There is a type of teacher called accompanying teachers, who specialize in providing accompanying education for special children to help them improve their ability to communicate with others, adapt to the learning environment, and then improve their ability to learn knowledge. Recently, in the trial of a case, the Haidian court supported the litigation request of the accompanying teacher to require the parents to pay labor fees and liquidated damages.
Mr. Wang's child, Hao Hao (pseudonym), has a certain degree of anxiety and hyperactivity disorder, and he is unable to concentrate in class, which sometimes even affects classroom discipline, so the school requires Hao Hao's parents to accompany him. Due to his busy work, Mr. Wang hired Xiaoyu (pseudonym) as Haohao's accompanying teacher, and the two parties signed the "Accompanying Agreement". The agreement stipulates that Xiaoyu will provide Haohao with personalized program design, curriculum development and implementation, create a good educational environment, correct Haohao's classroom behavior, and assist him in correctly handling the relationship between classmates. The parties also agreed that the accompanying fee was 8,000 yuan per month, and if the reason for dismissing the teacher was insufficient and the contract was terminated early, an additional month's salary would be paid.
After the agreement was signed, Xiaoyu accompanied Haohao for three months. One day, Xiaoyu received a text message from Mr. Wang requesting to terminate the contract, and the two parties agreed to terminate the contract, but there were still five days of wages that had not been settled, and Xiaoyu could not contact Mr. Wang again, so he sued the court, demanding that Mr. Wang pay five days of labor fees and compensate for liquidated damages totaling 10,000 yuan.
During the trial, Mr. Wang claimed that he had notified Xiaoyu in advance to terminate the contract, that there was no breach of contract, that he should not pay liquidated damages, and agreed to pay five days of labor fees. At the same time, Mr. Wang believed that Xiaoyu failed to perform his duties as an accompaniment, failed to provide a teacher qualification certificate to prove his qualifications and abilities, and used inappropriate language in the teaching process, resulting in the child's ability not to rise but to decline, and filed a counterclaim, demanding that Xiaoyu compensate 20,000 yuan for mental damages.
The court held that the "Accompaniment Agreement" signed by Xiaoyu and Mr. Wang was an expression of the true intentions of both parties, and the content did not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and should be legal and valid, and both parties should strictly abide by and implement it. The agreement stipulates a period of one year, and if Mr. Wang's dismissal is not sufficient to terminate the contract early, he will be required to pay an additional month's salary in addition to his regular salary. The available evidence is insufficient to prove that Xiao Yu failed to fulfill his obligation to accompany Xiao Yu as stipulated in the agreement, and Mr. Wang did not express his dissatisfaction with Xiao Yu's work during the period of Xiao Yu's accompaniment, so Mr. Wang's early termination of the agreement violated the provisions of the Accompanying Agreement, and in addition to paying Xiao Yu's salary, he should also bear the liability for breach of contract in accordance with the agreement, that is, pay liquidated damages equivalent to one month's salary. Similarly, Mr. Wang's claim for compensation of RMB 20,000 for actual losses on the grounds that Xiaoyu counterclaimed for breach of contract lacked factual and legal basis and was not supported by the court.
In the end, the court ruled that the "Companion Agreement" between the two parties was terminated, and Mr. Wang paid Xiaoyu five days of labor fees and compensated for liquidated damages totaling 10,000 yuan. After the verdict was pronounced, Mr. Wang appealed, and the court of second instance upheld the original verdict, which is now in effect.
Accompanying teachers is a relatively new type of education at present, and related issues should also be paid attention to. The judge reminded that when parents and accompanying teachers or tutors sign such labor contracts, they should try their best to conclude labor contracts in writing, clarifying the content of labor services, the requirements and standards for providing labor services, the time and place, labor remuneration and payment, and liability for breach of contract.
In addition, compared with general labor contracts, teacher labor contracts have special characteristics: firstly, because the content of labor services provided is related to education and teaching, parents can put forward requirements for teachers' qualifications, qualifications, experience and ability, review them at the time of employment, and clearly stipulate them in the contract; At the same time, teachers should also abide by laws and regulations and teaching-related rules and regulations in the process of providing labor services, abide by industry ethics, play a positive role in guiding students, and perform their educational duties with due diligence. In addition, parents should respect and cooperate with the teacher's teaching methods and processes, and avoid excessive interference with the teacher's teaching and affect the teaching effect.