Although I do not agree with this author's point of view, there might be some good information here. Perhaps someone out there in Cyberland can get something out of this. If there are any factual errors in this document (and there might be) please let me and/or the author of this know.
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Dear Jon,
Again, thank you for your timely response. I have xferred the article to e-mail, so here you are. It's a bit long, but I think worth the 'wordiness.' If needed, IOI can still fax you a copy. If you decide to use this you have my permission to edit the format as required. Hope this helps! Keep up the good work!
Robert M. Baier madman@aa.net
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An Informal Tongue-lashing of Instructors and Fatherly Words of Wisdom from a Smart Ass
I worked for the Jongro Foreign Language Institute located in downtown Seoul from 1993 to 1996. During those three years I witnessed several changes to the school's administration, none of which were good. But I digress o soon.
First, concerning the ESL/EFL and qualifications debate I am ambivalent. Though I appreciate standards and enforcement thereof I do not believe that this particular field requires such advanced schooling, unless one is schooling foreign teachers in advanced ESL teaching methodology. I hold a mere bachelor's degree in Asian studies but found that my knowledge of Korea and dedication to the job, combined with the gradual accumulation of classroom experience more than made up for any substantial deficiencies in my ESL credentials.
This is relevant to my next point. Regardless of our opinions on this issue, the host nation sets and enforces the laws. If Korea had required an accredited ESL certificate, I would have either been out of luck or forced to get the certificate. But in the Korean case, the minimum standard is any B.A. or B.S. If you have an M.A. or ESL certificate and resent other teachers for getting paid the same...leave. The reason you don't get paid more than your B.A.-flaunting coworkers is that the Immigration requirements for an instructor's visa are four year degrees (in fact I've come to doubt even this after seeing adds by a Seoul city department recruiting A.A. holders, but I can't substantiate this). Where in the States do cabbies get paid more because they're Ph.D's and not Russian refugees? Enough of the whining already (actually some of the Russian refugees are Ph.D's).
Valid and sponsored teachers, even lowly B.A.s are not the problem. The greatest single threat to the ESL community, and scores of related problems stem from one thing: the flood of illegal, unschooled, uncaring transients bumming around Asia and living off of the land like Renaissance mercenary armies, following the money.
In my three years at Jongro I must have seen a hundred of these types from all walks of life, from a potpourri of countries but all essentially with one characteristic: they had no business assuming responsibility over a group of paying students.
I surfed these pages (right out of a cyber Western) and encountered nothing but whining, moaning and crying about how people are getting shafted by their Korean sponsors, but very little on responses to the problem. So let's address the problem.
Wages have been stagnant due to the abundant source of (illegal) labor. In many cases salaries have declined after contract renewals, in spite of high inflation rates. As we all know and have found out, the Korean schools don't care, the government isn't moving on it, students....well, never mind, and embassies get rid of you with their 'legal advise' packets. What to do? Waaaaaaaa, mommy mommy, life isn't fair, waaaaaaaa.
TAKE CHARGE 1)Quit your whining. Tired of the threats and abuse? Time to play some offense.
2)Illegals or 'Part-Timers' (if you feel this describes what you do, run for cover, click that damned mouse as fast as you can, but don't come looking for sympathy here) The problem with the so-called part-timers is that they don't belong. These people e director ('wha chu sayin' esay? Neve' happen Joe') threatening to fire you. How can he fire you if all evidence points to the contrary? Documenting your firing with paperwork and copies of pay, hours worked, when and at what time you arrived at work and even a pile of letters from students essentially attesting to your excellent credentials, you're bunkered and ready for the assault.
But Robert, WAAAAAAAAA, he bribed immigration officials, so the deck's rigged against me. Well, yes, somewhat. Forget about continuing at that institute and prepare to move on. Remember documentation AND a letter from another school stating their desire to employ you could get you released from your contract without getting summarily booted. To enforce this, fight fire with fire. Your director has taken off the gloves and started to play dirty. So fight back. Remember those illegal teachers mentioned earlier? Nothing sorrier than a school director who's got to fork over more bribes and fines to protect himself. And the tax records...mmmm, the good stuff. Oh ye fainthearted (from my experience 95% of the teaching community?) may skip this next segment.
For my next act I will require a bit of stealth, charm, quick fingers and steel nerves. A serious knack in covert affairs can't hurt, but it's WELL worth the effort. Through any means possible attempt to obtain tax records (I guarantee you'll find violations. Koreans HATE paying taxes more than Montana Freemen, and THEY hate paying taxes!) or anything else that will demonstrate the school's violation of law and other illegal practices.
-In spite of all this, you get fired. Big deal? This is the FUN part: regardless of the grounds for getting fired, oops, hmm-hmm, termination (no wait, Koreans don't do PC), sorry, as I was saying, getting your ass booted out on the street, you, as any legally employed-and in your case sponsored-employee, are entitled to THREE months pay as a relief for being terminated. I can offer no more counsel on this point since I was not forced into this situation, but the law is on the books. Yes, Koreans are generous hosts. This is more than your severance after one or two years fools!
You can of course only appeal for this money by staying in Korea to apply for it. Now can you understand why demonstrating and documenting your employment is to your benefit? Nothing a stingy school owner loves more than an ignorant foreigner. Why are these things not known?
Well, first of all, you might have noticed but Korea is not a legalist society as we believe to have back home. Also, how many times have you heard of employees getting FIRED in Korea? Most of my friends had no clue about simple points of law, and the two or three lawyers I personally befriended were so arrogant they literally ignored my questions when I inquired (you might have also noticed that lawyers are virtual demi-gods in Korea. Something most of them are well aware of).
5)Getting Stuff Done: An Anecdote Understand from the beginning, no matter how right you are, it will be the equivalent of moving a mountain before you see anything happen as a result of your actions. Don't expect help from anyone, including fellow teachers who seem to be predominantly preoccupied with protecting their own rears, and certainly not from the very same Korean authorities charged with enforcing the laws made to protect you. From my experiences Koreans of all walks of life, including sitting judges in the middle of a juicy court session tend to use the law as so much toilet paper, employing it rigorously and without remorse only when it suits their interests (my favorite one is the male transsexual who, a Seoul district court judge ruled, wasn't raped because the act didn't involve his sexual reproductive organs: you make the guess -strict interpretation of the law, or a black-robed dude who isn't big on deviations. The winner gets a free set of Mr. Kim's 'Goofy Laws for Goofy Foreigners') , otherwise ignoring laws completely.
Things get done in Korea through networks. Your uncle talks to his cousin who drinks with her dad who says 'okay.' At one time one of my private students was the son of a Seoul city prosecutor while I was in court. When they heard about my case dad promptly offered to go straight to the judge to settle things. I foolishly turned down this offer and stuck with the court thing, feeling everything was going well. Stupid me.
In cases of withholding severance, you must wait until your contract has expired and the money has been withheld. Go to school and request on what grounds pay was withheld. Try to get this on tape...yummy yummy! Role a 'six' and proceed to the Labor Office and demand to talk to the head honcho. Don't allow a clerk to record your complaint. Go straight to the top. This will involve going through the whole chain-of-command, and each and every one of the complacent civil servants (is this a global requirement for civil service or WHAT?) will try to bugger you off. Substantial theatrics are required for the best results. Know when to shout, scream, kick, and definitely when to keep quiet as a mouse.
Withholding pay is against the law in Korea. The Labor Office in my case verified through my school owner, readily admitting he had not paid my severance. To the inquiring official he admitted over the phone, 'He left Korea without asking for it,' to which the official replied, 'He's right here in my office.' Lovely.
The Labor Office got in touch with the Prosecutor's Office who issued a warrant for the arrest of the school owner, for the violation of labor law statutes. I should add here that this whole event was readily accomplished through my string of connections which I shamelessly called upon. In spite of all this the system broke down at my doorstep. The prosecutor should have acted on the verification from the Labor Office and allowed the school owner ninety days to comply or face imprisonment, but instead I was handed the warrant and advised to take the owner to court--small claims court that is.
The filing limits in small claims court are very generous in Korea. At the time I was in court the limit for an individual complaint was W10 million. You can see that this will cover the needs of most teachers working less than three years in Korea. Again, documentation, documentation, documentation.
Once in court, nothing much happened. You see, unlike American courts where judges adjudicate, I was under the impression that the judge saw his primary role as mediator. In my three appearances and three-and-a-half hours in court, observing several dozen cases before mine was heard I can not recall a single verdict issued. The judge mostly shuffled paperwork, stamped off the no-shows and scolded offenders, ordering them to straighten things out, promptly rescheduling a new court date to review the progress in the case. And so too, yours truly.
In spite of my criminal warrant naming the school owner, two opinions acquired through the Foreign Workers Legal Aid Office and the letter from the Labor Office, and subsequent blatant open court admissions by the school owner that he had 1) forged and withheld documents 2)withheld and altered pay records 3)withheld taxes 4)disobeyed judicial instructions. Not surprisingly these admissions incurred spectacular tirades of abuse from the judge, but stunningly no verdict in my favor. Either there are no perjury laws in Korea or the judge saw me as just another transsexual (whatdoes THAT mean?)
But the message started to sink in: Scrooge knew he was losing and there wasn't much he could do about it. I had the warrant hanging over his head and showed no sign of leaving Korea. He finally agreed to pay 60% of what he owed me. I was four months into this and seriously frustrated. Though upset that I had to settle in spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence, I took the money and ran.
Looking back I'm satisfied with the overall results. In four of the most frustrating months of my life I learned more about Korea than in my seven years of living in the country combined. I was grateful I had a chance to personally witness the bureaucracy in inaction. I did get results, and though not what I had hoped for, or entitled to, I did secure a recovery of some of my money and never had to pay a lawyer. I accomplished all this in four months. Even by American standards a satisfactory result. And you know what? After getting screwed over for three years it felt good to do some pushing around of my own!
Some closing thoughts. Filing for severance is easy. The court's easy to find, where else but in Kangnam in the government court building near Socho-ku (and corresponding subway stop). And you needn't go through the troubles that I went through as long as you docement your case and meet the criteria necessary 1)full-time employee -worked around 40 hrs wk [can be waived for teachers!!]) for a minimum of one yr (or as specified earlier). Oh and by the way, though I do not support illegal teachers and will promptly turn in a fraud, I detest miserly school owners more, so here's this: if you are ILLEGALLY employed, and meet the same criteria for a regular employee just explained and can DOCUMENT this...you are also entitled to severance pay!! CONGRATULATIONS! You see, the principle of the law is the same whether you are employed legally or not, and that is your relationship to your employer. Your employer KNOWINGLY employed an illegal worker which still makes him your sponsor, and under the law responsible for your stay in Korea. Contract or no, that's the deal, though I would add recovering the severance could be fraught with trouble, not the least of which is deportation and demonstrating through solid documentation that you meet the criteria to be considered a 'full-time' employee. But hey, if you stuck it out for at least a year and worked all that time, I figure you can't be half so bad.
Good Luck!!