2 Months' Wages, Severance Pay, and Other Wage Arrears
Discount Event on Tuition Fees Held Before Closure
"We believed the promise to pay, but in the end, they did not pay our wages and suddenly closed the academy, forcing us onto the streets."
Recently, native-speaking instructors who lost their jobs due to the sudden closure of two large language academies in Changwon, Gyeongnam, have voiced such complaints.
The native-speaking instructors who worked at the academies, along with the Busan Headquarters of the General Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the General Union, held a press conference on the 18th in front of the Changwon branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor to condemn wage arrears and unfair dismissal.
The instructors shouted, "Pay our wages! Stop the runaways! We deserve to make a living!"
Foreign instructors from large language institutes in Changwon, Gyeongnam, are holding a press conference in front of the Changwon Employment and Labor Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor. [Photo by Lee Seryeong]
Leo, a language academy instructor, said, "After coming to Korea two years ago, I gradually settled in Changwon and felt like this place was home, but everything turned bad three months ago."
He said, "The academy notified us on August 5th that they would pay 70% of the July wages two weeks later and give the rest later. When we kept demanding payment, they paid the remaining wages. In September, they said the same thing but then said they couldn't pay and asked us to be patient, but in the end, they did not pay."
Leo added, "Believing their words to wait, I worked without pay, but on October 2nd, after finishing the last class, I was told to pack my personal belongings and leave the academy. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to the students I had been with for years."
According to the General Union, 43 people worked at the two academies that closed on the 2nd, including English instructors, bus drivers, and administrative staff, among whom 11 were native-speaking instructors.
Among them, the unpaid wages for 10 foreign instructors belonging to the union amount to about 5 to 6 million KRW per person, and including severance pay, the total is estimated to be around 100 million KRW.
The rent support from the academy has not been paid for five months, and migrant worker instructors must return to their home countries forcibly if they cannot find jobs by the end of their contract period with the academy.
A foreign instructor at a large language institute in the Changwon area is filing a complaint with the Changwon Employment and Labor Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor against the head of the language institute's operating company who closed the business without paying wages. [Photo by Se-ryeong Lee]
The number of students registered at the two academies with the education office was confirmed to be 440 each, totaling 880 students.
The academy did not inform instructors, staff, parents, or students about the closure but instead conducted a three-month prepaid tuition discount event to induce cash payments.
As a result, parents who did not receive refunds for three months of tuition and textbook fees filed complaints against the two closed academies and the academy operators on charges of fraud at the Changwon Jungbu Police Station.
Jack, head of the Foreign Language Education Branch of the General Union Busan Headquarters, said, "Our instructors have not received their salaries, making it extremely difficult to maintain daily life, such as having healthy meals and paying various bills like transportation and electricity."
He urged, "The academy must take responsibility, pay the wages, comply with the law, and stop exploiting those who made the business possible."
After the press conference, the union filed a complaint against the academy operator's representative at the Changwon branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
They said, "This happened at a nationally famous franchise English academy. We will fight to the end to resolve the wage arrears and employment issues of victims in the franchise headquarters, various operators, and academies, and to prevent a second wave of victims."
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