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beatuh
Joined: 28 Dec 2009
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 Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject: legal help... please~ |
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| This Christmas was by far the worst Christmas I ever had. The school that I�ve been working for 11 months and 3 weeks decided to lay me off on Christmas Eve to avoid paying me my airfare, severance pay, and holiday pay for the remaining days of my contract. On top of that, when I asked about my pay for the month and my housing deposit, the school told me that they didn�t have enough money. And now, as they left me penniless, they are trying to throw me out of the apartment. They haven�t even given me my housing deposit that they withheld from my first paycheck. When I asked why I was being let go, they simply told me that I wasn�t needed anymore. They only gave me a few days notice to tell me that my last day was Christmas Eve. I�ve went to the labor office but all they said I could get was an additional month�s salary which I could consider as my severance. But what about my airfare? The lost of holiday pay? Throwing me out of the apartment without even giving me my last month�s salary or housing deposit? Where will I live until this sorts out? � Please� if anyone could give me any suggestions I would sincerely appreciate it. Thanks for reading. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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go back to the labour board and talk to someone else. 11 month firings are not allowed. Keep going into work, even if it is to sit in the office, get everything in writing and any discussions, use your mp3 player or phone to record them. They have to give you at least 30 days notice before they let you go.
Hang in there and don't give up. Don't give up on the labour board |
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beatuh
Joined: 28 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
go back to the labour board and talk to someone else. 11 month firings are not allowed. Keep going into work, even if it is to sit in the office, get everything in writing and any discussions, use your mp3 player or phone to record them. They have to give you at least 30 days notice before they let you go.
Hang in there and don't give up. Don't give up on the labour board |
Well it's too late for going back to work. I didn't go in on Mon/Tues and my contract period would be over by the time the hagwon reopens after the vacation. I think I will probably get the remaining salary, housing deposit, and an additional months salary from what I was told by the labor board. However, I just don't know when.... also the fact that they shortchanged me on my holiday pay and airfare really fires me up because supposedly it would be hard to get. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| beatuh wrote: |
| blackjack wrote: |
go back to the labour board and talk to someone else. 11 month firings are not allowed. Keep going into work, even if it is to sit in the office, get everything in writing and any discussions, use your mp3 player or phone to record them. They have to give you at least 30 days notice before they let you go.
Hang in there and don't give up. Don't give up on the labour board |
Well it's too late for going back to work. My contract period would be over by the time the hagwon reopens after the vacation. I'm think I will probably get the remaining salary, housing deposit, and an additional months salary. However, I just don't know when.... also the fact that they shortchanged me on my holiday pay and airfare which from what I hear may be hard to get. |
Many people might disagree with this but depending on how much you want to fight this you might have to say goodbye to some of what you are owed. You can get a visa extension/special visa if you have a legal matter to sort out and if you took it to the courts you might well win (unless there is something you aren't telling us). However if the hagwon decides to fight it may take a while. Are you willing to stay here for 6 months to get ~$1000 dollars. I'm all for being stubborn but there also comes a time to cut your losses. Get what you can, if that means you have to pay for your own flight, i feel sorry for you but it's better than nothing.
Good luck |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Get a new job, either here or in another country. Then appoint someone you know and trust here to appear in your stead at the labor board. You do not need to be in Korea to do that. |
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beatuh
Joined: 28 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
| beatuh wrote: |
| blackjack wrote: |
go back to the labour board and talk to someone else. 11 month firings are not allowed. Keep going into work, even if it is to sit in the office, get everything in writing and any discussions, use your mp3 player or phone to record them. They have to give you at least 30 days notice before they let you go.
Hang in there and don't give up. Don't give up on the labour board |
Well it's too late for going back to work. My contract period would be over by the time the hagwon reopens after the vacation. I'm think I will probably get the remaining salary, housing deposit, and an additional months salary. However, I just don't know when.... also the fact that they shortchanged me on my holiday pay and airfare which from what I hear may be hard to get. |
Many people might disagree with this but depending on how much you want to fight this you might have to say goodbye to some of what you are owed. You can get a visa extension/special visa if you have a legal matter to sort out and if you took it to the courts you might well win (unless there is something you aren't telling us). However if the hagwon decides to fight it may take a while. Are you willing to stay here for 6 months to get ~$1000 dollars. I'm all for being stubborn but there also comes a time to cut your losses. Get what you can, if that means you have to pay for your own flight, i feel sorry for you but it's better than nothing.
Good luck |
Thanks for replying. But I'm not here on an E-2. I'm an F-4 and I'm not going anywhere. I just want justice for what they have done to me at minimal costs. As far as the remaining pay, housing deposit, and 30days pay compensation in lieu of the severance, I'm aware that I will just have to wait to file a complaint....14days I believe.. I guess my biggest concern is:
1) They are trying to kick me out of the apartment without even giving me my housing and the remaining pay for last month.
2) Who do I need to talk to or How could I get the airfare and holiday pay?
3) Even if the judge does rule in my favor... if the school is broke then do they not have to pay me??? |
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conbon78
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:15 pm Post subject: labor |
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| Go onto the labor boards website and file a petition. I did that and everything was taken care of very quickly. I received everything that was stated in the contract. Good luck! |
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beatuh
Joined: 28 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:14 am Post subject: Re: labor |
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| conbon78 wrote: |
| Go onto the labor boards website and file a petition. I did that and everything was taken care of very quickly. I received everything that was stated in the contract. Good luck! |
Apparently I would've need to fulfill 25 postings in order to pm you. Anyways I'm curious as to how it worked out for you. Was your situation similar to mine? This has been hell for me and I would really like to do everything I can as quickly as possible so I could move on... Could you tell me the link to the site and how I would go about doing that? |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:23 am Post subject: |
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You see? Even the labor board is unhelpful. They'll try to get rid of you as soon as possible and lie straight to your face about your rights.
You should have stood your ground at the labor office. Don't take what the first dindledork tells you as the word of god. That person should be fired.
They didn't give you 30 days notice. They fired you with a few days left on your contract.
Wrong.
They owe you everything. Plane ticket, deposit, pay up until the last day of your contract and severance.
These crooks, at the labor board and employers, are really getting ballsy lately. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:06 am Post subject: Re: legal help... please~ |
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| beatuh wrote: |
| This Christmas was by far the worst Christmas I ever had. The school that I�ve been working for 11 months and 3 weeks decided to lay me off on Christmas Eve to avoid paying me my airfare, severance pay, and holiday pay for the remaining days of my contract. On top of that, when I asked about my pay for the month and my housing deposit, the school told me that they didn�t have enough money. And now, as they left me penniless, they are trying to throw me out of the apartment. They haven�t even given me my housing deposit that they withheld from my first paycheck. When I asked why I was being let go, they simply told me that I wasn�t needed anymore. They only gave me a few days notice to tell me that my last day was Christmas Eve. I�ve went to the labor office but all they said I could get was an additional month�s salary which I could consider as my severance. But what about my airfare? The lost of holiday pay? Throwing me out of the apartment without even giving me my last month�s salary or housing deposit? Where will I live until this sorts out? � Please� if anyone could give me any suggestions I would sincerely appreciate it. Thanks for reading. |
So, you say you're on an F4 visa but you seem to have a standard E2 type of contract. That's no problem, just confirming from what you've posted.
Since you also plan to stay in Korea, this brings up the question: What were you planning to do next week? It's obvious that your year was up, and you do not mention any renewal to your contract. You could have continued on without a contract, but since you had a contract that was about to end, had you made any plans for what you would be doing after this job was scheduled to end?
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You should get on with working your next job, or finding one if you haven't yet. This is your number one priority since in a matter of weeks you'll lose more from not working than what you're going to lose by being cheated.
You should plan to move out of your apartment - your school has no obligation and you have no right to stay there following your contract's final date. Hopefully you have somewhere to go - F4 family - or a new job and apt. to go to.
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After you get on with working, you should also pursue your old employer for what they owe you. It's obvious when you are fired on the last day, or last week that you were fired just to cheat you out of your ending payments, so you should be able to win these issues with the labor board and in court if necessary.
Your old boss owes you for your: final pay for your last month, any unpaid overtime or upaid prior wages, housing security deposit, unused vacation days, 1 year severance and airfare. You should check to see if they were paying your pension and health insurance, and income taxes, you may have claims there as well.
Your employer does not owe you 30 days pay for termination, unless you had a contract for after this week. This would net you less money than what is really due you for severance and airfare. It's odd that the labor board would suggest this, but the labor board reps aren't the brightest bunch - they often fail to understand the issues in the cases they decide and rule incorrectly as a result.
Let your employer pay you for whatever you can get right away. Don't surrender your right to any amounts they don't pay you, but take what you can get first. Then you have less to fight over and a better chance to get more. You can explain that you need to get paid, list out everything you can think of, they'll pay some things, you file legal action for the rest later.
If your boss is truly bankrupt, it could be that you'll get little or nothing. This is always a possibility anywhere in the world, and we have no info to predict this for you. The economy is bad and getting worse in Korea still. Many families have been living on debt during the downturn, and when they realize they're in trouble, they will cut back. This means that many schools are facing continuing, gradual, declines in enrollment due to the bad economy. Schools, too, try to hang on, hoping for an upturn, and then when things are hopeless, they close with debt exceeding assets. Many creditors, and employees are often the biggest creditors, find they can't get all or any of their money.
Good luck to you. |
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beatuh
Joined: 28 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:30 am Post subject: |
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| Yes it�s almost similar to the standard E2 contract with some exceptions. There is no pension for me nor health insurance as the school said I really wouldn�t need it since I�m not going back to the states. I was helplessly na�ve at the time so I just assumed it was ok. As far as my next plan, I�ve already had a job lined up and decided to travel for a month. The contract also states that I must give a 60 day notice so I simply told them I wouldn�t renew (they did not like this and gave me *beep* for it). As for my apartment well I pay a part of the rent because I chose a larger accommodation compared to what they would�ve given me. So technically I feel I should stay until the month is up and also, the fact that I haven�t received a single penny from them yet. Anyways, I�ve confronted my employer and he chose to go through the legal system. When I asked why would you do this~ they simply told me that it would take time and that they wanted to make sure that if they really had to pay me or not. These people completely turned on me for only one reason MONEY. I haven�t done anything wrong and had even worked there for even longer than a year if we count the part-time hours I put in. Anyways, the labor center told me that I would need to come back in 14days to file a complaint and call my airfare a lost� But aside from the airfare I also lost the final week full of holiday pay which is really foul. �Merry Christmas, but we have to let you go~~~ oh and we don�t have any money to pay you� oh and also pack your Shhhh� and get out of the apartment� There�s got to be some way where I can recoup the loss of pay they owe me� please help~ |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:49 am Post subject: |
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| beatuh wrote: |
| Yes it�s almost similar to the standard E2 contract with some exceptions. There is no pension for me nor health insurance as the school said I really wouldn�t need it since I�m not going back to the states. I was helplessly na�ve at the time so I just assumed it was ok. As far as my next plan, I�ve already had a job lined up and decided to travel for a month. The contract also states that I must give a 60 day notice so I simply told them I wouldn�t renew (they did not like this and gave me *beep* for it). As for my apartment well I pay a part of the rent because I chose a larger accommodation compared to what they would�ve given me. So technically I feel I should stay until the month is up and also, the fact that I haven�t received a single penny from them yet. Anyways, I�ve confronted my employer and he chose to go through the legal system. When I asked why would you do this~ they simply told me that it would take time and that they wanted to make sure that if they really had to pay me or not. These people completely turned on me for only one reason MONEY. I haven�t done anything wrong and had even worked there for even longer than a year if we count the part-time hours I put in. Anyways, the labor center told me that I would need to come back in 14days to file a complaint and call my airfare a lost� But aside from the airfare I also lost the final week full of holiday pay which is really foul. �Merry Christmas, but we have to let you go~~~ oh and we don�t have any money to pay you� oh and also pack your Shhhh� and get out of the apartment� There�s got to be some way where I can recoup the loss of pay they owe me� please help~ |
So, they didn't deduct pension or health ins from your pay?
After you're done with everything else, you could turn them in for this. Or, you could go ahead and report them now.
Or, tell them you are going to report them to the pension agency. You'll have to pay your back pension and your boss will have to match.
Anyway. Move out. Work your new job. Maybe save your travel money since things will be tight for you and stay in Korea. Try to start working early and get your legal action going. File a formal labor board compaint right away. |
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