Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Balio]

I work for a private kindergarten.

My contract was supposed to last until the end of February, at graduation time for the students, at which point I would receive my severance package and flight money. They have just informed me that the school will be shutting down.

They have decided to move the graduation date two and a half weeks earlier. and close the school then, so that my last working day is 16 days before the end of my contract, and they will not be paying me my severance, or plane flight money.

Has anyone been in this or a similar situation, and can anyone give me advice? Is this legal?

Thanks for reading.

Balio

[ttompatz]

[sanbondon]

Your post was terrible reading OP. My sympathies. As someone who has also been denied severence and flight money at the end of a hard year, I know what your going through.

Best thing is to maintain your composure and carry on until you finish.

Firstly, get a great reference for yourself drawn up, you will still need to account for the time to future employers, especially if you are to stay in Korea. Being in-country and with some good experience will see you walk into a new position. I know this from my own experience. I've changed jobs twice in my time here and both times it was only a matter of days before I had a new employer.

Secondly, if you're intending to return to your home country, I would consider doing a run when you get paid at the end of January. You may be losing some money but you will also be avoiding the humiliation of putting on a public show at the graduation for the benefit of an employer who is treating you with utter contempt.

Others will argue the foolishness of this. Losing roughly a million won is hard to swallow. However, I think in the long run of your life it will neither be the making or breaking of you. Knowing that you left with your dignity intact and your boss with a few headaches should provide some measure of consolation.

Otherwise, as ttompatz has outlined, the legal option is a no-go. For all the reasons he mentioned, the Labor Board can do nothing for you. Also, as I found out in my own situation, when a business closes down, the Labor Board loses all power to apply penalties on the operating individual retroactively.

happy new year

[Keeper]

I agree with your first point sanbondon but not the second. Should the school "miraculously" re=open the OP is completely out of luck because they voided the contract not the school. Also if they are given a reference for work then the OP is likely going to stay in Korea which makes doing a runner even more pointless.

Get a letter of release and be sure to get some personal contact information in case other paperwork is needed from the defunct school.

[sanbondon]

Agreed to all your points keeper.

Doing a run should only be considered if the OP were to leave and never return. However if he/she has any designs on a future in Korea, then staying the course is the best, indeed only, thing to do.

happy new year

[Balio]

Thanks for the replies, and support, everyone. I'm not going to do a midnight run, since I'm planning to come back.

This may also be relevant:

I found out that they owner is going to purchase and take over another branch of the same franchise in a different part of the city.

[ttompatz]

[Weigookin74]

I'd go sit in the office and scream at the owner every day. Find out where he lives and harrass him, nonstop. Be such a pain in the ar$e that he gives you some money just to shut you up. Be relentless non stop. When I lived in the country, I saw my share of old fashioned traditional emotional older Koreans who got their own way because they acted nuts like this. Have at it hoss and good luck. (Don't behave like a calm rational westerner.)

[EZE]

[midnightpariah]

Name and shame, please. Let everyone know the name of the new place he is taking over. Spread the word so that everyone knows about this PoS.

Also, I would show up late everyday to work, play games with the kids all day, and generally make a pest of myself. I worked at a place in Suwon that closed down 2 months after I arrived in Korea. They told us that we weren't getting paid and that we still had to go into work until they told us we could leave. One girl let the kids have a water party in the classroom. It was amazing!