Job Discussion Forums

[Zanada]

I'm no longer in-the-know in regards to what is the norm anymore as far as Contracts go.
It appears to be now more complicated to any I have signed in the past.
Would anyone mind giving me their opinion on this one?
Its for a friend he's a first-timer.
Its a bit long as most contracts are but if its at all possible to give a general opinion.
***********************************************************

This document provides that **School name**, hereinafter referred to as the Employer and ___________________________ hereinafter referred to as the Employee, entered into a contract by mutual agreement under the following conditions:

Contract Term
This contract is valid from_______to_______

Deposit
The Employer will withhold ￥ 5000 of the Employee’s salary as a deposit in the event the Employee fails to fulfill all his/her duties. The deposit will be returned at the expiration of this contract. The first paid day will deducted 1000, the second paid day will deducted 2000,the third paid day will deducted 2000.

Monthly base salary will be ￥ 5000 and will be paid on 10th of each month.（subject to applicable taxes）
(The attendance record will be tracked from the 1st day to the last day of the previous month)

If the Employee teaches 43-72 classes in one month, he or she will get 5000RMB（base salary）+125RMB*(actual classes+1-43)=month’s salary. If the Employee teaches between43- 72 classes in one calendar month, he or she will earn a 200RMB bonus.

If the Employee teaches 73-100 classes in one month, he or she will get 5000RMB（base salary）+（72+1-43）*125+128RMB*（actual classes+1-73）=month’s salary. If the Employee teaches between73-100 classes in one calendar month, he or she will earn a 500RMB bonus.

If the Employee teaches101-125 classes in one month, he or she will get 5000RMB (base salary）+(72+1-43)*125+128*(100+1-73)+130*(actual classes+1-101) =month’s salary. If the Employee teaches between101-125 classes in one month, he or she will earn a 1000RMB bonus.

Three (3) group class demos conducted by the Employee shall count as one class.

Additional 10RMB per class will be paid for the employee for 2 students per group; additional 20RMB per class will be paid for 3 or above per group(3 included)

Work Schedules and Payment
Mon. Day off
Tue. Day off
Wed. 2:30pm-7:30pm
Thur. 2:30pm-7:30pm
Fri. 2:30pm-7:30pm
Sat. 8:30am-6:30pm 1 hour for lunch

Overtime
No additional bonus will be paid for every teaching hour worked over 33 hours per week. Additional courses included in the amount of classes.

Bank transfer: The Employee shall apply for a local bank account issued by the following banking institutions and ensure that both the bank account and the bank card associated with that account are in the Employee’s own name (this information will be provided to the Employer):

Taxes
According to the laws of the People’s Republic of China, Employee’s salary may be subject to taxes.

Office Duties
1. Be responsible and punctual: The teacher should begin and end class on time.
2. In the event that a foreign teacher changes a class time, or cancels an already scheduled class, he/she should inform Easy English at least 24 hours in advance with a reasonable and detailed explanation.
3. If a foreign teacher cancels or changes class between 24 hours to 2 hours before beginning class, then the foreign teacher has to do another class for the same student at another time.
4. If a foreign teacher cancels or changes class within 2 hours before beginning class, then the foreign teacher has to do an extra free class for students.
5. If a foreign teacher cancels a classes or changes a time two times in one month, then students have right to change the teacher.
6. If student's cancel classes or change a class time within 2 hours before beginning class, then the foreign teachers also can get full payment.
7. No Chinese shall be spoken during class time unless absolutely necessary.
8. No smoking during class time.
9. Power off or do not answer cell phones during class times.
10. Prepare fully and extensively for classes and use various teaching methods to find the mode of instruction most suitable to your students.
11. Formulate a study plan for each student, including but not limited to giving periodic assessments of student progress through tests
12. The teacher shall work with the students and revise their teaching methods according to the personality and learning abilities of each individual. Give feedback of your student when necessary. The teacher is required to fill out the《Student Progress Profile》before each class.
13. In addition to teaching regular classes, demos and English corners, the Employee is responsible for lesson planning, lesson notes, curriculum design and implementation, administration (including intake and placement of students), employee training, school meetings, Employer-sponsored social activities. The Employee shall also be available to assist the Employer’s marketing department upon request for advertising programs and promotional events, and any other English-related activities required by the Employer. Office duties are to be performed during regularly scheduled working hours when there are no scheduled classes.
14. The Employee may not refuse to conduct demos based on the age of the student. In the event the Employee refuses to conduct a demo based on the age of the student, 100 RMB will be deducted from the salary for each such refusal.

Leave
If the Employee must miss a work day, he/she must inform the Employer at least 24 hours in advance . If the employee fails to so inform the Employer, the Employer shall deduct an amount equal to the missed working days’ base daily salary from the Employee’s salary.

In order to qualify for leave, a teacher shall submit a completed “Leave Application” to the Director of Studies. If the requested leave time is three (3) days or fewer, the Director of Studies alone will consider the application. If the requested leave time is more than three (3) days, the Director of Studies will submit the “Leave Application” to the Foreign Teacher Recruitment & Management Department for approval.

Sick Leave
In the event the Employee provides official documentation of a medical emergency that requires him/her to miss three ( 3) or fewer work days, he/she will receive payment of 80% of base daily salary (base daily salary = Base salary/21.75 work for teachers who work 5-days a week) . Sick leave without official documentation of a medical emergency, will be treated as personal leave. .

Personal Leave
If the Employee takes personal leave, the Employer
shall deduct an amount equal to the missed days’ base daily salary【base daily salary / 21.75 *( 21.75-the number of personal leave days)】.
If the Employee takes personal leave on the weekend, the Employer shall deduct an
amount equal to double the missed days’ base daily salary from the Employee’s salary.

Benefits
The Employee will be eligible for a year-end bonus, subject to additional requirements.

The Employee will earn a 100RMB bonus for each month in which he/she never reports to work late, is never absent, never starts a class late, and never ends a class early. Such bonus shall be paid to the Employee at the end of each qualifying calendar month.

The Employer will pay 1000RMB each month as house allowance for the Employee following one month probationary period, which will be paid on 10th of each month. Renew next year contract will pay 1500RMB as house allowance .

Demo Bonuses:
There are demo bonuses (100Yuan )when demo students sign a minimum of 1 year contracts.This does not apply to instances where only a few classes have been paid for.

Contract Renewal Bonuses :
A 100 yuan bonus will be paid for each current student who signs on for another term.
When the student opts to continue their studies, the foreign teacher must have taught at least 20% of the student’s foreign teacher classes. Furthermore, the student must be continuing their studies with that foreign teacher. Only with simultaneous satisfaction of the above conditions does the foreign teach receive this bonus.


End of year bonuses:
End of year bonuses will be dependent on the length of your contract and how well your branch does in reaching its earnings goal. The formula for calculating your bonus is:
Bonus = 4800 * (branch earning/branch goal) * (months worked of that year’s contract-days taken for personal leave /12)
If the branch achieves 100% of its annual target the bonus is multiplied by 1.5 .If the branch achieves 120% of its annual target the bonus is multiplied by 2 and if the branch achieves 150% of its annual target the bonus is multiplied by 2.5.

Performance Bonuses:
A performance bonus of 500 will also be paid if they receives satisfaction rating>4.8 points among students surveyed

Top Teacher :
For the top teacher whose satisfaction rating is larger than or equal to 4.8 with at least 12 renewed contracts from current students and who has completed one working year there will be a prize the trip abroad .


Paid Holidays
The Employee will be given New Year’s Day (1 day), Tomb-Sweeping Day (1 day), International Labor Day (1 day), Dragon Boat Festival (1 day), Mid-Autumn Day (1 day), National Day (3 days), Spring Festival (5 days).，Christmas Day (1 day).

For paid holidays, the Employer will not deduct from the Employee’s base salary, however, the Employee shall not be paid for classes on that day.

The Employee will be awarded three (3) days paid annual leave after successfully completing six (6) months of the 1 year contract. An additional day of paid leave will be awarded to an Employee for each consecutive year he/she is employed by the Employer, to a maximum of five (5) days paid annual leave.

The Employee shall notify the Employer at least one (1) month in advance of taking paid leave.

The Employer will notify the Employee of set holidays arranged in accordance with Chinese public holidays.

Marriage Leave
After successfully completing six (6) months of the one year contract, the Employee will be awarded seven (7) days paid Marriage Leave. Prior to taking marriage leave, the Employee must present the marriage certificate to the Employer. Marriage leave must be taken within one (1) month after the marriage certificate is issued. Marriage leave cannot be used in segments.

Attendance
Any Employee who fails to clock-in (clock-out) at the scheduled time is considered late (having left work early). Any Employee who leaves work before the scheduled end of the work day is considered having left work early. Leaving work during working hours without first notifying the Employer will be considered as having left without notice.
In each calendar month, the first two instances in which the Employee fails to clock-in (clock-out), he/she will be fined ten (10) RMB. After that, any failure to clock-in (clock-out) will be considered as having been absent for half a day, and an amount equal to half of one day’s wage will be deducted from the Employee’s salary.
In each calendar month, the Employee is allowed two (2) instances in which he/she arrives no more than ten (10) minutes late to work. The Employee will be fined ten (10) RMB if he/she is more than 10 minutes late; thirty (30) RMB if he/she is more than 30 minutes late. The Employee will be fined thirty (30) RMB if he/she leaves early and without notice, and fifty (50) RMB if he/she is late, leaves early or leaves without notice more than three (3) times (including the two allowed 10 minutes-late occasions).
If the Employee is absent from work for three (3) consecutive days without notice, or ten (10) days cumulative in one year, the Employee shall be terminated.

Prohibited Conduct
The Employee is prohibited from contacting corporations/companies to recruit students or clients, taking part in corporate training, and proofreading materials provided by other companies or institutes located in office buildings where the Employer maintains training centers. If the Employee is employed in the FangShan branch, he/she is not allowed to work part-time in other places in the FangShan District. If it is discovered that an Employee is in violation of the above rules, he or she will be issued a warning. In case of a second violation of the same rule(s), any employment relationship between the Employer and the Employee will be terminated. In addition, the Employee will forfeit his/her deposit and become the subject of investigation for additional economic losses incurred from the above mentioned violations.

In the event the Employee holds a work visa obtained for him/her by the Employer, he/she is prohibited from any and all other employment relationships.

Contract Termination
Upon termination of the Employee’s contract by the Employer, the Employee is entitled to payment for all days worked prior to the termination of said contract, subject to any penalties, fines, or other deductions enumerated above.
Both the Employer and Employee will try to resolve any disagreement with all sincerity.

The Employer reserves the right to terminate the Employee’s employment without any severance benefits in the following circumstances:
(1)The Employee brings the school into disrepute by his/her conduct or attire.
(2)The Employee is guilty of dereliction of duty, incompetence, insubordination, dishonesty or other breaches of the Employee’s obligations under this agreement, or the rules and regulations of the school.
(3)The Employee receives two (2) or more complaints from student(s) about his/her teaching quality over a three month period. The complaints are to be recognized by the management as reasonable.
(4)The Employee is fully and timely informed of any complaints, but he/she still cannot satisfy the students or clients assigned him/her, and the Employer cannot place the Employee in other suitable employment.

Force Majeure
In the unlikely event of a disaster such as earthquake, fire, flood, civil unrest, etc. which would make the Employer unable to continue operating business, the contract will be considered void and both parties are released from this contract without any penalties.

Confidentiality
(1) The Employee will not disclose details of his/her contract to any person or party whatsoever.
(2) The Employee will keep all information about the Employer’s teaching methods and administration confidential.
(3) The Employee will not use the Employer’s teaching methods and materials for the instruction of any private student and/or with another Employer

Resignation
In the event the Employee wishes to terminate his obligations under this contract prior to the expiration date of the contract, he/she must inform the Employer at least one (1) month in advance of doing so, and agree to participate in the transition of his/her students to other personnel employed by the Employer. Upon successful completion of the transition work, the Employer shall return 10% of the Employee’s deposit. The Employer will retain the right to cancel the Employee’s work visa.

Breach of Contract
The Employee shall be considered in breach of his/her contract in the event the he/she fails to comply with the terms and conditions enumerated in this contract, or otherwise discontinues his/her work with the Employer without notifying the employer using the procedures enumerated above. In the event of a breach of this contract by the Employee, the Employee shall forfeit his /her deposit, and the Employer will reserve the right to cancel the Employee’s work visa and pursue any and all other legal remedies it deems necessary .

===================================================================
Applicable Law
In the event of a dispute regarding the interpretation of any of the terms and conditions contained in this Contract, the laws of the People’s Republic of China shall apply.

Additional Benefits & Conditions
One week of hotel accommodation can be provided for free once the employee arriving in Beijing.

Each party will receive a signed copy of this contract. Both versions are identical and equal in the eyes of the law.


Employer Employee
(Seal) (Signature)

__________________ ____________________
______year______ month _____day ______year______ month _____day

[Guerciotti]

I would never allow an employer to keep part of my pay as a deposit. They will use any excuse to keep it in the end. This alone will prevent my signing.

The pay scale is unnecessarily complex. And no pay over 133 hours per month? Hell no.

Three demos equals one hour? Hell no.

1000 for a housing allowance is nothing. In Beijing? No deal. Your friend would need to spend half his salary on rent.

Under attendance it eventually says the employees clock in and out and lose 1/2 day of pay if they forget to clock in or out. Damn. No deal.

I would never sign such a contract and I can't imagine why anyone else would.

I'm sure there are other red flags. These are just the ones I noticed. I see these adhesion contracts periodically and they always seem to originate in Beijing.

Is this an employer, or would your friend work for the agent? Don't do it.

TL;DR: Terrible contract, do not sign. No. No.

[direshark]

New thread idea: Hall of Fame for worst contracts.
Some of the vets around here have maybe seen worse, but as a first timer myself, I have not.

[Bud Powell]

No Trust

The Employer will withhold ￥ 5000 of the Employee’s salary as a deposit in the event the Employee fails to fulfill all his/her duties.

Anal Retentives

The attendance record will be tracked from the 1st day to the last day of the previous month.

Forget it

If the Employee teaches 43-72 classes in one month, he or she will get 5000RMB（base salary）+125RMB*(actual classes+1-43)=month’s salary. If the Employee teaches between43- 72 classes in one calendar month, he or she will earn a 200RMB bonus.

Are you really considering this job? RUN!

If the Employee teaches101-125 classes in one month, he or she will get 5000RMB (base salary）+(72+1-43)*125+128*(100+1-73)+130*(actual classes+1-101) =month’s salary. If the Employee teaches between101-125 classes in one month, he or she will earn a 1000RMB bonus.

Save Yourself While There’s Still Time!

No additional bonus will be paid for every teaching hour worked over 33 hours per week. Additional courses included in the amount of classes.

F This

4. If a foreign teacher cancels or changes class within 2 hours before beginning class, then the foreign teacher has to do an extra free class for students.

Can you Say Contradiction?

6. If student's cancel classes or change a class time within 2 hours before beginning class, then the foreign teachers also can get full payment.

Eat Grits and Die

9. Power off or do not answer cell phones during class times.

This is as far as I read. This contract is really bad, and it reflects poorly upon the administration.

Forget it. Really.

[Bud Powell]

[The_Kong]

Overall a pretty terrible contract.

Not really going to nitpick any specifics since there's too many issues.

Run my friend, run quickly.

@Bud Powell

I agree with the majority of your comments, but do you really think it's wrong for a school (or any workplace) to ask it's employees not to use a cell phone during work, especially in cases where it has nothing to do with the job your supposed to be doing?

When I was teaching in Canada nobody had to say it but it was obvious that you shouldn't be on your cell phone during class. My brother works in a factory and he's not allowed to use his cell phone during work time. My current job also forbids the use of cell phones during class.

[Zanada]

Man was he served a Lemon uh?
I appreciate the insight so much. Thank you guys.

Its insulting. I'll be sure to tell him to let them know it.

I collected and passed along the remarks here to him to serve as guide posts.

[Bud Powell]

[scratchpiece27]

This contract is laughably bad

[Didah]

I'm Shocked. I did not realize that slavery was alive and well in China. A lot of the salaries quoted for ESL teachers border on forced labor anyway. For years I have been under the impression that the PRC was a venerable workers' paradise even for visiting FTs.

The only good point about this contract is that the potential employer left out the you can't fire slaves only sell them clause.

Time to move on. There are plenty of 5,000 yuan jobs in China where you don't wear a yoke.

I probably just opened up a hornet's nest between the government kicking my door in for an unfavorable comment about the Middle Kingdom and those that look at salaries differently. Just remember, at the end of the day this is only a yoke/joke -- potentially more laughable then that even more humorous contract.

In the spirit of May Day -- Workers of the World unite!

[fat_chris]

[The Voice Of Reason]

I wouldn't touch this contract with yours, it's filthy rotten!

[fat_chris]

[The Voice Of Reason]

Ah, sorry, I mean the contract is filthy rotten, and the yours wasn't meant to be your yours, but the OP's hand.

[fat_chris]