pretty sad but funny.

You should have done your math long time ago.

Your boss is probably laughing out of his ass to the bank.

[plokiju]

Shocking twist:

I was fired today.
Actually, it's not so shocking. Since the first trip to the labour board, my school has been trying to document every mistake I make. After that visit, they told me I needed to teach perfectly before I was able to demand anything from the school, able to demand money they actually owe me that is. I was sure they would try to fire me. I told them they couldn't fire me for going to the labour board and the vice director told me I was mistaken. So, I filed a formal complaint with them on Thursday and received my notice today.

It was full of references to minor classroom events (all the kids around the board to play hangman), a note of how I didn't show up for work on Saturday after I told them I wouldn't since Saturdays weren't in my contract, vague references to many students leaving the school or changing classes solely on the basis of my teaching inability (which explains why they gave me extra classes or why I'm the only foreign teacher that teaches the director's own son or the adult class or why I was given 2 more classes a week with the class I 'can't control'(?)). Those classes were actually outside my teaching hours so I told them I wouldn't teach them. Today that class had no teacher from 325-405 (my working hours are 4-10) because they didn't do anything about it.

They also only gave me one week's notice. 15 days in the contract. 30 by law. All of this to avoid going to the labour board with me which I will have to visit again because of the illegal firing and the money they've withheld and the recruiting fee and airfare they will deduct from my last paycheque. Luckily, I asked the labour board all about this on my last visit who confirmed they couldn't fire me or deduct those things from my wages. Bring it on Winschool.

PS Don't work for Winschool.

[babtangee]

Woh. Tell me you're gonna fight it. Did you say they weren't paying into pension? Which means you have no medical insurance? Don't you think you should inform the authorities? How many other teachers at your school? That could be a lot of pension funds you boss is skimming? Pension office won't like that.

[alffy]

[babtangee]

[alffy]

[alffy]

[plokiju]

Yeah, it isn't a bad thing at all. I was actually hoping they would fire me since I could prove to the labour board that I was fired illegally. (also avoid having to work another 2 months to quit penalty free). Their basis is either very recent (since my first trip to the labour board) or very vague and inconsistent or admitting to having me do things not in my contract. I wonder how the logic of firing me for not doing something I never agreed to do in the contract will go over at the labour board.

I'm going to go back to the labour board on Thursday since they will try to deduct the recruiting fee (which I know they paid 2 months late and told immigration there was no recruiter) and the airfare even though it specifically says it's only if the teacher breaks the contract that that stuff is owed. And I'm sure they are hoping tha