It turned out that once you submit it with your personal and school info, the appropriate department will eventually contact your school principal about it. It comes to school / principal as a warning or notice more so than just a harmless inquiry.
01. Application & Handling ProcedureAccess our homepage (http://www.epeople.go.kr/foreigner/).02 MultilingualPetition Service 03 How to File a PetitionCheck the application method & procedure. (Current Page)04 (Submit a petition)Enter the petitioner's name, nationality, address, e-mail, and password when filing a petition.Enter information and attach a file by using the downloaded form.* Enter the petitioner's information in English.* Remember the name, e-mail, and password used here to check your petition results.05 Receiving of the petitionYour petition will be assigned to the most suitable organization.06 Handling of the petitionThe organization in charge will deal with your petition according to the relevant laws. The staff in charge enters the answers and sends the results to the e-mail entered.07 My Petition(Check result)Check the answers from the e-People service (http://www.epeople.go.kr/foreigners/)* The name, e-mail, and password entered are required to check the answers.
I don't know how you managed this, but it's really not true when you make your first enquiry. A few years ago, I contacted them about a prorated holiday thing and finishing a contract early issue.I called the English hotline number first on 1350. She recommended I filled out the Epetition. Which I did, like this from the webiste here...https://www.epeople.go.kr/foreigners/htp/htp.npaidThe actual process works like this....You don't need to enter where you work, as it shows above. They deal with what you send them and then they send you an email back saying whether you have a case or not legally. They send their ruling to your email in English and Korean. So, if it works in your favour you can show your boss or whoever the Korean ruling and then you can take it from there if your boss is not willing to do anything. Or if there is no ruling then you can just leave it or you can ask for it to be looked at again but with other material. If, like you say, you had 'just communication problems', there would be no reason for them to get involved especially contact your school.
Well, they did contact my school directly. I hadn't received my severance in over 4 months of waiting and reminded the school admin asking about it a couple times before. I was trying to find out who could just contact them to remind them to get my severance pay to me. After filling out epetition, they transferred the case to the specific department which should handle it and it was to the education board...so the education board called my school about it and my school got right on it and sent the severance pay out right away. But they weren't too happy about it...maybe shocked or embarrassed because you know in Korea, it's all about "face".The second time I used it, same thing, I was just asking to find out what my options were concerning a situation at school. My CT wasn't able to help or wasn't willing to....I told him fine, I will just ask and see if I can find someone who can help me. That's when I put in another epetition form and they directed it to the appropriate department and BAM, they called my principal and told her to come into the nearest Ministry of Labor location and gave a specific day and time. Of course, that would be a huge slap in the face getting scared like that because of my epetition, but all it was, was just asking a question and it turned into what looked more like a formal inquisition (which it was not). Again, it's all about face and respect and reputation.The one thing I can say for sure is that epetition works! It works really well! They were fast, they were efficient, and they got my cases sent to the specific department it needed to go to, to get attention. So yes, use epetition folks...it works amazingly well...but just be warned, your school may take it as a huge offense.
Okay fruitloops, fair enough. But severance being four months late isn't really a 'communication problem', that's then moved into the illegal territory (should be paid after two weeks) and then it does depend on your school's policy with the severance. Some schools hold it each year until you finish at that school and then you get the whole lot in one go when you actually leave. Others, like mine, pay it each year regardless of the number of years I'm staying at the school. That could be where the misunderstanding was. Or they just forgot, even with your gentle poking. Yes, epetition works. It's evolved well and is a good safe port of call if needed. Even if you go back home, you can pursue monies lost.
I thought this was the law on severance unless you request it early for a special reason (to buy a house, unexpected medical bills, etc.)