Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Amai]

Hi everybody,

I did a midnight run (Please don't jump me--it was terrible they were not paying me!) four years ago in Korea. The owner threated me if I ran he would report me to immigration and I could never come back to Korea.

Now, I want to come back (to a better school). But do I risk coming to Korea and going to jail for a past midnight run? how does this work?

Thanks!!
Amai

[Roch]

Yes, you may return to South Korea to work as soon as the original contract period has run its course.

My buddy did this in 2001: Mokdong Ewha American Language School punished him with two months pay suspended because a redneck from Nova Scotia, Canada attacked him in a chicken place and he admitted to trying to wrestle the guy off of him. The fact that the redneck suckered him and beat him up a bit mattered sweet flying donkey tails to "Susan" of the Ewha school. Two months of working for no money for offending Korean ideas of what a teacher should be like when viciously attacked by the same guy who told me that he beat a man to death for the Halifax, Nova Scotia Hells Angels.

[Pak Yu Man]

Yep...you're good to go. Or come, as the case may be.

[Amai]

But I was told that if I tried to ever come back, I could be in trouble with the law since I left "illegally" (I didn't have his permission to leave and I left with no notice) because he wasn't paying me!!

Now, does this change things? He said he would report me and I could not come back? Or will I get in trouble with the law when the find out what i did? He said he would report me to immigration if i ran.

Thanks!
Amai

[Ya-ta Boy]

No, you will not get in any kind of trouble if you come back.

What may happen is that you MAY have trouble getting an E2 visa. This does happen if the boss put a nasty note in your Immi file. If that is the case, you will know about it when you have been accepted for a job and the new boss has difficulty getting your visa arranged.

IOW, nothing to worry about.

[Hobophobic]

[animalbirdfish]

Just get your new employer to obtain your blue note (doc needed for visas) before you leave home for Korea. That way, you'll know if you can get an E2 before you bother to get over here.

[Amai]

You said that I need to ask for a "bluenote" before I leave for Korea so I don't run into probs in Korea right, how do I go about asking for this without sounding suspicious??

Thanks

[TECO]

Even still...

If Korea doesn't work - there are other Asian countries in which to TEFL.

China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong

[buymybook]

[animalbirdfish]

[ontheway]

Just find a job and get your E2 visa BEFORE you come. If you get an E2 you're all set. You have no immigration problem. Many (most?) employers and recruiters get their new hires this way in any case. It's just the normal routine.

[baldrick]

[UncleAlex]

If you bolted because your boss wasn't paying you, then you have ground
for having packed it all in. Instead of leaving, you could have appealed to
the Korea Labor Board, in which case you may have got the money owing
or at least made your case official with the legal authorities in your favour.
Perhaps it isn't too late to report your boss to the KLB through the nearest
Korean Consulate. In any case, mention your employer's violation when applying
for a new E2 visa next time. Immigration doesn't have much sympathy for
crooked hagwon owners, let alone honest ones. It would be difficult to get
another visa if your boss could prove he fired you because you committed
a crime.

[Hotpants]

There's no such thing as an 'immigration blacklist'. I've asked immi myself, and they said that they don't pay note to disgruntled hogwan owners who TRY to get employees blacklisted. They say that is a matter for external lawyers, not immigration. You are only officially blacklisted with immi if you have been deported previously for working illegaly. What immi do pay heed to is their database of people who have come and gone from Korea. They may notice that you have exited Korea before without surrendering your ARC id card. This would be a particular problem if you try to re-enter before your contract you ran from hasn't yet expired. If the contract has since expired, you could probably re-enter without any trouble. As a previous poster mentioned, it would be worth finding out whether you could re-enter before you left home.

Also, this post teaches people that it is rarely advantageous doing a midnight run. If you're not getting paid, you do have legal rights (ok, may not seem like many rights...) You must approach the labour board. You can always insist on an immediate letter of release, too. Midnight runs should be used only as the LAST resort when you've tried everything else. Personally, I simply wouldn't turn up to work if they continued to fail to pay me.