Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bootsanator]

Hi ESLCafe users,

I just finished up my first year contract at a hagwon on 10/28. They signed a release letter for me, my next job will be starting in December.

I had considered going home during November, but am 99% sure I will not.

Here is my problem - because I will likely not leave, my hagwon refuses to pay my return airfare. I believe I am owed the airfare, because of the wording of the contract, as follows.

[itistime]

I�m assuming you screwed up by making your intentions known. Did you tell them that you probably won�t go home right now? Never tell Koreans anything�especially co workers/employers. Make some elaborate sh l + up if you have to.
Don�t tell �em what you eat for breakfast, what you did over the weekend, who you�re hanging out with, where you plan on going for vacation, etc. It�s either going to bite you in the ass or give them something to talk about. They�re sometimes curious about the foreigner and often curious on how to use information against you. Sounds like the latter, in this case. I think you�re screwed, but now you know for next time.

You can spend lots of time fighting it...maybe you'll squeeze some dough out of them. Good luck.

[koreatimes]

[jrwhite82]

OP - Unfortunately, your contract does not have a clause that states they will give you a cash equivalent for a ticket.

So do you want them to buy you a ticket that you don't plan on using? What is the point of that?

Most tickets are non-refundable, so you couldn't cash in on it. Even if it is a refundable ticket, you'll need to buy it first and have them reimburse you, then cancel it. Because the airline will only reimburse the purchaser not the person named on the ticket. And the refundable tickets usually cost an outrageous price compared to the non-refundable from your typical travel website. So good luck getting them to foot the bill for a ticket that costs twice as much than the usual fare.

Your contract clearly states that they should provide you with a return ticket, not cash in lieu of.

So technically, they should buy you a ticket regardless if you fly or not. But since it is clear you aren't getting the cash for the ticket and aren't flying home, why have them buy the ticket?

Honestly, your school sounds like it's on the up and up. They gave you a letter of release and possibly a recommendation letter. (Unless they didn't pay your insurance, pension, etc...)

I'd just walk away, take your final pay and severance and a good recommendation letter. Many recruiters and schools are calling old schools for references now. I'd say almost all of them. A good reference might be worth more than the plane ticket in the future if you plan to stick it out here for a while. And who knows, maybe your new job doesn't work out and you might need that reference sooner than you anticipate.

[Bootsanator]

I had considered going home for a a couple of weeks in November, but with them flat out denying me the plane ticket due to the release letter, that became impossible.

The way vacations line up for my next job, if I wasn't able to go home in November I was hoping to use the money to go home for a couple of weeks during the next vacation time, but now I might have to put off a home trip for quite a while.

As for the release letter, the only cost there was a couple minutes of someone's time and an ink stamp, not exactly a trade for a plane ticket that I was expecting. I realize that I'm lucky to have such a smooth transition at this time of year (as long as the visa business goes through this week). I don't see it as a "fair exchange" though.

If I truly thought I was just being a greedy jerk, I wouldn't have made this post, as then I would be called a greedy jerk and ignored. I don't think I'm being a horrible person asking for this, I think it's a legitimate claim, but I have no experience with what hagwons typically do, or Korean law in this situation, hence my question. I was trying to go by the letter of the contract.

Although, the contract also said I was supposed to get Air Conditioning in my apartment, but I sweltered all summer instead. I saved them an aircon unit, how about I get comped for that I suppose that's a joke, but only half a joke, it was hot, humid, and not fun.

Hmm, to get into specifics, a round trip ticket to my hometown would cost about $1300 if I bought it soon, $1000 if I bought it way in advance. What I would hope the school would pay me if I'm not certain of my return flight would be the minimum possible amount, aka: "return airfare to the employee's home country" which would be, what, $700 to SFO? Maybe even $650 or lower if a person searched far enough into the future on the right dates.
All of these amounts were found through searching kayak.com for a few minutes, not the most thorough of searches.

Anyway, more opinions/ideas? Thanks, ESL people

[jrwhite82]

Ok, you didn't make it clear that they were providing either a release letter or the airfare.

To me, those are two different things, exclusive of one another. So you shouldn't get one or the other.

Employers are not required to give you a LOR. They can if they want. Your school wanted to, but it should not then mean you don't get airfare too.

If you want to fly home, you should get the airfare. (Especially because of the month time between contracts)

If you aren't flying home, you shouldn't.

End of story.

Is the new school giving you incoming airfare or cash equivalent? What is the new school's rule on return airfare too? You might want to get that sorted out before you complete your second contract.

[koreatimes]

[northway]

The problem with plane tickets, as I understand it, is that it's not a labor department issue. As such, in order to get whatever your'e owed (and in this case it sounds like they definitely should be giving you a return ticket, as you completed a year), you'll have to sue them. This is what the labor department told my friend when he had a similar concern, anyway. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this point.

[nathanrutledge]

I don't see a trade there at all. If you finished the contract, a letter of release is not needed. You simply start the new job and report the change to immigration with your new employers papers.

OP, you need to see what the KOREAN version of the contract says. IF it says that you get a TICKET home, then yeah, you're out of luck. But if it says you get the money for a ticket, then you get the money for the ticket. WHEN you actually buy it is irrelevant. Personally, I had a job where I got return airfare and I moved to a job without return airfare. I took the return airfare money and put it in a CD so I would have the money when I needed it.

So, yeah, from what is written, I think you are owed the money. Standard GEPIK contracts these days state that you only get the money IF you are leaving within ten days of finishing the contract. This contract has no clause other than the standard "if you quit" clause, so why should the OP be denied that flight money?

[nathanrutledge]

[jrwhite82]

Koreatimes- He completed his contract and wants to go home. The school is required to pay for his ticket home regardless of his intention to return to Korea or not. Unless he doesn't want to go home. Than no ticket no cash.

But if he made his arrangement to fly after completing the contract I'd say too late. Which might be the case here with the OP, except the OP said that he got either a LOR or a ticket. Which isn't fair.

And as for the new school, if his new school agreed to give him cash as a "re-settlement bonus" than he should be entitled to it. If his new school agreed to give him a plane ticket to come to Korea, he should only get it if he is not in Korea. However, if at the time he signed his new contract he was in Korea and the school was not aware of him flying home between contracts, then went home and wants the ticket after the fact, I'd say he is not entitled to it.

Nathan- All the contract promises is a ticket. No cash. He doesn't fly he doesn't get a ticket or cash.

[jrwhite82]

[koreatimes]

[nathanrutledge]

You can stay in the country as long as you have a valid visa. The new 13 month E2 is designed so you dont have to deal with extensions to leave the country AND to facilitate an easier transition between jobs. So, as long as the visa is good, you can end a job, sit around for some time, then start the new one - AS LONG AS YOUR NEW JOB IS WITHIN THAT VISA TIME FRAME. As the OP said he finished on the 28th and is startin in December, he might be okay. I don't know the specifics of his visa time though.

The 13th month can be used for anything - finding a new job, sitting around, packing up to leave.

As far as the FBI thing, the OP said nothing about needing a new check, so its a moot point.

I agree that you shuoldn't pocket change, but that's not the issue here either. He is contractually obligated to get return airfare. Not a ticket, but FARE - the money to buy the ticket. Since he's not buying a ticket, the employer should find the cheapest ticket available and pay that money. If the economy improves or worsens between now and when he actually uses the money to fly, that is the teachers fortune, not the schools.

It's simple for me - if they had included a clause that said you MUST leave, or you MUST take the ticket we give you, or some other section like that, they'd be right. But what they said is that he gets the airfare if he completes the job. He completed the job. Period.

[jrwhite82]

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