Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jondepoer]

I just received my lump-sup pension refund from the pension office. It's about 200,000 less than I expected, which I assume means that my employer pocketed my final contribution and didn't make his. I had been checking in regularly with the pension office, and he was up to date as of a few months ago.

To get the estimate of what I SHOULD have received, I'm calculating 9% of my salary and multiplying by 12 (months). Is that correct?

I worked for a Hagwon chain. I'm not in Korea now, but I'm going back.

Has anyone encountered this before? What should I do?

Thanks.

[wesharris]

Taxes mate. Around 5 - 6 % of mine went to taxes.

[jondepoer]

The amount I'm missing is exactly 225,000 - which is over 10% of the lump sum payment. First of all, I didn't think pension was taxed at all - I mean my total salary was already taxed, and my half of the pension contribution came out of that salary. Secondly, that would be the highest tax rate I've ever seen in Korea.

If anybody out there could do a quick calculation on the amount they received in their lump sum, that would probably clear things up.

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To do it (formula based on 12 month contract):

(Total Monthly Salary) x .(09%) x (12) = Total Contributions

Then get the difference between the contributions and the amount received:

(Total Contributions)-(Actual Amount Received) = difference

Then calculate the difference as a percent of the Total Contributions. Go here if your math sucks:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/percentcalc.htm

[jondepoer]

Hagwon boss did not make the final payment. Confirmed by pension office. Those guys are like bureaucratic ninjas.

Boss promises to pay next month, and says he genuinely forgot, with all the commotion of new teachers coming in, etc.

He's been basically honest in the past, so I'm hopeful. If not, I'm going back to Korea next month and he can pay me in cash when I show up at the school.

[bobbybigfoot]

It's likely a common trick he uses. If you catch him stealing, he fesses up and pays it back. If you don't, he pockets the cash.

Probably one in 10 make the call.

Stealing from the final paycheck is commonly done. Expect an extra 50,000 to 200,000 gone.

Avalon stole 100,000 from my severance using "ninja accounting". Adjusted my salary at the very end of my contract to claim I was getting 100,000 in food allowance (total BS). Then they paid the severance on my "salary" which conveniently was 100,000 less.

Then they charged me an extra 70,000 for my "final apartment bill".

[Hyeon Een]

[tokkibunni8]

not to hijack the thread but, is pension only calculated on your base salary? i make about half of my salary in overtime pay but my school doesnt count that when making my pension payment, but includes it in everything else....taxes!

i dont really care much, just curious.