One of the last things I did last night, before going to sleep, was to follow my ex-coworker's advice and hit the HomeTax site to get a tax report from that period when I'd been working at Sookmyung Women's University. It took some doing; I thought I had registered for the site after having done taxes with it last year, and that may be true, but I ended up having to create a new password from scratch. (To be fair, there are US websites and other Korean websites that ask you to alter your password every few months).
My point is that I successfully got into HomeTax and printed out the report, having chosen the period from 2005 to 2009. Whatever years you pick, the actual years that appear on the report will be [selected year - 1], i.e., the report shows data from 2004 to 2008 (I had worked at Sookmyung from 2005 to 2008). Sure enough, as my ex-coworker had said, the report clearly shows me as being salaried and taxed during that period, with my income source being none other than Sookmyung. This is proof positive that I'd been employed there.
So, delighted, I sent the report PDF over to that stubborn, evidence-demanding Sookmyung office along with a tart little remark that there should be no further need for proof I had taught there. The basic facts were right there on the tax report.
It's almost 4 p.m. right now; most of the business day is done. Assuming the office staff started work at 9 or 10 a.m. this morning, they've had hours to consider my email. Part of me is thrumming with grim satisfaction as I imagine them squirming and/or flailing about to try to dig up the proper records (which, based on my interactions with other offices, they can simply generate right there on the spot). Part of me is impatient to receive a reply email. If Sookmyung tries to pull another weepy, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do" bit of nonsense, I don't know what I can do, but I'll think of something because this is becoming a point of pride.
Best-case scenario: I get an email with the desired employment certificate and a few meek remarks. Worst-case scenario: I write off Sookmyung and hope people are satisfied with employment records going back only to 2013.
It's honestly been a little ridiculous. How can a school be that disorganized?
ReplyDeleteMy ex-colleague also asked the SMU lady how the entire faculty's records could have been lost, and the answer was something vague about data loss due to "system migration," which I guess means a bunch of data somehow fell out of the truck while the hardware was being moved and the software was being updated. Or something like that.
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