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cronolegs
Joined: 01 Feb 2012
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 Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:18 pm Post subject: How important is a letter of release? |
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With a wedding coming up in September and discovering teaching 26 classes a week is way and above the norm I am trying to quit in a sensible fashion. I've been working here for approx 4 months.
I gave the school an option of giving me a week off for the wedding to which they responded it's against government policy. You can't fly out the country during working hours they said. (no idea if this is true or not)
All these conversations have been on polite terms and there is no hard feelings between the boss and myself so far.
So in an ideal world I want to quit and return to Korea shortly after the wedding and find a new job.
How important is a letter of release? What happens if the school decides they want to make life difficult for me. Does this massively reduce my chances of a new job?
I have seen some stories on Daves where people quit and find a new job as if nothing has happened. Also read on Daves that some people get in all sorts of trouble over a letter of release/bad recommendation.
Would appreciate if someone can clear this up for me. Cheers |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:39 pm Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| cronolegs wrote: |
With a wedding coming up in September and discovering teaching 26 classes a week is way and above the norm I am trying to quit in a sensible fashion. I've been working here for approx 4 months.
I gave the school an option of giving me a week off for the wedding to which they responded it's against government policy. You can't fly out the country during working hours they said. (no idea if this is true or not)
All these conversations have been on polite terms and there is no hard feelings between the boss and myself so far.
So in an ideal world I want to quit and return to Korea shortly after the wedding and find a new job.
How important is a letter of release? What happens if the school decides they want to make life difficult for me. Does this massively reduce my chances of a new job?
I have seen some stories on Daves where people quit and find a new job as if nothing has happened. Also read on Daves that some people get in all sorts of trouble over a letter of release/bad recommendation.
Would appreciate if someone can clear this up for me. Cheers |
If you are prepared to get a new set of documents and start the visa process all over again from the beginning it is NOT needed.
Simply hand in your ARC to passport control as you leave and tell them you are not returning. They will cancel your visa and end your status of sojourn allowing you to start again from scratch after you get home.
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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Since you're leaving the country anyway and you have time, I'd recommend just getting a new visa.
You can check around a few weeks before you plan on leaving. Just tell the recruiters and schools that you're having problems at your current job so you're leaving early. Let them know your plan about when you're leaving and why you're able to return. If it's within a couple weeks of leaving (i.e. 3-4 weeks after the interview) then it should be ok.
Start getting the docs ready now. After the wedding, you can return here as a tourist if you haven't set up a job ahead of time. If you get a job offer, you can pop over to Japan for a new visa.
A lot of the people who have problems after quitting do NOT have simple stories. In a lot of cases they make their own problems by doing stupid stuff or acting like a moron in their job interviews. |
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NilesQ
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:25 am Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| cronolegs wrote: |
| I gave the school an option of giving me a week off for the wedding to which they responded it's against government policy. You can't fly out the country during working hours they said. (no idea if this is true or not) |
That's a flat out lie. They just don't want you to go because they don't have a replacement while you're gone. My understanding is that release letters are for transferring sponsorship of existing visas. If your visa isn't multi-entry, it will be terminated when you leave. Hand in your ARC and your visa will be terminated.
The only warning I'd give, is making sure that your employer thinks you are going home and not coming back. If they file a complaint about you with immigration, that could interfere with subsequent visa applications. Just tell them that you quit, give the notice required in your contract, and be prepared to not recieve any of the money they owe you. You're damned if you do, and damned if you dont. Give notice, and you get screwed out of your last pay. Dont, and you may get reported as a runner or they'll drum up a fake charge on you out of spite.
Either way, you never really know for sure until you apply for your next visa. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:22 pm Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| NilesQ wrote: |
| Give notice, and you get screwed out of your last pay. Dont, and you may get reported as a runner or they'll drum up a fake charge on you out of spite. |
What kind of accusation could they make that would lead to the guy being charged with something? That he stole something? That he assaulted someone? If they actually make those accusations then it will go to trial when he returns to Korea. If the court finds that the former employer made false accusations.... well, it's not going to play out well for the accuser.
You have to keep in mind as well that the type of small business owner who would even consider making a false accusation against an employee is probably also the same type of person who's doing other shady stuff - the kind of stuff that they don't want investigators to notice. If they've got a few skeletons in the closet, they're not going to intentionally draw unnecessary attention to themselves. |
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luckylady
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Location: u.s. of occupied territories
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| cronolegs wrote: |
| With a wedding coming up in September and discovering teaching 26 classes a week is way and above the norm I am trying to quit in a sensible fashion. I've been working here for approx 4 months. |
hold on a minute - who told you 26 a week was "way above norm?" that's barely 5/day - I taught that in p.s. (sometimes 6), as do many others; up to 45 in hakwons. uni classes are fewer but it doesn't sound like you're at a uni.
you still have some time to negotiate this time off if you try hard enough. you might have to compensate your employer for another teacher but that's par for asking time off in the middle of a term.
how's everything else at your school? do you have health and pension? are you getting paid on time? |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| cronolegs wrote: |
| How important is a letter of release? What happens if the school decides they want to make life difficult for me. Does this massively reduce my chances of a new job? |
The single vs. multiple entry E-2 visa is decided by your school and not you. At my second school, a multiple entry visa was given to me, and I traveled to China during summer break without issue. So the legality of leaving really depends upon your visa.
A letter of release is crucial if you want to switch schools under the current visa (i.e. dates). A letter of release does not matter if you don't mind starting all over again after your current visa/contract dates expire.
Black lists are illegal (in Korea) but Koreans use them. It really depends. I know plenty of people that quit, transferred, and/or pulled runners and found another job. It is a little more difficult but possible. Some give up and go back home to a better work environment. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:18 pm Post subject: Re: How important is a letter of release? |
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| NilesQ wrote: |
| cronolegs wrote: |
| I gave the school an option of giving me a week off for the wedding to which they responded it's against government policy. You can't fly out the country during working hours they said. (no idea if this is true or not) |
That's a flat out lie. They just don't want you to go because they don't have a replacement while you're gone. My understanding is that release letters are for transferring sponsorship of existing visas. If your visa isn't multi-entry, it will be terminated when you leave. Hand in your ARC and your visa will be terminated.
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Actually no. Under P.S rules you are not allowed to leave the country except on vacation/weekend time. During the workweek you are supposed to be there.
And there are no single-entry/multiple entry visas anymore.
You can leave and exit the county as many times as you wish as long as you have a valid ARC. |
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cronolegs
Joined: 01 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:12 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for your replies.
Off the back off the advice given here I gave him the ultimatum today.
Give me the week off or im forced to quit. His face was very gloomy, seemed to be almost in tears, and said he would ask the principle again.
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"hold on a minute - who told you 26 a week was "way above norm?" that's barely 5/day - I taught that in p.s. (sometimes 6), as do many others; up to 45 in hakwons. uni classes are fewer but it doesn't sound like you're at a uni.
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50min/1 hour classes? I am at work from 9-5 and have 1 hour every morning before class free (start teaching at 10) but they have us cleaning the classrooms so this works out as 30 minutes.
Then 4x1 hour gaps of not teaching during the week. I spend my lunch times lesson planning etc.
In my opinion its not really possible to teach any more classes without lesson planning at home or completely winging every lesson.
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how's everything else at your school? do you have health and pension? are you getting paid on time? |
Ye I get paid on time etc. I'm british so due to some government bullshit I have no pension.
The school has had big up's and downs for me. Look back a month or two and you will see I asked for advice on getting unfairly roasted for things by my boss.
Since my wedding planning stuff ive been treated like gold and its making the process much harder. So a factor is the fear of missing the wedding, then getting roasted again and treated like shit.
Creating the worst of both worlds. Missing the wedding and hating the job.
However overall the job isn't bad for a first time job...
Learning to take abuse is the start of being a working man 
I guess there are other pros of finding a new job now. GF wants me to move in with her (shes ulsan me incheon)blabla....,
But primarily its about the wedding. |
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