Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

1)I am not sure where to start, so I will start from the beginning. I started working at a hagwon in April. The lady did not pay my insurance for the first three months, and I kept after her over it. Then she lied and said she doesn't have to and claimed that was Korean law and said it to my Korean colleague who didn't know better. I called the government and my recruiter and that was finally straightened out.

2)She had me work on a holiday once without informing me, and I once went to a staff development which was all in Korean, and she didn't pay me for either making some lame excuse that I was working less than 30 hours, which is really because she was a bad businesswoman and lost students before I even came.

3)She and Korean colleagues kept asking me to help her find a foreigner
and finally I found one. She was supposed to replace this African American girl who was a university student and working part-time.
In the end, she decides she wants to keep the university student and after I spent that time making long distance phone calls for which I was never re-imbursed, I only had an apology, not an offer to pay something.

4)Anyway, to make the story short, I lost most trust in her months ago, but not my Korean colleages. They weren't used to evil manipulators.
I agreed begrudgingly to help her find a foreigner after the university student couldn't return from the U.S. She promised me she wouldn't repeat her mistake.

5)However, in the back of mind, I felt she was going to close her hagwon. She is so incompetent. I saw men coming to the hagwon and I felt they were potential buyers, and I told my colleage to prepare down the road for a shut down. So, I was preparing myself for a bad scenario.

6)Last but not least, she all of a sudden sells our floor, and she tells me and my colleagues that I am free to leave. I was pissed, but I was also relieved, because I wanted to get out of there. I called a recruiter.

7)The next day, she tries to pressure me to use a particular recruiter, and I am resisting and getting upset about it. I figure later she is trying to sell me like a slave, and so I explode the next day at work. And I tell my colleage to tell her that she is "a liar, deceitful, deceived me on A, B, C, and D, so to speak, and that I am an American citizen (dual Canadian as well) and that we don't get bought or sold. That I would rather go to Japan or China then her to get a red cent.

8)She has been trying to extort money from a friend of a friend who is a recruiter helping me. I went to the Ministry of Labour in both Daejeon and Cheonan called them. They hit the roof and called a friend of mine a mother f*****. I was using a colleague to help me, but she kind of threatened not to pay my Korean friend, and I told him that I am a man, and I can handle it, and that I want him out of it, and she shouldn't have been a fool to let an evil lady know he was helping me. I also had the Ministry of Education called. So they have been getting lots of phone calls. I can't really file until two weeks from now. I also have a list of all the parents' numbers. Our hagwon is closed. Anyway, isn't what she doing extortion? Are their laws against that? Frankly, I am prepared to make them sorry and have their name spread in the papers or somewhere for trying to cheat me out of my money. If they give me money, I will not bother.

9)I kept an e-mail from a former recruiter where she writes about how my boss wanted to get money out of recruiters. My current recruiter can attest that the boss tried to pressure him to give her money, or she wouldn't give me my pay, and she can get away without paying.

Any advice?

[rawiri]

All this amounts to usual hagwon wongjangnim shenanigans. You have three options

1-leave korea
2-get a new job using her recruiter
3get a new job using another recruiter

Thats about it really.

[RACETRAITOR]

You should not have helped her get another teacher.

[wylies99]

OP- stop believing that ANYTHING you do for her will improve things between the two of you. She is a user of people and a liar. Cover yourself legally, and get out of there. It WILL be ugly, for a while, but later on you will end up in a better situation.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think she was trying to help you by recommending a certain recruiter--one that maybe owed her a favor.

Anyway, sorry about your predicament and hope it works out for you.

[Adventurer]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[livinginkorea]

Never help your boss get a teacher as it could be your replacement!

[Adventurer]

[Tantric Avenger]

Rather than dwell on the past I urge you to secure your immediate future. I would strongly suggest you get out and find another job as soon as possible. Use the owner/principal of the other school to organize a letter of release from your past employer. I wouldn't bother talking with her a minute more. The more you associate with this person the more likely you are putting yourself in harm in some way or another.

Loads of jobs waiting to be snapped up. Get on it old son.

[Hotpants]

Giving your employer the benefit doubt (if it's possible), it sounds like she was simply a bad businesswoman, who panicked and made some poor, unprofessional choices when she knew her business was going under. Collapse of a hagwon sometimes happens, and I don't think it's a good idea to plaster the hagwon owner's name all over the media as you suggest. If the hagwon has already gone down, then nobody is going to be working there in the future.

I agree with others who say just get out of the situation and have no more direct contact with her. She cannot possibly have links to ALL the recruiters in Korea. Free yourself from her shackles!

[Adventurer]

[poet13]

Wow, I'm a newbie, but you're REALLY a newbie. Your rep back home has zerop say in what laws are written or changed over here.
You tried to help your boss, and got a really raw deal. I would suggest, get what you can from it, and move on.

[rhinocharge64]

Op listen to the board and move on. You have Korean friends get them to take you to the immigration board and do the necessary to get released. My old boss bless him thought he did not have to release me after fireing me but he did. Be proactive and get yourself sorted, writing to gov. back home aint gonna change *beep*, i know your anger brother but use your energy in a more positive way. I've been there and trust me you aint gonna do yourself any favours by being angry all of the time. Not trying to be condescending but want you to realize, let it go. Go to the Labour board and file a complaint, 2-3 weeks later a meeting will be called and if you can prove she owes you lolly she will have to pay up. However, sounds like she is in a load of financial sh1te and you may not see a smithering of Won. A classic Hogwon horror show.

Good luck.

[Pak Yu Man]