Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kim Jong Jordan]

Does the fact that a school has a large number of foreign teachers mean that there is less of a likelihood that they will get screwed because such a number would suggest high numbers of students and thus high revenue. With more money coming in the school should be able to pay their teachers on time, right? Also, would it mean that with such a high number of foreign teachers, the teachers could stick together in the event of shady practices by a director? Just curious.

[crazylemongirl]

the key thing to look for is the total number of employees. As if the employer has less than 5 employees then most of the labor laws don't apply.

[rNS]

In what sense dont apply, my school only has three, should I be afraid?

[oneiros]

They don't have to pay your pension, first of all. That doesn't really matter if you're not Canadian or American. If you are, though, you're losing out on about a million won.

I know there are some others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head right now.

[Kim Jong Jordan]

I wasn't implying that if you have only 5 teachers you should be afraid. My school has a total of 39 (19 foreign, 20 Korean). I was just inquiring about these things. I also heard that Canadians can get their Korean pension money back? If that is the case how so? If any Canadians out there could elighten me to this I would be highly appreciative, thanks!

[I_Am_Wrong]

[quote="oneiros"]They don't have to pay your pension, first of all. That doesn't really matter if you're not Canadian or American. If you are, though, you're losing out on about a million won.

Can you explain this if you are Canadian or American? I've never heard about it.

[Kim Jong Jordan]

Yeah, seriously, what does this mean? If you are going to put info on here you should back it up with examples or such....otherwise don't bother. I come here for legitimate insight, if you have none to offer than please spare me....

[prosodic]

[oneiros]

Sorry. Was a bit rushed to get to work, and didn't stop to think that some people might not know about the pension deal.

As prosidic said, if you're Canadian or American, you can apply, when you're about to leave the country, to get your pension contributions back. Because you're employer should be matching your pension contributions, that means a little extra money is coming your way. It should come out to about an extra months salary, give or take, of which you've contributed half, and your employer has contributed half.

This is seperate and distinct from your severance. In other words, if you're Canadian or American, you should get one month's salary as severance, and around another month's salary for your pension when you leave the country.

Your pension refund also comes from the Korean government. You don't have to worry about you're school with-holding it from you, unless, of course, they've been pulling something shady, and have just been keeping your contributions for themselves.

[ajuma]

I think that Kim Jong Jordan's question has more to do with "community spirit" than it does with pension, etc.

That really all depends on the school. Some places have a "tight" teacher community while in others, it's each teacher for themself. I think that with anything over say 10 or 15, there wouldn't be as much cohesiveness between teachers simply because they wouldn't know each other as well.

If YOU work in a place with 10+ teachers, would YOU stand behind a new teacher who is getting screwed (or perceives that to be the case)?

[captain kirk]

Thanks for the heads up on pension. I could go on into a second year at this haggie but they don't do pension, or medical. Too cheap! This hasn't bothered me a whole lot, but another school that has a mind to follow up on these things would be appreciated. I also haven't asked them to. Any other schools have done it as they know the ropes. This hasn't because they're cheap . Heard that from the head teacher the first month. Rather hilarious.
Yeah, if there are less than five employees the laws/protections for you aren't there. Right, Crazylemongirl!
If there are a lot of foreign teachers in the school then someone's watching whether you get your severance, airfare. The boss might want to keep teachers for a second year. He can't if the other teachers see a foreign teacher short changed.

[canuckistan]

If you're in Seoul and you're ready to leave Korea, you can go to this pension office and begin the process of collecting your pension money:

Korean Pension Office
Chungmuro station, exit 5.
5 minute walk to the KeukDong Building, 18th floor

Bring an air ticket out of Korea and passport/alien registration card and bank wire info

You can have the money put into a Korean or Canadian account, or be sent a cheque anywhere you specify.

Or you can also go/call here:

National Tax Service
Kim Kiseok, International Tax Specialist
Management Division

108-4 Susong-Dong, Jogno-Gu
Seoul, 110-705 Korea
Tel: (2) 397-1483

[Kim Jong Jordan]

This is great news! Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!