Korean Job Discussion Forums

[perkxplosion]

Ok I�ll try to simplify this as much as possible� My current employer was having some issues regarding her finances and to me it appeared her business was on the brink of bankruptcy (paying me late, employees quitting because she was behind on their pay by 3 or more months, utility bills being unpaid, an overnight franchise change to name a few.) Needless to say, I decided to end my employment at my school.
What sucks for me is that this is my second employer this year. Coincidentally it has been almost one year to the day at the end of this month since I�ve been in Korea. My previous employer terminated me claiming that my �teaching style� wasn�t sufficient. I found out later that the lease on my apartment was up and there had been complaints about the mold issues from myself and previous teachers. I worked with another native speaker at that job and he was forced to take on my class load, I was never replaced.

Anyway, back to my current employer and how I quit� I did so by fabricating an elaborate story that my mother was sick with cancer. I feel somewhat guilty about it, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and do what you have to. So, luckily we are all on good terms and my boss feels bad for me, etc. Also in doing so I was able to give them over a month to find someone to replace me if they needed to. Which, by the way, I explained the full situation to her recruiter so that anyone going into the school will understand the risk of the employer.

Today I had a closed meeting with my director and the owner. I�ve made it extremely clear that when she deals with immigration she MUST explain to them that I am leaving due to a family emergency. I was told by a recruiter that it is very important that immigration understands that I�m not a rotten apple. According to the recruiter I spoke to immigration is getting more strict on cases similar to mine. Next, I explained to her that I need a letter of release explaining that my employment with them has ended and why I needed to leave the country. She seemed very confused and explained that her previous employees had needed no such documentation. I further pressed her explaining that I need it for the pension office. She didn�t think so and called them and found out I didn�t. At this point I didn�t know what else to tell her without turning the discussion from civil to heated.

Regardless of whether I actually need a letter of release for the pension office, how important is it to have a letter of release for immigration? Since she is going to immigration and doing it herself does that resolve the issue? Will I need a letter of release for future employment or does it end at immigration? Was the recruiter I spoke with exagerating/blowing smoke up my ass? I really want to come back to Korea, but if I�m going to be left out in the cold I need to have an alternative plan�

PLEASE ONLY POST LEGITIMATE INFO, NOT HERESAY.

[lalartu]

ok, that was pretty low of you to even think of a story like that, but anyway, im not the one to judge...

to answer your questions, yes you can come back to korea as long as you dont tell your new employer about any of this.

basically, when you apply to a new school, you will have to apply as an inexperienced teacher, making sure that they know you've never taught before.
if you apply saying you have one year previous experience the employer or recruiter WILL contact your previous boss and will find out about your job switching situation, which will look very bad for you. in which case, you do need a letter of completion of contract or whatever it's called. I dont think you can get that as you are terminating your contract though.

you dont need any documentation for the pension office, other than your passport.

to leave the country, you need to present your alien card and they just take it away and pretty much tell you to get out of their face.

i am presently in the process of coming back to korea after several years of teaching there and im having trouble because of one school that went bankrupt. since i am unable to provide any official documentation from that school, most new employers are hesitant to believe me. luckily i have pictures from special events and a great reference from the other employer, so that sort of helps.

but yeah, just to summarize. if you have a bad experience in korea, bury it in the past and make sure nobody ever finds out. do not at any point mention it in your next application or they will never hire you.

[RMNC]

Yep, essentially you've lost a year of experience with this, live and learn. You'll be fine coming back claiming no experience, but you'll probably be a great teacher and may even get a raise or something, so it might not be ALL bad, but still, ending the paper trail is the only way to be sure that they don't get in touch with your old employer and they find out you're a liar. Immigration could freak out too, as he said, being a "bad apple" could get you into trouble.

I myself did the same thing back in the states when I got a job as a bank teller that I hated and sucked the life force out of me and I hated all of my coworkers and customers. I claimed my roommate skipped town and I was forced to move back to Portland. Then again, I hated that job, whereas you may have just hated not getting paid, so it's a little different, but it's just a story that I feel relates to yours. It's a hard pill to swallow, but swallow it you must

Stick to your guns and it'll be okay, you'll get a new job and everything will work out in time.

[perkxplosion]

[RMNC]

Well you could have said to them you wanted to quit and asked for a letter of release, and threaten to contact the labor board if they didn't get you your money and your release letter, but that's another quagmire of it's own.

[perkxplosion]

[Big Mac]

Let this be a lesson...when you lie it always comes back to bite you in the butt.

This time it definitely did just that.

If you were honest with your employer, perhaps you would have been able to get the release letter. What is the problem with being honest and telling the employer the truth?

[thegadfly]

Wait out your visa, keep the "experience" off of your resume, and next time maybe tell the truth about stuff? You lied to save yourself some hassle, and gave yourself even more hassle, and made yourself look bad doing it -- chalk it up as a lesson learned, and try not to make the same mistake again -- there are so many other, fresh mistakes to make....

[perkxplosion]

[thegadfly]

Perx, you are not going to get a letter of release from her, because if you are telling her the truth, you do not NEED one, and since you do not NEED one, she won't go through the "useless" effort of getting you one....

The only reason you NEED a letter is because you are lying to her...and if you keep insisting that you want one from her, even after she made some calls to be sure that a person in your situation did NOT need one, she is going to wise up....

She isn't clueless about HOW to write one -- she is clueless as to WHY you think you need one, since you are leaving because of your sick mother dying of cancer. You don't need a letter of release to go back home -- you need one to change jobs, and you aren't doing that, you are just going home...or so you have told her....

If you expect her reference to be any good, you had better stick to your "dying/dead mother" story at every subsequent job...if you admit you lied to get out of a contract, or if you get caught out in a lie about your former contract, it will probably have repercussions at your new gig -- best not to mention it at all.

[WadRUG'naDoo]

I think it's worse to say your mother has cancer than to say she died.

Anyway, OP, you'll be fine. Write up the release letter yourself and get a Korean friend to help you with the translation. ttompatz posted one in both languages a while back that I used. Get that and have your boss sign and stamp it. Easy as pie. Better than waiting for them to write one for you. You don't need to sign anything. No biggie.

[perkxplosion]

[WadRUG'naDoo]

Just do what I said. Make the release letters yourself in both languages and get her stamp and sign them. Do not wait for her to do it for you. I'm not sure you'll need one since you're going back home, but just in case...

[perkxplosion]

[iwillteachyouenglish]

She doesnt have any problem not paying you, so why would you feel guilty about a small fib? Dude, she OWES you money and is KEEPING it for herself. I'm sure she doesn't let her own utilities go unpaid. You come last.

Get off the sinking ship while you can if you don't think you can get any more $ out of her.