Korean Job Discussion Forums

[darkpoet]

Okay I used to post here all the time before I came to Korea... lately I've been lurking just reading everything but now after 2 months in Korea with a supposedly reputable school (reputable meaning I get paid)... They want to fire me... my first day of unemployment will be April 1st.

Of course, I already have a job lined-up. But I am a little curious as to what I am supposed to do. I've heard that I can stay in the country until the 10th or the 14th... but then I have to leave... whether my visa is reaady or not. What is the grace period Immigration gives to relased teachers...?

Also, as the subject indicates, what will happen if the school refuses to give me a release letter? - I mean aside from a ten-thousand word rant here...

[Mankind]

[Jeff]

You're from Halifax? Cool.. I'm graduating from Saint Mary's University in May and hoping to be in Korea by September. Hope everything works out for you. If you're still there when I come, I'll be sure to pack 2 Keiths in my suitcase and maybe we can crack 'em when I get over there....
Cheers!

[humanuspneumos]

Experiment: It seems that when people skip provinces the E-2 department short-circuits. Also- I know first-hand that if the owner of the new school has power with immigration- anything is possible. Talk to him/her about your problem.

A. Get an owner in another province to try to process another visa confirmation letter and go to Japan and return to that province.

B. Go to Japan and come back and hide while working on a visitor visa. (Illegal)

[darkpoet]

Okay well some of that was kind of depressing... I don't know if I'm willing to work illegally so I can hope that it does work out I guess.

As for the Keith's, yeah baby, yeah! It's impossible to get that here, though Cass (one of the local brews) is also an India Pale Ale and not to bad (and also cheap as hell).

Bring Timmy's coffee too. It's not that the coffee sucks here... it's just that nothing beats a cup of Tim Horton's in the morning. You could probably bring a boatload of cans and sell each of 'em for 2-3 times the price to other Maritimers who just miss a real cup of addictive java in the morning.

I thought I heard that Immigration or the Ministry of Labor now has the authority to write release letters...?

[Juggertha]

ok the 7-14 day thing IS NOT A GIVIN! I would not count on it if I were you. You could be fined and/or deported.

IF you are getting fired your manager SHOULD give you a release letter. That being said he/she might try to offset some of their expenses by ransoming you to your next employer.

Get the release letter ahead of time. Bring it, along wiht your new employer and new contract to immigration and all should be jazzy. You should be able to do this all while still in korea.

If your employer refuses to give you the letter, tell them that you have gone/are going to immigration to be released. Should be a prob.

Either way, I would not recomend trying todo it illegal. Don't listen to those who recomend it.

Go to the immigration office and find out for yourself!


*btw, I think its an easy out and you'll find its not too hard.

[shawner88]

I've quit 3 jobs and was hired three more times with no release letters.

All I did was quit, fly to Japan, go to the Korean embassy there, apply for the C-3 tourist visa, came back and started over.

Mynew boss's paid a "fee" and that was it.

[paul]

You might be in luck. Two months is not long enough to run into major problems with your visa. You have 90 days to accept or reject the school. Really! After that, you get your little ARC with your pic and number on it. If you haven't got that yet, you should be fine.

Even if you have an ARC, just leave the country for five days and have your work visa revoked in Osaka. Tell them you change your mind and want to go back to Korea on a normal landing visa. You don't even have to pay for that.

Don't sweat it! Just tell your new boss what you are doing in case you run into problems.

And if you are fired before 90 days, then your boss is legally bound to give you a release letter. So don't sweat that either. Again, just ask your new school to call the old school and things will be straightened up real quick. Believe me, I went through that and I was worrying for nothing.

[sadsac]

The release letter is a handy thing but not a legal requirement, it is a defacto document. Your new employer doesn't need a letter of release because you have been terminated. You do have 14 days from when your current employer notifies immigration that you no longer work for the school. Once your new employer has your Blue paper, it is off to Japan for your visa run. As Paul stated, if you do not have your ARC it is much easier, if you do, hand it in to immigration when you leave. Don't stress on the letter, just get on with starting your new job.

[darkpoet]

Wow, most of this matches perfectly what my interviewers told me today over lunch... That at worst all I have to do is go to Japan, get a Tourist visa (thus cancelling my old one), come back to Korea and it's all good.

Mind you, since I'd have to go back to Japan again for an E-2 visa, it's a damn 'nother few hundred bucks I coulda spent on soju and computer hardware... or at least paying off student loans. But what the hell, it's a small price to pay to for freedom from this confused mal-produced 35-year old company that claims to be the "best in Korea" - but aren't they all?

Sidenote: never work for any company, no matter how reputable they are that will pay you by the class (perhaps 5 hours a day) but schedule you for 8 hours a day (split-shift, no less) and then pull shit on Saturday too. Sorry, everyone but I have to save the rant until I am offically released... even if the contract isn't worth the shit they had in their brains when they wrote it.

[shawner88]

Someone should expose the release letter for what it is...a powerful tool for the Korean employers to enslave teachers. Anyone want to write the letter to the newspaper editors? I'm too busy teaching.

[spliff]