Korean Job Discussion Forums

[RJjr]

I have now received my first paycheck that covers a full month, and would appreciate any feedback any experienced teachers can provide.

Salary: 2,100,000

Tax: 71,400
National Pension: 47,700
Medical Insurance: 22,610
Unemployment Insurance: 9,450
Deposit: 200,000
Maintenance Charge of Apartment: 114,400

Net: 1,634,440

[PortHardy]

Everything seems Ok except for the deposit.

Is that a 1-time thing or how many of those deposits are you supposed to pay?

I don't see a problem with maybe a total of 400,000-500,000Won deposit but any more than that is too much.

The apartment maintenance is high but so is the apartment I live in. Must mean you live in an expensive part of town or live in a nice apartment like me. It could also mean that maybe you leave your computer on all day or something? I remember that when I was downloading movies and Tv shows like crazy (meaning I left my computer on 24/7) my bills were about 30,000Won more a month than normal.

[ttompatz]

[RJjr]

Wow, thanks for the rapid responses!

The deposit is paid the first six months, but I would get it back at the end of the contract. I don't have a computer or a TV. I use my rice cooker three or four times a week and I use my burner an average of once a day. I stay in the shower a long time...15 or 20 minutes, and have accidentally left my water heater on a couple of times since I've been here, once for nearly ten hours!

I live in the Gangdong-Gu area. I really don't know if it's a nice area or not. There are some nice stores and restaurants in the area, but there are 53 hostess cafes on my street as I walk to work.

I'm OK with the deposit. It's the pension that looked like fuzzy math to me, based solely upon the posts I've read on the subject.

I do not want to disclose the name of my employer.

[PortHardy]

If you are cool with the deposit, then that's fine. Everyone has a different take on this. I've always finished my contracts so it's not a big deal to me either. I can understand why schools want this clause as they've already invested so much money on your airfare and will suffer even more if you skip out on them.

Income tax is about 3.4% of your income so OK.
2,100,000 X 3.4% = 71,400

The pension is something I have never paid into as my employer and I have always agreed to forget about it. I got a form mailed to my home address but I just tossed it as I made the deal with my school. It said that you each paid 3% and goes up 1% every year up to 9%.
Not everyone will get their money back at the end of the contract as your country has to have an agreement with the Korean government.
Canadians will get the pension back at the end of the contract so maybe I should enroll. I think Americans too?? but that's it. This was always a grey area before but now it is law! So all schools are supposd to enroll their teachers and this is tied into the medical plan. I think the only way to not get reported is to not get medical.

Medical Insurance depends on the company they use. I know if you use the Korean government plan, it's 2.2% of your salary so 46,200Won each. I bought my own in Korea and I used to pay about 25,000Won. Then, when I bought a car it went up to 70,000won. I don't blame them as Korea has the highest number of traffic accidents per capita.

Unemployment Insurance?? I didn't know there was such a thing in Korea. Maybe this is combined with something else like pension or medical so I never had it deducted.

For me, as long as I like the school I work at, I'm not going to bicker over a few dollars. Maybe as I'm used to having 30-40% deducted off my pay in Canada so I'm happy as long as I take home over 90% of my pay in Korea.

[ChopChaeJoe]

That seems like a really high deposit.

Do peopel ever actually get deposits back?

[Grotto]

Lets get one thing straight! TAX IS NOT 3.4% ITS NOT A FREAKING FIXED RATE..anyone who is paying more that 2% on a 2.3mil won or less salary is being ripped off!

Salary: 2,100,000

Tax: 71,400 tax should be about 30,000 wonNational Pension: 47,700 Pension should be 94,500Medical Insurance: 22,610 insurance should be about 45,000
Unemployment Insurance: 9,450 You shouldnt be paying this at all....it is an option for E2 visa holders!Deposit: 200,000 Deposits are illegal....tell them they are not allowed to deduct this money...the labour board will back you up
Maintenance Charge of Apartment: 114,400 thats way too much....(unless it includes all utilities)maintenance should not be more than 30-50k per month(50 for a 2 or 3 bedroom apt)Net: 1,634,440

what does your contract say? Utilities? If so tell your boss the maintenance fee is their responsability. Utilities are gas, water, elec,phone and possibly cable

[Captain Corea]

So can I collect unemployment then??

Yeah, right.

[RJjr]

Thanks again! This is really an eye opener for me.

Grotto, your reply was very insightful. If your post is accurate, I will evacuate as soon as possible. I unsuccessfully tried to find a tax chart on the internet, but I would like to find one so I can make a website detailing this debacle, as I can already tell the brown stuff is about to hit the fan.

I know it's somewhere on this website, but since I have a lot of packing to do and loose ends to tie up, how long does it take to get a tourist visa to Vietnam? Also, how much does it cost to mail a 50 lb suitcase to North America? I'll probably just do a jaunt across Eurasia and fly home from Lisbon. I should have a lot of stories to tell when I get home.

[Grotto]

if you go to the Korean tax service website(gov run)

http://nts.go.kr/front/service/refer_cal/gani/refer_gani_eng.asp

enter in your salary in thousands 2100 your tax comes out to 33,430won

This is the government website and the standard that most public schools go by....that hogwans see fit to steal your money is criminal!

[justagirl]

Do make sure that you are paying 4.5% of your salary for pension, and your boss has to match that 4.5%.

We never had a maintenance charge--are you saying you don't pay utilities personally, so this is what the total of your utilities is?

[PortHardy]

Wow Grotto, that news to me. Thanks. A real eye opener if accurate.

I have always had 3.4% deducted and so did almost everyone I know so I thought that was the norm.

I checked the site and it is the official site...the only thing was the symbols you type in are not won but look like UK pounds or something.


So, do you get only 2% deducted from your salary?

[Grotto]

my last two contracts in Korea took off my tax in accordance to that website...I even got a nice return back last year and yes they took off way less than 3%

You can bet your stolen money that the excess does not make it to the taxman!

[RJjr]

Thanks again, Grotto. I hope they enjoy the W 33,970 they've stolen. Let's see...that's W 1,700 or so per day to cover my classes for the next month.

justagirl: To reply to your comment and question, I am paying 2.27% of my salary for pension. I have no idea if my boss is matching. I am paying W 114,400 in maintenance fees for a studio apartment. I know that it doesn't include gas, but I'm pretty sure it includes electricity and water.

To top it all off, they made a spelling error on my paysheet which makes a hilarious pun of this whole situation!