Korean Job Discussion Forums

koon_taung_daeng · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Location: south korea

So im in my 10th month of my contract and now the agency that i work for is claiming bankruptcy so they dont have to pay my severance pay, plane ticket or my 5 months of pension that they didint payinto, but were taking out of my paycheck.I work for an after school program and have always had to wire the schools money to the agency yes media. but now the bastard has just said keep the schools money which comes in 2 weeks later then my pay day,and ill have to move out of the apt they supplied.The schools money is only about 1 million more then my salary and wont be close too enough to pay my severance and pension.

what should i do? can i do anything or am i just screwed cause they are going bankrupt?

thanks

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Bad news mate.

Did you not have a feeling this was coming? You mentioned it somewhere else that you were worried about it.

Can't really offer any advice though.

koon_taung_daeng · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Location: south korea

yea my spider scences were tingling about this shit going down but there wasnt much i could do to avoid it anyway. just really pissed off about it. im probably going to be selling all of their shit so if anyone wants a projector or laser printer let me know

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Yeah put up what you have for sale. I miss my laser printer.

Is it a decent projector?

expat2001 · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Are you sure the company is declairng bankruptcy , or did htey just quit doing buiness w/ that school.
I wouldnt believe anyhting they say.
I ve heard of an after school program which quit doing buiness in one area , but had a fleet of schools at hte other end of Seoul.
No matter what they say , go ot the labor office and pension office as well.
U hav to remember the pension agreement is beyond a little hogwon , its an agreement between two countries.
I was once told that my previus hogwon had an agreement with the governemnt and didnt hav to pay into the pension.
I went to the pension office , and I still got money!

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Should've at least checked with the pension office to see if they were making the payments.

So they're screwing you. Guess you should immediately go to the labor board, pension office, tax office, and health office. NOW.

Korea is an armpit. What can I say? Guess you should have been on top of them from the beginning. You should be threatening them to pay you right now.

sconner · Joined: 26 Jan 2006 Location: South Carolina

OP, are you sure it's true? The same thing just happened to someone I know and it was BS. Is this the new 11th month firing?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

You have rights and they have obligations.

Call the labor office 1350 extension 7.
Then call the pension office 1355.

cdninkorea · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul

From a legal point of view regarding Immigration and Labor, your employer is the school. Does your contract with the school even mention the agency?

If your contract is like mine (I'm in a program like yours too), it doesn't. If the agency screws you, the school is responsible. Threaten them with Pension, Labor, and the Ministry of Education.

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

Please read the following:

Article 45 (Pay for Suspension of Business)

(1) If a business is suspended for reasons attributable to an employer, the employer shall pay to workers concerned remuneration of more than seventy percentage points of average remuneration during the period of suspension of the business. If the amount equivalent to seventy percentage points of average remuneration exceeds normal remuneration, the normal remuneration may be paid for the business suspension.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), an employer who cannot continue the business operation for unavoidable reason may, with the approval of the Labor Relations Commission, pay remuneration lower than the standards stipulated in paragraph (1) for the suspension of business.

I suggest you speak to Labor Relations Commission to find out if the business cannot continue.

cdninkorea · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul

Col.Brandon · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Location: Seoul

Yep, the school is your official employer. They tried to take the path of least resistance by hiring you through an agency (even though this is illegal), so now it's time for them to pay the piper.

The labour board may be a good option, but you could possibly offer to run the program yourself; i.e take the money that they should have been paying you instead of the agency and do it yourself. It's worth a shot.

ontheway · Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 5:12 am Post subject:

This may be where the s... really hits the fan for teachers who work for these after school scams at the public schools.

You see, you might try to go after the school as your visa sponsor, but the money they paid you is the gross amount they transfered into your account. They can say that they paid you this much. You then gave away part of the money to the "agent."

On the other hand, you might get the public school to pay right away, if they know that not paying could bring the whole illegal scheme back home to the Principal's office.

One big public case is needed to end this after school scam.

Fight.

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

If any school fkd me, I'd be in the papers. I'd be beating someone.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!