Hagwon Resignation - Sign or Not?
Hello! I recently posted on here about reporting my company through the MOEL office. This is a bit of a follow-up to that.
For a bit of context, I have a current contract spanning from June 2025-June 2026. In Feb 2026, I signed an extending contract that goes from June 2026-Feb 2027. However, after recent events, I informed them that I will be concluding my employment as per the initial contract and withdrawing from the second one that has not started yet.
I just transitioned to an F-2-7 visa about two weeks ago. The day after I received the approval, I let my hagwon's headquarters company know that I will not be continuing onto the next contract. They informed me that in order to pay me severance on time, I need to sign their proprietary resignation form internally. I emphasized that this was not a resignation, as I would be completing a full contract and simply withdrawing consent from a contract that has not started. After some back and forth, they sent me the template for this form, and they acquiesced to some of my contentions, such as not calling it a "resignation", including the definitive pay date of my severance in the form, etc. However, attached on this form is a very lengthy NDA that gives me pause. It mentions several things, such as returning all material, expanding to recordings and files, back to the academy and removing them from my possession indefinitely. This would, in theory, include the evidence and audio files I have against them from my MOEL case. It also states that I cannot show anything in regard to internal materials to a third party. In the event I ever wanted to sue them civilly, I would be giving up my right to show an attorney my evidence. The whole thing seems odd; I don't see why an NDA has to be attached to my resignation in this way. I'm almost half tempted to put it into Microsoft Word and remove the NDA and only sign the actual form they want.
So what do you guys think of all this? Let me know your thoughts.