Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mrroboto]

Hi guys, I've got a major issue that's just cropped up. Basically my boss wants me to work for free for 2 weeks and take a pay cut on my severance, for no particularly convincing reason. It's a big mess of an affair, so I'm sorry for the huge post. I'll explain the background of the situation first, then update as to where it stands now.

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Some basic things:
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First, my boss is not proficient at speaking English, so communication has been strained since day one.

My first working day in Korea was the 23rd of September, 2002, which was also my arrival day in Korea. This can be proved in several ways: My airline ticket dates, my web log, and the official dates in my contract. The boss simply says he "can't remember" so he wants it his way. I didn't come with an E2, but rather on a tourist visa, heading to Japan a month later (I didn't understand this was illegal at the time).

The boss mistakenly marked my pay day as being the from the 25th to the 24th of every month, instead of the 23rd to the 22nd. This wasn't corrected as he told me it was ok and really, I was just gullible.

Secondly, in my naivety, I came over here on a contract worth 1.8 mill a month. Stupid, I know, and .1 or .2 lower than the other teachers at my school. So it's not like I've been breaking the bank for him with my monetary demands all year.
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My contract finish date is on the 24th of September. I had originally planned to leave early to be home in time for school, so I didn't book off vacation time this year, telling my boss that I would use those two weeks to leave early. He indicated that this was acceptable. This was discussed 4 months before my contractual finish date.

About a month from my planned (not contractual, but verbally negotiated) finish date, I went to discuss with him the details to make sure everything was ok. He suddenly exploded and asserted that I wouldn't be getting a bonus as my contract wasn't complete. This obviously wasn't what I'd planned or thought would happen, so we fought.

In order to secure an early release, he demanded I accept his supposed finish date of the 26th of September, effectively given himself a 3 days bonus. I was desperately negotiating for an early release date to accommodate school, which was the 29th of August. September has the vacation of Choo-sok for 3 days, so rolling in my 10 days paid vacation gave me 13 days to work with. We negotiated 11 hours of overtime to be 2 days off in September instead of payment, bringing that total up to 15 days of paid vacation time.

Conceding defeat over the theft of 3 days work, I signed an agreement on paper outlining the exact sums he would pay me on the agreed date of August 29th. The 15 working days from the 26th, minus payment for 3 days work (2nd, 3rd and 4th of September) worked out to that aforementioned finish-date of the 29th. We both signed and agreed it would be fine.

My contract states two things about vacation: that I will receive 10 days of paid vacation, and that the employer must designate this periods.
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This is where another snag hit.
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I tried to a book a flight on time, but that proved impossible as everything was already booked on the 29th of August, on to the 18th of September. There were tickets available on other airlines, and I gave him all the necessary information... he refused to buy me a new ticket out of Korea but he told me he could get me a refund of the round-trip ticket that I could put towards a purchase of my own.

The refund turned out to be worth 200,000 won, so I declined that option and told him I would stay in the apartment until my flight on the 18th as he'd refused to buy a different ticket. I felt that he couldn't argue against me as this was officially my vacation time so the house should still be in my possession. He didn't respond initially to this suggestion. At this point, the agreement meant he would pay me my original salary, the severance, and deduct the 3 days pay for a total of 3,270,600 won.

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At this point, I was forced to defer entrance to my university program as I would be arriving much too late.
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Later on, he told another teacher that if I wanted to stay in the apartment I would have to work. I approached the vice-principal on this subject, and he assured me that the teacher had made a mistake translating. We agreed that if I were to work until the 17th, I would have to be paid fully for this time.

Since my agreed finish date was the 29th of August, I would be working a total of 10 extra days up to and including the 17th of September. I demanded that I be paid an overtime wage for this period, partly to make up for the 3 days the principal had stolen from me. After the vice and the principal argued with each other for several minutes, the principal finally agreed in my favour. At this point, it seemed everything was resolved.

Just to make sure, I created a mock pay-sheet for the boss, detailing the 10 days of extra pay I would receive (60 hours * 18,000 won per hour == 1,080,000 won). The vice agreed it was correct, but the boss was always busy so I couldn't show it to him. This meant he would pay me a total of 4,350,600 won.

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Today's Twist....
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We had a big meeting today to discuss the new teacher's grievances with the current schedule. After some amicable discussions, the boss asked if there were any other problems. I hesitantly brought up my severance, as it was the 28th of August, and our previously negotiated deal was signed with a pay date of the 29th of August. He took at a look at the calculations and started freaking out, saying it was wrong.

After a 2 hour debate between the boss, the vice, and the three foreign teachers, there is still no resolution. The boss somehow got the impression that he would pay me 3 thousand won an hour for those 10 days (18,000 won minus 15,000 won he thinks he's already paid). I refused to budge on this, saying he must either pay me for the 10 days extra service (for a total of 4,350,600 won), or I would finish on the 29th of August and expect the monthly and severance pays totaling 3,270,600 won. He won't agree to the later as his E2 visa for my replacement teacher begins on the 18th of September.

There is no resolution yet, and the debate is set for tomorrow at 5:30. The boss's negotiation style consists of yelling in Korean, constant interruption and rudeness. He uses his inability to speak English as a shield to protect himself from his employees arguments. Today, he just kept on bringing up old issues that have already been settled, and yelling about them in hopes that I'll give in.

I'm at the point where I feel I've already made generous concessions in his favour, and he just continues to change the deal every week to steal more money from my final paycheck. I'm at the point where I need to explore legal or governmental action. I need to know the legality of denying vacation time. I'm unable to change my last date of work because the ticket has been reserved and no other times are available.

Anyways, that's my situation, I would appreciate some advice on the matter. I'm going to email this to EFL law in hopes that they have some legal advice, and maybe contact the local labour board. The teacher's are considering organizing a strike, but I'm also hesitant as I don't want to hurt my chances for remuneration. I know it's a big mess, but thanks for reading to the end.

[Tancred]

i don't have any advice, but i read your story and sympathize with you...good luck and let us know what happens...

[Wombat]

I read all the way to end. I don't know that anything I have to say will help you...but in any case, I sympathise completely. Stand your ground. I hope things work out for the best...

W.

[wildBillLee]

What a sad tale. I don't have your patience when it comes to dealing with unscrupulous people. I generally just cut my loses and leave. Pack my bags, shut out the lights, close the door, say goodbye, and head for the airport. And if the 'subject' is smart, he/she/it will stay out of my way as I climb into the taxi.

[some waygug-in]

Not that I have any "sage" advice to offer, but here's what I would do. I would draft a letter to the school/employer stating that you have completed your year of work according to your contract and are entitled to the benefits and renumeration set out in that agreement.

If he doesn't want to pay you your return ticket and the full amount owed, you will have no choice but to report him (personally) and his school to the Korean Labour board, Korean Immigration, The US Embassy, the Canadian Embassy, the Australian Embassy, the British Embassy, the New Zealand Embassy, the South African Embassy, the Philipino Embassy and any and all black list sites that your can find on the internet.


State that you don't want to do this, but if he won't pay you then you will have no choice.

Make sure that he understands what this will mean to his future hiring prospects.

Good Luck, I hope it works.

[mishlert]

Go to http://www.efl-law.com/ and find the phone number you need to call and then explain your situation; you may need to e-mail it as well.
DO NOT tell anyone at the school what you are doing as it may get back to your boss.
He will get a letter from them wanting to meet with all parties involved, and since they are Korean he hide behind his lack of "language skills".
When you go to the meeting bring everything no matter how unimportant it may seem.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[hadeshorn]

I would just scream and punch the ignorant *beep*.

[mrroboto]

Hey folks, thanks for your replies...

The dress code is pretty casual, so I made a point of wearing my best suit to work this past Friday (The day after the latest fight in my original post). The management was all confused as to why i'd done this, and asked inquiringly to other employees. The Korean English teachers informed them that I was going to have a meeting with the labour board that afternoon if there was no resolution achieved at lunch.

Purely a bluff, but it got them scared.

They caved into my argument with surprising ease, deciding to pay full salary and severance for a work period ending on the 1st of september. They also asked for me to stay until the 8th, with every hour counting as overtime pay. I'll be payed salary+severance+OT on the 8th, assuming it's not another packet of lies.

When I'm finished, I'll post the school's name so that everyone knows who to avoid. It's left me pretty bitter. Watch out for the scum guys, and be strong!

[lesza]

It's good to hear a positive outcome mrroboto... the only thing I would suggest is getting the majority of your money up front as soon as possible and then just have the overtime pay outstanding.

I had my final day of work on Friday and was supposed to be paid in full as verbally agreed to by the director. It wasn't discussed on the day and my boss could hardly look me in the eye all day. I figure something's up. It's Saturday night, my hand phone has been cut off and I'm supposed to be out of my apartment as of today (according to the wajangnim). I'm holding on to the only thing I've got left -- occupancy. The new teacher is supposed to arrive on Tuesday so let's hope it's worth w5 000 000 for them to see the back end of me.

[lonestar]

Hope it all works out to your benefit. Let us know the final result and be sure to post the school's name and owner's name so others can avoid it. Can you contact the replacement teacher before he/she arrives and give a warning?