Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bbud656]

My coworker left her contract early. What happens to the severance pay she accumulated?

[CentralCali]

If she's worked there longer than one year, then she should receive the severance pay. If she left before completing one year's employment, then she's accumulated no severance pay.

[bbud656]

So what happens to that 4.5 % out of the paycheck plus the employer match? Just goes into a slush fund?

[dharma bum]

it seems like you're talking about pension, not severance. to the best of my knowledge, your co-worker should still be able to receive her pension either now (if she's leaving the country) or later (if she's sticking around to work somewhere else).

[Troglodyte]

[bbud656]

Sorry, my mix up. Is there a way for her to get it outside of Korea or a way for the school to get it. She still owes them some money.

[lifeinkorea]

She has to go to the pension office and either they will put it in her bank account in Korea or send it to her bank account in her home country.

How does she "owe" her school money?

[CentralCali]

She and her employer are both required by law to make a contribution to her pension account. Regardless of how much money, if any, she owes to the employer, that requirement still stands. If she has already left Korea, she must go to the closest Korean consulate to get assistance with applying for disbursement of her pension funds. If she has not already left Korea, then she goes to the servicing pension office for her area and submits the application there. The pension office will disurse the funds to either a Korean bank account (one that she can access her money from outside Korea) or to an account in her home country. For the latter, she must provide the same information as for an international bank transfer: bank name, bank address, account holder's name, account number, and SWIFT number (or equivalent).

If she does, in fact, owe them money, that should be withheld from her final pay.

If it's not too much trouble, could you answer a couple of questions?

1. How far into the contract did your friend leave?
   
2. Why did she leave?
   
3. Did she attempt to resolve any problems using the chain of supervision, including going to the Provincial/Metropolitan Office of Education?

[bbud656]

She left for what the school considered a valid reason (medical emergency), four months into her contract. There is a little over 700,000 won in her pension fund. She has to pay back her airfare and wants to use the pension money for part of it. She is out of the country because the nature of her medical emergency didn't give her much time to take care of affairs here. She doesn't have any final pay to be withheld because of the way our payment schedule is, but she still wants to pay her obligations even though she very well could get away with not doing so.