Korean Job Discussion Forums

[smjstevens]

I began working for a private elementary school in Seoul back at the beginning of the school year (March 2012). About mid-way through May, I got in an argument with a taxi driver because I lost my phone in his car and he wouldn't let me get back in to look for it. The argument escalated to shouting because I wanted to find my phone and he thought I was just yelling at him and trying to get back into the car. He called the police, and when they arrived, they just took me to the police station to have me explain why I was fighting with the driver and file a report about my lost phone. While at the police station, pretty late in the evening, they decided to call my school�s vice principal to tell her that I was filing a police report, and I�ve been told by my Korean friends that they also do this as a guarantee that my visa is still valid, legal, and all that business. My vice principal freaked out and came down to the police station in the middle of the night, not to help translate or anything, but simply to stand there and do nothing as school administrators are wont to do. After I finished talking to the police and explaining to them why I was fighting with the taxi driver, the vice principal said that she was glad everything was taken care of and then just left.

The following Monday morning, my boss came to my classroom and told me that I had damaged the school�s reputation by being taken to the police station, even though there were no charges or anything filed and the police didn�t have a problem with me. A couple of weeks after that, he told me that the school was going to let me go at the end of the semester, which ended on July 19. I was pretty upset about it at first, but I quickly found a much better job offer with great pay and hours, so I decided to let it ride. That all happened around the beginning of June.

On Wednesday of this week, July 18, my boss called me to his office to ask if I had made arrangements to move out of my provided apartment on Friday, the day after we finished. I told him I did, and I asked him if I should expect to receive my final salary on the last day of work, which is normal in other schools I�ve worked at, or on our regularly scheduled pay day, the 25th of each month. He told me that I would be paid on the 25th as normal, but that I would only receive 60% of my salary for this month. His reasoning for this was that my last day of work was the 19th, so I should only receive 19/31 of my pay for the month.

Because our pay day falls on midnight between the 24th and 25th, that means that I had worked 4 full school weeks since the last pay, which is a full month�s work, and I explained to him that I should receive a full month�s pay for that work. He responded by simply saying that there was nothing he could do and this was just how the school calculated pay, that it had nothing to do with the number of days or hours worked. My contract says nothing about the number of days or hours worked in a month, or where the semester�s end falls. It specifically says, �The employer will pay the employee as compensation for all services, XXX won for each month of this contract period. Payment will be made on the 25th day of every month.�

To me this seems very cut and dry that I should be paid for the whole month. I worked 4 weeks since the last pay day, and also worked until the end of the semester. I told him that I would go to the labor board to get my proper pay, and he told me to go ahead and do it because he knew they were going by the law.

The question I now pose to you, esteemed Dave's reader, is this: Should I take them to the labor board just for the final month�s salary or would I have enough of a case to pursue them for wrongfully firing me? If I do pursue them for wrongful termination, would it be for the remaining value of my contract or just a set amount? And would I need to hire a lawyer for any of this?

As always, any helpful insight or advice will be greatly appreciated!

[tanklor1]

Maybe you should just move on... You said that you had a better job lined up. I'd let it go.

[YTMND]

[ttompatz]

Salaried employee and on staff for 19 of 31 calendar days of the month and getting paid 19/31 of your monthly salary.

Move on.

You worked less than 6 months so you are considered to be (under labor law) a probationary employee.

MOEL won't be on your side. It is a fight you won't win.

.

[schwa]

Echoing ytmnd:

Heres betting you got paid for the full month of march on the 25th of that month -- thats how public schools generally calculate monthly pay, including about a week's advance. Totally normal for them to prorate the final month if you're not finishing your contract. I'd say you have no case in your money argument.

[CentralCali]

Public schools, at least for their regular school hour foreign teachers, pay for the period of the 26th of the month to the 25th of the following month, with that payment made on the last day of the pay period. There is no delay. For after-school program teachers, all bets are off regarding that pay schedule. If you leave, as I did, prior to the 25th of the month, you should get pro-rated payment.

[ttompatz]

[CentralCali]

[iggyb]

The amount of money and chance of success don't warrant trying to get the money beyond what you have already argued with the principle.

The principle can still reach out to attempt to hurt you with your new boss. You have to factor that in.

About all you have going for you is the ability to threaten to damage the schools reputation. Maybe if they owed you much money, that would be one thing to try, but that isn't the case...

[hellofaniceguy]

You can sue anyone...the question should be...can you prevail....will you win....

[viciousdinosaur]

Seems like a pretty small burn as far as burns go. I've been burned for nearly $5000 over my six years here. It's like a rite of passage. Move on.

[12ax7]

It's quite easy to figure out, really.

How many times were you paid on the 25th? 4 times, right? March, April, May, and June?

When you think of that as your pay for those months, you'll understand that you're owed 19/31.

[Otherside]

OP, I think you should sue.

Please post back here with your results.