Pay & Pay Stubs

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

Anyone coming to teach in Korea naturally has questions about how and when you get paid. I'm not sure if this is a national standard but it seems that most teachers here in Yeonggwang are paid on the 25th of the month.

There are 4-5 deductions that will appear on your pay stub.
- The Korean National Pension Plan (4.5%)
- Korean Income Tax (4%) **
- School Lunch Fee (approximately 3,000 Won per school day)
- Korean Medical Insurance (approximately 3%)
- Apartment Deposit (300,000 Won for your first three paychecks)

** American citizens can be exempted from Korean Income Taxes for their first two years here. I'll do a separate post about income taxes soon.

Now I'll walk you through how the deductions above showed up on my recent pay stub. It seems odd to share income information (which is a well-guarded secret back in the States) but the pay rates are standardized here so there's no harm in sharing.

Here's how my March 25th pay stub read:
Base Pay: 2,000,000 Won
Extra 1: 200,000 Won - because I have a Master's degree
Extra 2: 200,000 Won - for teaching in a rural area
Extra 3: 100,000 Won - for splitting time between two schools
=================
Base Pay: 2,500,000 Won

Payroll deductions:
National Pension: 112,500 Won
Medical Insurance: 70,980 Won
Lunch Fee: 52,800 Won
=====================
Total Deduction: 236,280 Won

Net Pay: 2,236,720 Won

I arrived on November 30, 2009 so my 300,000 Won apartment deposit was withheld on December 25th, January 25th and February 25th. Here's an example of how the same pay stub would look if I were paying the 300,000 Won and Korean Income Taxes.

=================
Base Pay: 2,500,000 Won

Payroll deductions:
Damage Deposit: 300,000 Won
4% Income Tax: 100,000 Won
National Pension: 112,500 Won
Medical Insurance: 70,980 Won
Lunch Fee: 52,800 Won
=====================
Total Deduction: 636,280 Won

Net Pay: 1,836,720 Won

You need your Alien Registration Card (ARC) in order to open your bank account. Hopefully your school will make it a priority during your first week to apply for your ARC because it takes 2-3 weeks to get one. Once you have an ARC someone from your schools should go with you to a bank and help you set up an account. After you get the account number, the person at your school who handles payroll can immediately set you up for direct deposit of your paychecks. Your school may not offer you a pay stub, so be sure to ask for one.