Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdninkorea]

I've been working at a public elementary school in Seoul since March. The only contractual document I have with the agency states that I will be paid 28,000 per hour with a 60 hour guarantee. This, with the housing fee and minus taxes, equals about 1,900,000. Not bad, right?

But there have been problems. For one, despite this written guarantee, the agency has insisted on only paying me by the number of days I have worked- in May for example, we had five days off. I was only paid for 45 hours (15 days). I realized I could have fought for full pay, but decided not to because they were giving me extra pay already- since enrollment was high, they decided to give me 2,200,000 for 20 days. So even though I was paid only for 15 days, it worked out to more money because of the bonus: 1,940,000 after taxes.
Figuring that if I fought for the full amount they would take away the bonus in future months, I decided it best not to fight it. This turned out to be a mistake:

July came around and we had vacation. They insist they don't have to pay me for it, resulting in 300,000 less than I should get. At the end of this month there is a two week break between our summer and fall semester. They insist that one week of this will not be paid (I could have another vacation but would rather work and get paid), resulting in another 300,000 off my pay. Then Chuseok will come around, which will be another 3 days. You get the picture.

Do I have grounds to take this to the Labor Board? My contract with the school says nothing about vacation (it really says nothing about it at all). My salary is listed as 25,000 won per class: the reason being that my contract has to have someting about salary, but since my pay comes from the agency, it doesn't reflect my actual pay.

What legal weight does my salary and working hours contract with the agency have? Is it possible to only take the agency to the Labor Board? Or maybe to Small Claims court (does Korea have such a thing)? My problems all lie with the agency, so I'd rather not get the school involved.

And yes, I realize I should have insisted upon a better contract. This has been a learning experience for me, so if you want to point out all my stupid mistakes (and there are many), you should know that I'm probably already aware of them.

Thank you in advance, fellow posters, for any help you may be able to offer.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

With such vague contract details it seems impossible to make any sort of concrete comments. Could you perhaps post the contract so that we (or those with a good grip on labour laws) can see where you may have a case?

Apart from getting screwed around on pay how's the job?

[cdninkorea]

My contract with the school says:
강의료는 1교시(40분) 수업당 (25,000)원으로 한다
The payment is (25,000) per each class.

My contract with the agency says:
60시간 보장 시간당 28,000원, overtime 30,000원
60 hours guarantee and 28,000 won per hour, overtime 30,000 won.

I should note that an entirely different contract is filed with Immigration- they insisted on doing it this way (I know, I know: I should have insisted on the same contract), and when I called Immigration to get a copy of the one they have, they told me they don't know where it is. If no one knows where it is, does it hold legal weight?

I should also mention I've been doing an extra class this month. I never said I wanted overtime, but I also never said I would do it without. If I push for it, do I have a legal right to it? (yes, this is another mistake: I should have insisted on overtime before doing it)

[expat2001]

I had a friend who worked in an after school program.Everything was fine until the last month when the after school program decided not to pay his rent ,bonus and flight home.
He went to the labor office and , like yourself , tried to make sure the school wasnt involved.However he said it couldnt be avoided .The reasons being
1. -first of all, such programs are illegal to begin with.
(If you really think about it , you working at a public school ,this gives you a false sense of security.One would think that because you work IN a public school , you d be treated fair.In fact , my friend was told by the school , in the beginning of the contract , that if he had any problems with the management company , the school would help , which they ; the school didnt .)
2 -When the civil servant was filing out the forms , it clearly asked for the addresses of where you were working at , the address of the head office and the home address of your boss.
If you ddint give the schools address , wouldnt you be lieing?

[jangsalgida]

Your contract states 60 hours gauranteed, tell them to pay you for it or you will give your notice to quit. You typically don't get paid for days not paid, at least I don't. If you continue to work there they may ask you to work extra minutes per class which will supposedly someday give you a day or two off in the future. I get 2.6 minus taxes which they are probably keeping(plus the chance at a bonus depending on student count). I work four, 50 minute classes per day, not bad. I don't have much to complain about.

You should not get too upset, just try to rationalize with them. If you are lucky they will consider your opinion, but I wouldn't count on it.

If you are really working overtime, they should pay you for it. They may say you aren't.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[cdninkorea]

I'm sure I can get a LOR, but I want to keep working at the school- it's a good program with well behaved students and good co-workers. And you have to add in my 300,000 housing allowance to my pay, which makes for, after taxes, a little more than 1.9.

As I said though, it's more because of the high enrollment bonus they've given me.

I have a question about overtime: my regular pay is for 3 hours (not classes; hours only). This summer I've been working 9:30-12:40. I also have to be at school 20 minutes before my first class (it's in my contract). This means everyday I'm doing an extra 30 minutes. Am I entitled to overtime for this?

Thanks again- really helpful!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[kat2]

[Cheonmunka]

Get in touch with your local Ministry of Education because they are the ones that stated that agents placing foreigners in after school programs with the express permission of the principal are not legal operations for employment.

[wylies99]

Education Board?

[cerulean808]

You're in an illegal After School Program. The private agency has no legal standing, those individuals are breaking the law and you are implicated.

Stop thinking of the agency as your employer. It is not. The public school is your employer, it is your E2 visa sponsor and the only contract that counts is the one filed with Immigration. And that one is probably a standard ps FT contract. Have you actually seen it, did you actually sign it? I know a guy who signed a 'contract' with the Agency presented as though it were the E2 sponsor, and signed an 'agreement' with the public school. Only later when he rifled through the ps department office after hours did he discover a third ps contract filed with Immigration, with his signature faked.

Because the ps is your visa sponsor and employer only it can give you a Letter of Release.

You don't want to leave the After School Program because it is pretty cruisy - low hours, only 4 days maybe, pleasant work environment. But you need to think harder about what you're actually involved in here. Is it worth it in the longer run? Maybe, if you're a desperado escaping problems back home, otherwise it is time to leave...

[jangsalgida]

[Cheonmunka]

It was on the news on TV. Perhaps it's on the net somewhere ...

[Whistleblower]