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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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 Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:27 am Post subject: I got fired...now what? |
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I worked at a school in Jeonju for 4 months. I was then fired after discovering that the school had placed an ad for my job here at Dave's. I saw the ad and then asked if I was going to be replaced. I was then told by my boss (I had 2 of them) 2 days later that I was being replaced. I had been given no warning of termination. I worked for 3 weeks and my last day was December 24 (Merry Christmas  ). I then left the next day for the Philippines for 2 weeks and returned on the 9th. I was let into the country without a problem but now I am unsure of my visa status.
Is my visa canceled? How can I find out for sure? I would like to work at another school but my old school has not given me my letter of release. Should I go to the labor board and file a complaint for unfair dismissal, do I go to immigration?...I am unsure of what legal recourse I am to take.
I should also note that the school has not given me the balance of my airline ticket. I bought the ticket and was reimbursed half when I arrived in Korea but I think that since they broke the contract, they should reimburse me for my ticket. Am I right or wrong?
Any help would be appreciated and I can elaborate more on my circumstances if necessary.
Thanks,
Alyson |
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TECO
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:37 am Post subject: |
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That sucks and what a strange work situation.
Are you Canadian? Maybe you're on a 6 month visitor visa? |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:41 am Post subject: |
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| TECO wrote: |
That sucks and what a strange work situation.
Are you Canadian? Maybe you're on a 6 month visitor visa? |
Strange indeed.
I'm an American and one of my former bosses is Canadian (the other is Korean). My visa says 1 year and it was a multiple-entry visa as well.... |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:14 am Post subject: |
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edit for an oversight. 
Last edited by the eye on Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| the eye wrote: |
labor law requires 30 days notice for dismissal barring any unlawful acts you commit.
however, check your contract for dismissal clauses. if push comes to shove, labor law (30 day notice) will override contract law, but you may end up having to fight for it.
i did.
if there is no clause in your contract regarding dismissal, your boss has illegally fired you.
take your contract to the labor board asap. they will telephone the school to resolve the issue.
immigration cares not about contractual problems.
being fired 4 months into your contract, they are not responsible to reimburse you for any airfare. yes, they fired you illegally, but the airfare is less of a factor as you must work 6 months in order to pay off a one way fare.
as for the possibility of your visa being cancelled. it has probably not been done as immigration would issue you an exit order. so, i guess a trip to immi is in order for THAT purpose. see if the visa has been cancelled.
if your school has less than 5 total employees, they are not bound by the same rules as larger hogwans. they can fire workers more easily and have an advantage with severance issues. on the other side, smaller hogwans only get a limited number of visa allowances. so, in order to hire a new teacher with a new visa, they will have to cancell a current visa.
what is the word with the boss on reasons for firing you??
any chance tge new workers are illegal? sure they have visas?
get that contract down to the LB tomorrow morning. then find out the staus of your visa from immi.
you may also want to visit EFL-LAW. they have a forum where you can post your problem/query and get the goods.
good luck. pm me if you need to. |
Thanks a lot for your reply. They gave me reasons that I felt made no sense. It was that I did not get along with the students and that my teaching style was not to their liking. What I didn't understand was that they couldn't give me an example of students who I didn't get along with or examples of what was ineffective or insufficient in my teaching. I went to work everyday and spent 3 hours doing lesson planning before teaching for 6 hours straight. My classes were not always perfect but I handed my lesson plans to my boss for his approval and was never informed that I had some sort of major fault in my planning or execution. Sigh...I'm just bitter about this but I know this is some sort of learning experience for me.
I guess I will find out where the labor board is and try to get there as soon as possible. I think finding out the location of the immigration office is much more important because I don't want to be barred from coming back here.
Thanks,
Alyson |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:43 am Post subject: |
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sorry Alyallen...
i overlooked some bad news.
if you have worked less than 6 months, they can legally fire you without notice!!
however, some LB locales go by a 3 month benchmark. hopefully you live in a 3month friendly zone.
if you stick to your guns, and insist that 3months is the rule when you talk to the LB, it may work, or at least set a precedent.
they do need a valid reason for firing you with no prior warning, but it is up to the labor board to decide that.
it would help to take some of your lessons plans with you to the LB. and i think they should be your first stop. you have to resolve the job issue first.
the visa stuff can wait. they couldn't have cancelled your visa while you were gone, or you would have been informed on arrival and given a 14day exit order.
have you been back in the country for more than 14 days? if so, then yeah, get down to immi.
i'm sorry to bring you down after my last post.
LB:
Northern Jeolla Province:
Address) (561-708) 807-8 Inhu 1-ga, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollapuk-do
Tel) 82-63-246-1502
Fax) 82-63-246-1504
http://www.molab.go.kr:8787/English/law/sub_1.jsp
IMMI:
http://www.moj.go.kr/immi/08_english/index.php |
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sadsac
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Gwangwang
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Did you hand your ARC in when you left? With your previous employer terminationg your contract, he has 72 hours in which to notify immigration of your termination. If he has not done so, he can be in serious trouble. The eye has offered some very sage advice and just do it all by the numbers. You should have no problems securing other employment. All the best.  |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| That 's really awful, and I know you had looked for a job for a long time. I've got a pile of phone numbers somewhere for various places like the labor board. I'll see if I can track them down for you |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| sadsac wrote: |
| Did you hand your ARC in when you left? With your previous employer terminationg your contract, he has 72 hours in which to notify immigration of your termination. If he has not done so, he can be in serious trouble. The eye has offered some very sage advice and just do it all by the numbers. You should have no problems securing other employment. All the best. |
Doesn't the employer have to go down to immigration with you as well and do some paper work? If he's just telling you to hit the road and not doing the paper work, you can, I'm sure, get him in a mite bit of trouble, assuming the immigration people are willing to do their job. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| sadsac wrote: |
| Did you hand your ARC in when you left? With your previous employer terminationg your contract, he has 72 hours in which to notify immigration of your termination. If he has not done so, he can be in serious trouble. The eye has offered some very sage advice and just do it all by the numbers. You should have no problems securing other employment. All the best. |
Doesn't the employer have to go down to immigration with you as well and do some paper work? If he's just telling you to hit the road and not doing the paper work, you can, I'm sure, get him in a mite bit of trouble, assuming the immigration people are willing to do their job. |
Well....I sent an email to my boss yesterday with the ultimatum of give me my letter of release or I will go to the labor board (and immigration). I haven't gotten a reply yet I am sure a phone call will be in order soon. This just sucks because there is a school interested in hiring me and this letter of release thing is holding things up..... |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| peppermint wrote: |
| That 's really awful, and I know you had looked for a job for a long time. I've got a pile of phone numbers somewhere for various places like the labor board. I'll see if I can track them down for you |
Thanks a lot, Peppermint. I really am dissappointed in this school for treating me the way they did and in myself for not being more informed about this whole process....Damn it  |
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phaedrus
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: I'm comin' to get ya.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Alyallen wrote: |
| They gave me reasons that I felt made no sense. It was that I did not get along with the students and that my teaching style was not to their liking. What I didn't understand was that they couldn't give me an example of students who I didn't get along with or examples of what was ineffective or insufficient in my teaching. I went to work everyday and spent 3 hours doing lesson planning before teaching for 6 hours straight. My classes were not always perfect but I handed my lesson plans to my boss for his approval and was never informed that I had some sort of major fault in my planning or execution. |
Their excuses are fake and pathetic. You're a good teacher, and they have some sort of alternative plans, and needed to come up with an "excuse" to fire you.
The other posters seem to be giving good advice about your options. Don't be afraid to just go to immigration and talk it through politely. You definitely don't want to stay where you are, and immigration is the only place that will let you get another job. They may be a bit screwed up with their interpretation of rules, but I find talking with them, and getting them to help you, can be quite profitable. Always get the name of who you talked to before, so that you don't do a wild goose chase with he said, she said, they said... they see about a million people a day. |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| Doesn't the employer have to go down to immigration with you as well and do some paper work? If he's just telling you to hit the road and not doing the paper work, you can, I'm sure, get him in a mite bit of trouble, assuming the immigration people are willing to do their job. |
employers are not under ANY obligation to give release.
nor can immigration force them to do so.
if you want a release, you and the director must go to immi together with the contract and release papers.
Alyallen...your best bet now in terms of getting a release is working on the conscience of the canadian director. |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:16 am Post subject: |
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If you were fired, you do not need a release letter.
Contact immigration and tell them that you were fired. If it was that long ago, your school should have cancelled your visa by now. If they have not, then they will get into trouble for not reporting the termination of your employment (immigration does not like it when there are foreigners lurking around with valid 1-year visas and no jobs). It is in your boss' best interest to cancel your visa. If he has not, then report him -- simple as that. |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:05 am Post subject: |
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| J.B, do you have anything to back this up? just asking, because my experience with what immi told me directly, and what is said on efl law is contrary to what you say. |
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