Korean Job Discussion Forums

[paquebot]

I'm looking at a job offer in northern Seoul right now and, while it sounds like a really great work environment, one problem that has come up involves pension. The head foreign teacher that I've talked to says that their hagwon is so small (3 foreign teachers, 5 Korean teachers) that they don't need to pay into national pension. This sounds sketchy to me, but I'm curious if there is any truth to the statement.


On a slightly unrelated note, there are three job offers that I really can't decide between. Seongbuk-gu, Bupyeong, and Bucheon. Each has its good and bad points, so it's really hard to pick one school over the others. Has anyone else been in this situation? If so, how did you eventually settle on one school/contract over the others?

[Jellypah]

Pension is the law. No workplace is exempt.

[garykasparov]

http://www.nps.or.kr/

(1) Click on National Pension Scheme and foreigners

NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME AND FOREIGNERS

At the time of the introduction of the Scheme, foreigners were not mandatorily covered. Only foreigners working in a workplace covered under the Scheme could be covered as an Workplace based Insured Person by submitting an application.

Foreigners working at the workplace with 5 or more full-time employees were included in the mandatory coverage in August 1995 and those working at the workplace with less than 5 employees including self-employed foreigners were also included in the mandatory coverage in April 1999. Accordingly, foreigners aged from 18 to less than 60 who reside in Korea must be, in principle, covered under the Scheme. But foreigners falling under any of the following items are excluded from the coverage.

- Those whose country does not mandatorily cover Korean citizens under its pension scheme.

=> Under this rule, only the nationals from 18 countries※ do not have to enroll and pay the NPS contributions.

※ the Republic of South Africa, Nepal, Russia, Maldives, Nyanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Tonga, Pakistan, Fiji, Cambodea, Singapore

- Foreigners who are not registered under the Immigration Act, or to whom the forced deportation order has been issued under the same Act, or who are staying in Korea without being permitted to extend their
term of stay.

- Among the registered foreigners under Immigration Act, those whose stay status falls under any of the followings; culture & art, studying abroad, industrial training, general training, religion, visiting & living
together and others.

- People excluded from the mandatory coverage of National Pension Scheme, by the social security agreement.

[paquebot]

Thanks for the quick responses, JellyPah and garykasparov. I was under the impression that pension was mandatory for all schools but figured I would check here just in case there was a special clause for schools with fewer teachers. Guess this is another contract to walk away from ...

Not sure if it's something to do with my computer's settings, but when I tried to follow the link it brought up a page that says

[ttompatz]

[paquebot]

[luv2dance79]