Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bagpipes11]

The problem that I am having is that I am transferring Universities starting on September 1st. My current contract expires on the last day of August. My new University wants my release letter to be dated for August 27th. My current University is saying that if this is done than they will withhold my severance check.

My last day of teaching at my current Uni is Friday July 20th. Do I have any legal recourse in this instance? Is there a number I could call? Or am I screwed?

Anybody with experience or knowledge on the topic please reply ASAP.

[Sine qua non]

You said you begin you new position on September 1, right? The new contract begins on Sept. 1?

Your old contract ends on the last day of August, right?

If so, there is no overlap, so, personally, I can't see why there should be any problem. However, if there was an overlap, I could imagine there might be some difficulty.

If, in fact, there is some overlap in dates, and your old university refuses to pay your severance if they relaese you a couple of days early, you could try explaining this to the new university and ask your new university to, instead, push back the date of their contract by a few days.

I had an overlap problem of this nature several years ago, but I forgot exactly what happened to straighten the situation out. I do remember that I ended up signing a document (2 copies of the same document: 1 English, 1 Korean) the old university created out-of-the-blue that said "I....hereby agree to terminate my employment as of...(date)."

Find the most knowledgeable office administrator out of either your old or new universities and work with that person to get it straightened out (i.e., ask for their help and jump through every tedious hoop they request of you).

You probably aren't getting screwed (as long as you don't voluntarily give up your severance). It sounds like an Immigration/documentation issue mostly. You just have to make sure all of your paperwork is in the proper order (vis-a-vis the Immigration officer's desires).

You could maybe try to take all of your documentation down to Immigration and talk with them in person. I've had pretty good experiences with Immigration in Incheon and Suwon (but that may be due in large part to the fact that I speak Korean).

I hope it works out well for you. If all else fails, don't take the job at the new university if it requires you to forfeit your severance, and just find a new university position. There is usually a last blast of job openings in the weeks before the semester begins.

[Scouse Mouse]

The LOR date is probably so they can send you on the visa run before you are due to start on the 1st...

[tob55]

Make sure you do provide ammunition for the school to withhold your severance pay...They can and do occasionally withhold simply to prove they can...I have heard stories and spoken with people who found this out the hard way...