Korean Job Discussion Forums

[moosehead]

this just occurred to me - i'm american, and we have something called the better business bureau (bbb) which is sort of helpful sometimes, but at the very least one could check and ask if a complaint has ever been filed against a business for whatever reason.

i started thinking maybe one could ask the labor office if a complaint has ever been filed against a school, or even immigration - wouldn't that be useful? and if they ask why, well because we are interested in working for them and wanted to know BEFORE we signed the contract.

if enough people did it it might even start raising a few flags in the right places? (or is that wishful thinking?)

comments please

mooshead

[wylies99]

Great question. The problem lies with the MANY teachers who get screwed over but never file with Labor or post any warnings.

[Been There, Taught That]

In one big sense--and as an American, it's harder to fathom what this can mean--it depends on whose side immigration/labor is on. We all like to think the underdog gets his/her due, but sometimes in Korea. . .

[Squid]

...I can only speak from hindsight, that being the heads up I received from Labor not to work (again) for the guy I was claiming against

The thing to remember though, is that the school's name on any claim is nominal- it's the individual-as-owner you go after. I expect you'd run into privacy issues trying to get an individual's record.

I would in principle support some sort of checking procedure. Long overdue.

[root555]

What Squid said about having to search under the individual vs. the school name is true. I know that at the hogwan my bf is employed, the school is listed under the name of the hogwan owner's wife. This is supposed to be for tax purposes, and also in case they have troubles- I suppose. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong- because I have only heard about this through other individuals ,and haven't witnessed it myself. Yet the theory makes sense, and this is what I have heard:

In many cases, the actual hogwan owner is the principal, yet he files the 'business' (or the school,) under his wife's name. If they were ever taken to labor, for example, or found themselves in court, the courts could not liquidate or touch their assets being the business/school is filed under the wife's name. This is because the house, and any other real property/assets are filed in the husbands name. The Korean government keeps these separate (or there is a possibility to keep them separate)- so it's insurance for the school owners' other assets if they are ever in legal trouble.

Anyone care to tell me if this is indeed true?

[wylies99]

[moosehead]