Twejukim or separation pay is one of the benefits which every EPS worker is entitled to have. It is an obligation of every employer to its employee. It should not be deducted to an employee’s salary. A minimum of one year work is necessary in order to receive Twejukim. Even a day less than one year will forfeit an employee’s chance to avail this benefit. Thus, every employee should be cautious about the exact date which is written on each Alien Registration Card (ARC). For example, if in the ARC the expiration date is August 9, 2008, the employee should be at work until August 8 in order to avail this benefit.

An employee may apply for Twejukim once he is released or finished his contract. It should be noted that there has to be a minimum of one year to get this benefit. He has to go to the Labor center for assistance regarding the claim. Should you need consultation Ms. Maria Park of Galilea can help you provided you brought your updated bank book and last three months pay slip.

Twejukim came from Samsung Insurance and from the company. Every month each employee is being deducted an amount equivalent to 8.3% of his minimum wage. This is remitted by the company to the Insurance Company and it becomes part of the Twejukim.

For example: If an employee’s average gross income in three months is KRW1,000,000 and he works for 1 year (7 mos for 2007 and 5 mos for 2008) ), his Twejukim will be: KRW1,000,000 (KRW1,000,000 x (12 months/12)). Given this work duration the amount coming from Samsung will be KRW749,563.87 ((0.083 x 727,320 x 7) + (0.083 x 787,930 x 5)). That means the company need to give KRW250,436.13 as his obligation to the total Twejukim amount.

Foreigners aged between 18 and 60 residing in Korea are subject to the compulsory coverage of the National Pension Scheme. As a benefit and as part of the bilateral agreement between Philippines and Korea, an EPS worker can avail a lump‐sum refund when they leave Korea. The lump‐sum refund is equivalent to the amount of contributions plus the fixed interest. For workers in the workplace, the employees and their employers should make contributions for the employees amounting to 4.5% of the standard monthly income respectively, based on the employees’ earned income.

When applying in Korea (before departing Korea), the worker must fill‐out the application form, provide a copy of the following: his/her ID (passport and ARC), bankbook in his/her name and plane ticket. When applying overseas (after departing Korea), the worker must fill ‐out the application form notarized from the Philippines and attested by the Korean Consulate or Embassy, provide a copy of his/her passport and his/her bankbook. If the worker applies for a lump‐sum refund through an agent in Korea, the application must be submitted only by mail in order to avoid extra administration fees and false applications. He/she can contact the regional offices of the National Pension Service. Visit their site: www.nps.or.kr

Return Cost Insurance is a lump‐sum payment to cover return cost availed when a foreigner departs . To avail this benefit, the employee should report his/her departure at the Employment Support Center and obtain the Certificate of Departure Schedule. To get a Certificate of Departure Schedule, the employee must bring his/her airplane ticket or show any document proving his/her ticket reservation. The Certificate of Departure Schedule together with the bankbook and both sides of his/her Alien Registration Card must be fax to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (FAX:02‐755‐7149,753‐0649,757‐8430) to receive this benefit. Galilea can help you in processing this benefit. A worker who has returned to the Philippine may still avail this benefit by simply submitting all the pertinent documents to the HRD Service of Korea in the
Philippines.

Each employee has the right to be released or transferred to a different company provided one of the following reasons are available: 1) Two months without pay, 2) Physically and verbally abused, and 3) Company Bankruptcy. It should be noted that an employee has four (4) times allowed release. Once released the employee has to bring his release paper to the Immigration Office in order to get two months visa extension for job hunting.

Each employee maybe be renewed for another two years after completing his three (3) years of contract here in Korea. This renewal depends on the companies decision on the basis of the employees’ performance. Should the employer decide to renew the employee the following must be done:

1. The company must renew the labor contract within 30—90 days prior to the expiration of the employee’s visa.

2. The employer must apply for the employee’s visa and once approved the Immigration office will issue a Certificate of Confirmationof Visa Issuance (CCVI) within two (2) weeks. In some cases, a secret control number is given to the employer. These number is necessary in obtaining visa from the Philippines.

The CCVI number or secret number maybe obtain before a worker leaves Korea if his/her employer applies for it during the prescribed time. Otherwise, this number maybe obtain later when the worker is already in the Philippines. In this case, the worker should know his employer’s number or he/she has to inform his/her employer his/her contact number in Philippines for proper information transfer.

Sources: Ministry of Labor (http://english.molab.go.kr/english) and National Pension Service (http://www.nps.or.kr/)
Summarized by: Kathlia A. De Castro