Korean Job Discussion Forums

daxdefranco · Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju

hi everyone!

reserve your judgement for a moment, if you will. I still have a bit left on my contract but my Hagwon has become fairly intolerable. two of four korean teachers have left in the past month, and one of three foreign teachers. my contract dictates that i need to give 90 days notice to quit, but i don't want to do that...i just want to get out. I'm thinking of jumping ship once my next paycheck comes in..but i wanted to know - can i still get my current pension? i'm assuming that i will be able to as it's paid into the government and has nothing to do with the school.

any help on this would be hugely appreciated!

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

assuming your boss even enrolled you or made deposits into your into your pension - yes, you can get it when you leave. call the pension office, give them your ARC number and ask what your balance is. dial 1355 and i think 7 for english speaking service.

refund procedure here:

www.nps.or.kr

click 'english' and then 'foreigners and lump sum refund'

romano812 · Joined: 09 Dec 2008

Yes, check your balance first to make sure your boss has paid in. If he has just go to the pension office and cash it in before you leave. You need to show them your flight ticket out of the country, ARC card, and passport. That was it from what I remember. Whole thing was maybe 15 minutes.
If your boss hasn't paid in, you'll probably want to snap on him, and report him.

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

have some money set aside if he didnt pay cause you'll have to submit your 4.5% directly before the pension office will go after your boss for his share. keep your contract that shows your salary, pay statements and account book ready to prove that he was stealing from you and you'll get everything you are owed.....hopefully.

daxdefranco · Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju

just talked to the pension office and i've got a balance of around 1.1 million won...so while that seems a bit lower than i was expecting, i'm still quite happy that i'll have access to it. thanks so much for the information!!

also, for future reference, i couldn't get a good english speaker by dialing 1355 but someone there gave me another number - (02) 2176 8707 - very helpful and spoke good english.

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

how long have you worked in korea?

pension contributions are usually submitted quarterly by employers so that may be one reason it seems low at this point or if you only worked about six months or so.

when they tell you your balance - it should be the total of 9% of your income, 4.5% from you and 4.5% from your employer

another common reason may be that your boss under-reported your income so that your 4.5% deduction would cover the entire contribution and, in turn, save himself, while cheating you out of, the other 4.5% he was supposed to contribute.

daxdefranco · Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Location: chipyeong-dong, gwangju

i've been in korea for 8 months...it will be 9 on september the 5, so the quarterly thing makes sense. i was planning to fly out the 6th, but it may be worth it for me to leave around the 10 if i'll get an extra quarter's worth of money. how does it work? do i go to the pension office, give them my info/show them my ticket, and they hand me a check? or they remit it to my home bank? or...?

also, is it the sort of thing i could take care of within a few days of leaving? that is, if i leave the 10th, could i go to the pension office on tuesday the 8th? what are their hours like? my school doesn't know i'm leaving (bad karma, i know, but...well that's about it Razz

) so i'd have to go during lunch (i live very near jamsil, so potentially it's not a problem), right after work (on early days i get out at five), or on the weekend.

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

the cash is deposited quarterly, but if you leave after 2 months in to the quarter then your employer is supposed to remit whatever he collected from you during the time you worked. the amount is 9% percent of your earnings. it shouldnt matter if you didnt work the entire quarter.

pension office hours are the regular business hours. you might find more details on the pension website for specific times.

time needed to take care of setting up the refund is minimal - 10 - 20 minutes if there isnt much wait before you get to sit down with an agent. make sure you have a copy of your outgoing ticket and your bank info. the website tells you everything you need.