This Agreement is entered into as of date entered above between PALS Chess Academy LLC. ("Company" or “PALS”) and Contractor ("Coach") as an independent contractor (PLEASE READ PARAGRAPH 6 CAREFULLY).
In consideration of the promises and agreements contained herein, the parties agree as follows:
- Engagement. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the Company hereby engages the Coach to perform services for the Company as set forth herein, and the Coach hereby accepts such engagement. The Coach agrees to be fingerprinted and to criminal background checks as required to perform services under this Agreement at any particular school.
- Term. This Agreement shall commence as of the date signed by both parties and shall continue until terminated verbally or in writing by the Company or the Coach. This Agreement may be terminated by either the Company or the Coach at any time for any reason.
- Services to Be Performed. During the term of this Agreement, the Coach has been retained by the Company to act as a Chess Coach for Chess Clubs which are on-site at schools agreed to by the Company and the Coach (“Coaching Services”). The schools where the Coaching Services will be provided can be changed by agreement of the parties. Coaches are expected to comply with all separate written policies and procedures provided by PALS (including, but not limited to Classroom Policies, dress codes, required weekly reports, and requests for substitute coaches) which are incorporated herein by reference and all instructions and rules of the schools where they provide Coaching Services. At all times, the Coach must be respectful and polite in interactions with school faculty and staff, parents, children, volunteers and other coaches. When enrollment numbers dictate the need for more than one coach, the Coach is required to work collaboratively with other PALS coaches while providing the Coaching Services.
- Performance of Tasks. Subject to the requirements set forth in this Agreement, the Coach shall generally have control and discretion over the means and manner of performance of the services in achieving the result of the work to be performed. Other than equipment and materials that PALS provides to all coaches, the Coach shall use their own supplies and provide their own transportation in rendering services under this Agreement. The Company retains the right to observe, stop, or alter the work of the Coach to assure its conformity with this Agreement. The following are the expectations for all PALS Coaches.
- Before the Club Starts
(1) PALS will provide the Coach with written lesson plans, along with video tutorials that can be accessed on the Google Suites Platform. In your Google Calendar, the Coach will be assigned a suggested lesson plan for each club meeting. The Coach should review the assigned lesson beforehand and be comfortable teaching it or a similar lesson. Coaches are not required to memorize the entire lesson, but they should be familiar enough with the core ideas of the lesson to be able to focus on the children and not be consistently referring to the written lesson plan when giving the lesson. Coaches may modify the lesson to fit their personal style and to fit the needs and abilities of their students. Coaches may also change the order in which lessons are taught.
(2) Coaches are responsible for bringing the chess boards, sets of pieces and demo boards and pieces provided by PALS to each club meeting.
(3) Coaches must familiarize themselves with check-in protocols of each school on their first day and abide by them afterward. (Check-in protocols may include signing in at the front desk, scanning a driver’s license, wearing a visitor’s pass, or calling security from the front desk to let them know you are on the premises.)
(4) Depending on the school, coaches may be expected to collect their students from a central gathering point and walk them to the meeting room or wait in the meeting room for the children to arrive.
- During the Club Meeting
(1) Each club meeting should include a lesson led by the Coach for 15 to 20 minutes, game time for 35-40 minutes, and 5 minutes for the children to help put away the chess sets and straighten up the room.
(2) PALS club meetings generally start with game time followed by the lesson. A coach may, at their option, begin with the lesson followed by game time, but each club meeting should include a mixture of both. Coaches are also encouraged to set up a chess puzzle on the demo board at the beginning of the meeting that students can try to solve during game time. During game time, children who request them may also work on chess puzzles from the coach binder provided by PALS or your own materials.
(3) During the lesson, all children should be gathered and quietly paying attention to the lesson. Lessons should be taught as much as possible using the Socratic method and encouraging the children to actively participate.
(4) During game time Coaches should not play against students or focus on one game. Coaches are required to move around the room and interact with all of the children in the club. This is a time in which the Coach should use their knowledge and experience to help children improve their chess play. Game time can include playing interesting chess variants to enhance the
children’s learning and positive experience with chess.
(5) Coaches are expected to use classroom management strategies to provide a proper learning environment during lesson and game time. However, the Coach should not be overly harsh with the children, nor demand silence during game time. In short, PALS has two goals for the club meetings that the Coach supervises, first that the children learn to play chess and steadily improve, and second that they have fun doing so.
(6) Photographing children raises many privacy and legal concerns. Accordingly, Coaches must never take a photo of a child or group of children in their club.
- During Dismissal of the Students
(1) The Coach must familiarize themselves with each school’s dismissal policy on the first day. This may require walking the children to a separate dismissal area or collecting signatures from parents.
(2) During dismissal, the Coach must NEVER leave a child unattended.
(3) Coaches are responsible for making sure the room is clean before they leave (Including chairs pushed in or on tables, nothing on the floor and none of the teacher’s belongings broken or moved).
- Time Requirements. The Coach commits to providing Coaching Services at each club meeting assigned to the Coach. These services must be performed on the days and times designated by each school assigned to the Coach. In addition, the Coaching Services includes the following time commitments: (1) Coaches will spend the amount of preparation time needed to competently teach the assigned or similar lessons; (2) Coaches will arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the club meeting; and the Coach will stay on-site until all children are dismissed in accordance with school policy and the classroom has been straightened up.
- Compensation. For services performed pursuant to this Agreement, the Company agrees to pay the Coach $________ class, plus a travel allowance of $10.00 if the Coach must travel more than 10 miles to a school, to be paid every two weeks by direct deposit. Federal, state, and local income tax and payroll tax of any kind shall not be withheld or paid by the Company on behalf of the Coach. The parties agree that the Company will not obtain any workers' compensation coverage that covers the Coach, and further agree that in no event shall any workers' compensation insurance benefits be provided to the Coach by the Company. The Coach understands that he or she is responsible to pay, according to law, the Coach's income and other employment taxes and understands that he or she may be liable for self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare) to be paid by the Coach according to law. In addition, the Company shall not be liable to the Coach for any expenses paid or incurred by the Coach unless otherwise agreed to in writing.
*BELOW, YOU WILL ENTER THE AGREED UPON RATE DISCUSSED WITH PALS MANAGEMENT*
- Right to Benefits. The Coach expressly acknowledges and agrees that the Coach is not an
employee of the Company, and as such is not entitled to and will have no claim to Company benefits provided to employees, including but not limited to, health benefits, paid time off and paid holidays.
- Equipment Agreement. The Company agrees to provide the Coach one suitcase, 10 chess boards, 10 complete white and black sets of chess pieces, and a presentation board with a full set of presentation board pieces and a carrying case. This equipment is provided for the Coaches use while providing Coaching Services pursuant to this Agreement. Upon termination of the Agreement, the Coach agrees to return this equipment to the PALS or a designated representative. The Coach agrees that if the equipment is returned in unreasonably poor condition or equipment is missing, then PALS may charge a $100.00 fee to be taken from the Coaches final compensation. If the equipment is not returned, PALS will charge a $250.00 fee to be taken from the Coaches final compensation if the equipment is not returned. Missing or lost equipment will be replaced at the following cost to the independent contractor: Demo board: $60. Demo board pieces $10. Suitcase $20. Chess boards $10 each. Chess set $10 per set.
- Independent Contractor Status. This Agreement shall not be considered or construed to be a partnership or joint venture. The Coach shall act solely as an independent contractor and not as an employee or an agent of the Company. The Coach is not authorized to enter into contracts or agreements on behalf of the Company or to otherwise bind the Company in any manner or create obligations of the Company to third parties. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall prevent the Coach from performing services for compensation outside of this Agreement for other individuals or companies, except that Coach shall not perform any such services during the hours devoted to providing the Coaching Services under this Agreement.
- Conflicts of Interest. The Coach shall not serve as an agent, consultant, officer, employee, or other representative for any of the Company's competitors or prospective competitors, without giving prior written notification to the Company. The Coach hereby warrants that there is no conflict of interest between the Coach's other employment, if any, or other contracts, if any, and the activities to be performed hereunder. The Coach shall advise the Company if a conflict of interest arises in the future. The Coach may, independently of the services performed for PALS, provide chess coaching or tutoring services.
- Indemnification and Hold Harmless. The Coach agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company from any and all claims by the Coach, which may arise out of and in the course of the performance of his or her duties hereunder. This section shall not affect any other remedies either party may have under this Agreement. The Coach expressly waives any and all claims for unemployment benefits and/or workers' compensation benefits.
- Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure. The Coach agrees to not disclose or communicate, in any manner, either during or after the term of this Agreement, any confidential information, including but not limited to, the names of club members, and parent contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses. The Coach also agrees to not disclose or communicate, in any manner, either during or after the term of this Agreement, any proprietary information, such as lesson plans, marketing strategies, operations, or any other information of any kind which would be deemed confidential, a trade secret, a customer list, or other form of proprietary
information of the Company. The Coach understands that any breach of this provision, or that of any other Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement, is a material breach of this Agreement. Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, the Coach shall destroy all records, data, information, and other documents produced or acquired during the performance of this Agreement and all copies thereof. Such material shall remain the property of the Company. Class rosters, in particular, contain sensitive and confidential information. All downloaded and printed copies of class rosters should be destroyed at the end of each semester.
- Non-Solicitation. The Coach shall not, during the term of this Agreement and for a period of two years immediately following termination of this Agreement, either directly or indirectly, call on, solicit, or take away, or attempt to call on, solicit, or take away, any of the schools that used the Company’s services for whom the Coach provided Coaching Services or became acquainted with through PALS during the term of this Agreement, either for his or her own benefit, or for the benefit of any other person, firm, corporation or organization.
- No Solicitation of Students. The Coach may provide private chess instruction services while working for PALS. However, the Coach may not distribute flyers or other advertising material at the school clubs or use any class rosters to market to parents of PALS students. If approached by a parent, the Coach may discuss private chess instruction with the parent, but Coaches may not actively solicit students or parents while at the school.
- Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes any and all other agreements, either oral or in writing, between the parties
- Severability. If any term of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable under any statute, regulation, ordinance or other rule of law, such term will be deemed reformed or deleted and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
- Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed under, the laws of the State of Colorado.
