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thelaststraw
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
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 Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:59 pm Post subject: Non payment of pension |
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OK, i am about to come to the end of my 3rd contract (please dont ask why) and i have just found out that my boss is not paying into the pension plan. Not only that but apparently i have not been paying either, my fault for not nowing sooner but our bills are taken directly from our pay and the deductions are never broken down in detail.
Anyway i specifically asked him over 6 months ago and he assured me that the were being paid and it would be no problem to get them back. Over the years (at the same hagwon the whole time) i have had a rather good relationship with him but i have also witnessed what it can be like for those who rock the boat. When i confronted the director the other day it was explained that although its the law its still new and most schools dont pay into any pension fund so theres really nothing i can do. Also it was mentioned that if i were to bring it up again to the boss or the pension office my remaining time would likely made to be hell on earth.
All comments are welcome, especially anyone with specific cases or suggestions.........its just too much money to let it slide, and really, ive been here for 3 years i think im used to hell on earth........
thanks |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:02 pm Post subject: Re: Non payment of pension |
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| thelaststraw wrote: |
OK, i am about to come to the end of my 3rd contract (please dont ask why) and i have just found out that my boss is not paying into the pension plan. Not only that but apparently i have not been paying either, my fault for not nowing sooner but our bills are taken directly from our pay and the deductions are never broken down in detail.
Anyway i specifically asked him over 6 months ago and he assured me that the were being paid and it would be no problem to get them back. Over the years (at the same hagwon the whole time) i have had a rather good relationship with him but i have also witnessed what it can be like for those who rock the boat. When i confronted the director the other day it was explained that although its the law its still new and most schools dont pay into any pension fund so theres really nothing i can do. Also it was mentioned that if i were to bring it up again to the boss or the pension office my remaining time would likely made to be hell on earth.
All comments are welcome, especially anyone with specific cases or suggestions.........its just too much money to let it slide, and really, ive been here for 3 years i think im used to hell on earth........
thanks |
He is right. It is a very new thing. It was put into law back in 1995 for employers with more than 10 employees and 1999 for everyone else. He has only had 7 years to get current.
Unless your boss paid out your contracts each year you are also risking 3 years of severance (6+ mil won) + your air ticket + your last months salary (10 million won maybe?) by pissing him off unless you are prepared to stay here to fight it out.
Are you willing to risk 10 million for a net gain of about 3 million?
Alternatively you can go to the pension office and apply for your refund as soon as you have an air ticket. They will inform you that there is NO account in your name and you can file a complaint. They will deal with it from there.
There is no good news solution for you here. Either way you will face a potential financial loss as well as a potential bureaucratic battle.
side note here: if you boss wasn't paying into the pension plan he probably wasn't paying into medical either. You can't have one without the other so your potential net gain may be substancially reduced by the back payments for 3 years of medical premuims. |
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thelaststraw
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:30 am Post subject: |
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Thanks alot,
Its always nice to know that your getting properly screwed after three loyal years of service.
I really do appreciate the comments. |
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thelaststraw
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:17 am Post subject: |
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What do you think about holding on until a couple weeks before i leave, then going to the pension office, ready to pay all my back payments. Any thoughts on if this would work or not.......This is really chappin my ass as he told me flat out that i was paying as was he and of course i would get all my money back......I am here with my wife and we were expecting about 18 000 000 won in returns........now apparently down the drain......
thanks again.
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| thelaststraw wrote: |
What do you think about holding on until a couple weeks before i leave, then going to the pension office, ready to pay all my back payments. Any thoughts on if this would work or not.......This is really chappin my ass as he told me flat out that i was paying as was he and of course i would get all my money back......I am here with my wife and we were expecting about 18 000 000 won in returns........now apparently down the drain......
thanks again.
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OK... you can't apply until you have your departing tickets in hand. With most hakwons, this means only a few DAYS before your departure (if you are lucky and the day of departure if you are unlucky).
You can enquire before hand but they probably won't get anything done before you leave so your case will get dropped.
If you were staying here you could file a complaint and fight it out while you were working at a new job.
Like I said before, you have NO good options.
They are either NOT easy to accomplish or you risk substancial financial losses (your boss holding out on your severance/pay etc) or both.
You can't win if you are not here to fight. Your boss knows it. He has you by the short hairs and he knows that too.
You should have picked this fight 3 years ago.
Good luck to you. |
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Novernae
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| thelaststraw wrote: |
| we were expecting about 18 000 000 won in returns........now apparently down the drain...... |
I don't know your salary, but that seems a bit high of an estimate.
On 2mil you pay in about 180,000 per month (90/90). You haven't been paying into it, so you can't really count that as a loss. Which means you will be making 90,000 from your employer per month. Then you take out the back payments for health coverage that you would have to pay: about 45,000/month, so you are really only making 45,000 a month from your employer. 45,000*36=1.62 million * 2 = 3.24 million. You net gain for all of this (you and your wife together) would be about that (adjust for salary)... You decide if it's worth it. |
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thelaststraw
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks all,
I guess i will just resign myself to the fact that ive been screwed, however i am at the same school as another angry poster so i will be sure to get together with said person and plan to expose the school for what it really is once we are free and clear with our money in hand.......
Thanks again.... |
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yesman
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| let's do this. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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| thelaststraw wrote: |
| What do you think about holding on until a couple weeks before i leave, then going to the pension office, ready to pay all my back payments. |
Such a strategy would work IF you were staying in Korea to fight for it. It would take about 4-6 weeks from beggining to end.
| ttompatz wrote: |
| you can't apply until you have your departing tickets in hand. With most hakwons, this means only a few DAYS before your departure (if you are lucky and the day of departure if you are unlucky). |
Unless he did a visa run and came back as a tourist, to give him more time.
1) If you plan on staying in Korea, wait to fight for the pension money until you have a new work visa and a new job. Then you'll have all the time in the world to get the money from him.
2)If you are not staying, I would do the visa run to Japan, and stay on in Korea until it was resolved.
In either case, file the complaint with the main pension office in Jamsil (there posts about this office on www.efl-law.com). Once the complaint is filed, the pension people will require you to pay your 4.5% backpayments to the school and then they will get the full 9% directly from the school. You cannot pay the pension office directly (red tape  ). Once the school pays the pension office, if you are leaving Korea, you can then apply to have the entire amount deposited into a bank account back home.
I did this myself not long ago. I took about 5 weeks. |
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frozenpeas
Joined: 23 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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Hello there, fellow angry worker...please let me in on your exposure plan...I've been keeping my eyes open the whole time I've been here.
don't forget that there are a few people who have just left who will help you out too!h |
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soupspoon
Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:07 am Post subject: Stand up for yourself |
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http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/g-index.html
Don't listen to people, listen to the law. Once you get on the attached site, go directly into 'contributions.' Read it thoroughly, and try not to rejoice too loudly. Then, make sure to re-read your contract. They are extremely vague here, which benefits you, not the employer. However, just make sure that there aren't any pitfalls. If you don't understand your contract's wording or feel that you'll show any other mood other than polite while confronting your boss, you might want to find an arbitrator to help you. There are a few places in Korea that will provide free legal council. I had this discussion with my boss last month, and won my entire pension... back-payments included. This was done not because I'm good at public speaking, but because I took the time and found out the actual Korean law.
EVERYONE WHO READS THIS, make sure to spread this website to as many foreign teachers as you can, and remember that you packed your spine before you came to Korea just as surely as you packed about 10 bars of deodorant. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| Don't listen to people, listen to the law |
You've got that right. Not everyone on this board knows the law.  Go to the source. |
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braunshade
Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Location: Somewhere better!
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| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:45 am Post subject: Pension |
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Want to know my plan?
I plan on waiting till my last week or so- then asking for their 4.5% of my annual salary OR I will report them to the authorities.
Then they will have to enroll everyone into the Pension, costing them much more than if they just gave in to my request.
Is it blackmail?
Who cares. |
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thelaststraw
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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Hey man, thanks for the link.
One question though, does anyone know if the arrears charge for late payments will fall on me as well.....Really i dont want to let this slide with my wonderful wonderful boss but i cant exactly afford to pay up to 15% in back pay penalties.......
Anyway im going to do a little more research and do something.....
i like the threaten to go to the board unless you pay me idea....We have over 10 foreign teachers at the school and i know theyre getting reamed as well........ |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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| thelaststraw wrote: |
| One question though, does anyone know if the arrears charge for late payments will fall on me as well.....Really i dont want to let this slide with my wonderful wonderful boss but i cant exactly afford to pay up to 15% in back pay penalties....... |
You have to pay them the payments in arrears, but you will not be penalized or fined, the SCHOOL will. I just finished this whole deal myself (although I was not working for them when I filed my complaint... less shenanigans they can pull on me that way). I paid my backpayments, school paid the total, I got my money back (plus the school's) into my account a week later.
| braunshade wrote: |
| I plan on waiting till my last week or so- then asking for their 4.5% of my annual salary OR I will report them to the authorities. |
Then watch them keep your last paycheque (with bogus bills and charges) and keep your severance and refuse to buy you a ticket home. And unless you going to stay in Korea, there's nothing you can do to make them pay it. You just screwed yourself. |
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