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Tutopiya

Penalty and Payment Policy 2023

Objectives:

● This document will cover all policies regarding penalties that will be applied in the event a tutor does not adhere to Tutopiya’s standards and guidelines.

● This document will cover all payment issues and policies that will be followed in order to maintain Tutopiya’s standards and guidelines.

It is important to keep in mind that the following actions will be taken in order to ensure that Tutopiya maintains an overall high standard in its delivery of services. This document will enable a smooth and transparent process for both tutors and customers.

This policy will be implemented from the 25th of July 2023

Tutor Penalties for ongoing lessons:

The following table covers all possible situations that are areas of concern in ongoing lessons.

*Please note this policy renews every month

Issues Action
Major professionalism concern during lesson( Ex: Poaching students, Arguing with customers, offensive language and behavior, Any other serious warnings
Termination of Contract
Teaching concern during lesson (several investigations will be conducted once concern is brought to attention)
Termination of Contract + 50 % pay cut from monthly pay
Late Launching (upto 10 minutes)

1st instance - 25% of lesson fee + Written Warning

2nd instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

3rd instance - 50% lesson fee + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

Late Launching - goes beyond 10 minutes

 1st instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

2nd instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

3rd instance - 50% lesson fee + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

Not filling feedback forms

Penalty = 40% of lesson fee

Late Rescheduling (Under 24 hours)

    1st instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

    2nd instance - 100% of lesson fee + Written Warning

        3rd instance - 100% lesson fee + Termination

Late Cancellations (Under 24 hours)

1st instance - 100% of lesson fee + Written Warning

      2nd instance - 100% of lesson fee + Termination

Late Rescheduling (Under 12 hours)

1st instance - 100% of lesson fee + Written Warning

      2nd instance - 200% of lesson fee + Written Warning

        3rd instance - 200% lesson fee + Termination

No show to lesson

1st instance - 100% of lesson fee + Unavailable for trials for 1 month + Written Warning

2nd instance - 200% of lesson fee + Termination

Late Cancellations (Under 12 hours)

1st instance - 200% of lesson fee + Written Warning

2nd instance - 200% of lesson fee + Termination

Not meeting targets from evaluations
3 instances - Possible termination of Contract
Not completing compulsory courses
3 instances - Possible termination of Contract
Not attending mandatory trainings
3 instances - Termination of Contract
Not checking homework and correcting
3 instances - 20% pay cut from total income for the month for the particular student
Sharing personal information - case by case
Dependent on severity
Not using Tutopiya Background when necessary
3 or more instances - will not be paid for the relevant lessons
Not using Tutopiya Resources when necessary

3 or more instances - 50 % penalty from lesson fee

Not responding to chat during work hours and in a timely manner

2 instances - 10 % penalty from monthly income

Tutor Penalties for Trial lessons

The following scheme is applicable to exclusively trial lessons only.

Trial Issues Actions To Be Taken
Late Launching (up to 10 minutes)

1st instance - 25% of lesson fee + Written Warning

    2nd instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

        3rd instance - 50% lesson fee + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

Late Launching - goes beyond 10 minutes

1st instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

    2nd instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

        3rd instance - 50% lesson fee + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

Late Rescheduling (Under 24 hours)

1st instance - 50% of lesson fee + Written Warning

2nd instance - 100% of lesson fee + Written Warning

        3rd instance - 100% lesson fee + Termination

Late Cancellations (Under 24 hours)

1st instance - 100% of lesson fee + Written Warning

2nd instance - 200% of lesson fee + Termination

No show to trial lesson

1st instance - 300% of lesson fee + Written Warning + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

2nd instance - 300% of lesson fee + Termination

Late Rescheduling (Under 12 hours)

1st instance - 200% of lesson fee + Written Warning + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

  2nd instance - 300% of lesson fee + Written Warning + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

        3rd instance - 300% lesson fee + Termination

Late Cancellations (Under 12 hours)

1st instance - 300% of lesson fee + Written Warning + Unavailable for trials for 1 month

  2nd instance - 300% of lesson fee + Termination

Acceptance/ Allocation of trials and not going ahead with the lesson excluding justifiable reasons such as illness, death of a close relative, and approved leave in prior.

Penalty = 300% of lesson fee and “Unavailable for trials” status for 1 month

 

Please note that trial lesson cancellations or reschedule requests are strongly discouraged to minimize potential loss of students and depriving other tutors of trial opportunities. As such, there will be additional approvals required hence the higher penalties and longer notice periods for trial rescheduling and cancellations.

● If you reschedule or cancel a lesson over 12 hours in advance of the class start time, you will be charged the penalty ONLY.

● If you reschedule or cancel a lesson under 12 hours in advance of the class start time, you will have a pay cut implemented AND this may lead to the termination of your contract with Tutopiya.

Tutor Penalties for not meeting minimum requirements of Free Slots during Peak Hours

  • Our platform has recently been automated completely using Tutors’ FREE SLOTS for a better
    experience for our students and tutors:

●Students select tutors’ free slots for lesson rescheduling

●Trial lessons are automatically booked by our platform based on tutor’s free slots (if this matches student’s requirements)

● Lessons are auto-booked by students using free slots

● Huge benefits include reduced waiting times for lesson bookings and less time wasted by tutors frequently providing availability

As such, it is essential that all our tutors provide free slots during PEAK HOURS & keep these UPDATED in order to

● Ensure tutors increase their chances of receiving trial lessons

● Ensure the tutor is being utilized and booked to the maximum extent possible so that the tutor may earn to their maximum capacity

● Ensure students have a possibility of rescheduling lessons if they are not able to make it

● Ensure tutors provide their minimum commitment required from an employee of Tutopiya

All tutors will need to adhere to the following table with regards to required availability on a weekly basis:

No of students Required minimum availability/Free slots during peak hours per week Charge per week
21 slots per week (3 free slots per day)
10% of earnings per week
1-9
14 slots (2 free slots per day)
10% of earnings per week
10 and above
07 slots (1 free slot per day)
10% of earnings per week

To help tutors further understand the table above, we will discuss the following scenarios:

● If a tutor has 5 active students that they currently teach, they will need to have minimum 14 required slots of availability during peak hours in order to not have any penalty applied

● If a tutor has 9 active students and is not able to provide 14 slots of availability for a particular week, the tutor will be penalized an amount of 10% of their amount for that specific week. If the tutor continues to not update their free slots, additional penalties will be applied for the following weeks, in the case that the tutor continues to not meet the minimum requirement.

Resignation Policy

As per the tutor resignation policy, you will need to provide the required advance notice as follows:

Number of active students Period of required advance notice
Less than 10 students
2 months advance notice
10-19 students
3 months advance notice
20-30 students
4 months advance notice
31 or more
5 months advance notice

In order to apply for resignation at Tutopiya, you will need to fill out the following form:
https://form.jotform.com/211032229568048

The reason behind this policy is to ensure that we can find replacement tutors for your current students with a sufficient period of time. In order to offer a new tutor to your student, we will be required to arrange and conduct trial lessons with the new tutor. If your student was not satisfied with the tutor at the trial, the hiring team will proceed to recruit new tutors, train them and then arrange a trial lesson.

This is a tedious and time-consuming process therefore the above notice is mandatory.

● If the Tutor resigns (ie. informs the Company of resignation, without providing the required amount of advance notice) while having ongoing packages with the student :

The following penalties will be applicable for existing active students at the time of resignation and will be deducted from the tutor’s invoice (this is to cover administrative costs involved in potential refunds, transfers to other tutors, etc)

(a) For students taught for less than 3 months: 4 hours per student based on the grade.

(b) For students taught less than 6 months -3 hours per student based on the grade

(c) For students taught for under 9 months 2 hours per student based on the grade

(d) For students taught for less than 12 months – 1 hour per student based on the grade

● Please note that the tutor cannot apply to leave in order to cover the resignation notice period. Should the tutor require leave during the notice period, the leave obtained must be covered by extending the last working date.

(If you have zero active/ongoing students at the moment of resignation notice – the above clauses won’t be applicable.)

Leave Request Policy

If the tutor does not wish to resign but takes a break from tutoring, the tutor should first inform the Manager – Tutor Recruitment and Management (Thahani) in advance and receive approval in order to proceed.

● The break time period should be fixed and not exceed a month. You also need to notify your return date as this information is vital to inform your students and allocate substitutes.

Leave Period Notice Period Penalty (If the notice period is not followed)
1-2 weeks
1-month advance notice
25% of each lesson fee
2-4 weeks
6 weeks advance notice
30% of each lesson fee

● Leave requests will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Failing to provide the required notice, especially for planned reasons (Eg: Maternity leave, Marriage, Staff meetings, Exams, Traveling, etc) will be subject to a penalty of 10 SGD per day.

● Tutors are encouraged to not apply for leave during the exam peak seasons unless there is a justifiable reason supported by documentation( Jan Feb, May – June,
August to October), as students will most likely request additional classes and you will need to ensure that you provide your fullest support to help the student do their best during the exam period.

● In case of maternity leave, 84 days will be granted. Extension to this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The notice period for maternity leave again depends on the number of active students the tutor will have at the point of leave.

Leave Period Notice Period No. of Students Penalty (If the notice period is not followed)
More than 1 month
2 months
Less than 10
10% of each lesson fee
More than 1 month
3 months
11-20
20% of each lesson fee
More than 1 month
4 months
21-30
30% of each lesson fee
More than 1 month
4 months
31 or more
40% of each lesson fee

Resignation Policy

  • As per the tutor resignation policy, you will need to provide the required advance notice as follows:
The number of active students Advance notice required
Less than 10 students
2 months
10 to 19 students
3 months
20 to 30 students
4 months
31 or more students
4 months

In order to apply for resignation at Tutopiya, you will need to fill out the following form:

https://form.jotform.com/211032229568048

The reason behind this policy is to ensure that we can find replacement tutors for your current students within a sufficient period of time. In order to offer a new tutor to your student, we will be required to arrange and conduct trial lessons with the new tutor. If your student was not satisfied with the tutor at the trial, the hiring team will proceed to recruit new tutors, train them and then arrange a trial lesson.

This is a tedious and time-consuming process therefore the above notice is mandatory.

If the Tutor resigns (ie. informs the Company of resignation, without providing the required amount of advance notice) while having ongoing packages with the student – the following penalties will be applicable for existing active students at the time of resignation and will be deducted from the tutor’s invoice (this is to cover administrative costs involved in potential refunds, transfers to other tutors, etc)

(a)     For students taught for less than 3 months: 4 hours per student based on the grade.

(b)    For students taught less than 6 months -3 hours per student based on the grade

(c)     For students taught for under 9 months 2 hours per student based on the grade

(d)    For students taught for less than 12 months –  1 hour per student based on the grade

Please note that the tutor cannot apply for leave in order to cover the resignation notice period. Should the tutor require leave during the notice period, the leave obtained must be covered by extending the last working date.

( If you have zero active/ongoing students at the moment of resignation notice- the above clauses won’t be applicable.)

Other Terms and Policies

If the tutor receives a written warning at any instance, by default no trials will be allocated to the tutor until proven to be adhering to guidelines.                      

●If a customer requests a refund due to a significant issue caused by the tutor, the company reserves the right to immediately terminate the tutor’s contract after conducting an investigation. Additionally, a 70% reduction will be applied to the monthly payment.

●It is important to note that you cannot get the student to submit the rescheduled/ cancellation request on your behalf. If this is notified, severe consequences will be applied.                 

●In the situation where the tutor reschedules to a time that the student does not agree with, it will fall under the category of a “canceled lesson”.                      

●In the event a student cancels a lesson 2 hours prior to the start time, the tutor will be compensated for their time up to a maximum of 1 hour.                       

●In the event a student cancels a trial lesson 2 hours prior to the start time, the tutor will be compensated 50% of the trial duration. This is applicable even if the student does not show up for the lesson.                      

●In the event a student reschedules a lesson 2 hours prior to the start time, the tutor will be compensated for half their time up to a maximum of 30 minutes.                     

●It is compulsory for a tutor to wait for a duration of 30 minutes before leaving the lesson, in case the student does not show up for the lesson.                     

●All lesson extensions have to be added via the feedback form. (Extension not included through the feedback form  and lesson extensions less than 15 mins will not be claimable.)                 

●Extra lesson time can only be claimed if; 

(i) the Lesson was extended due to technical issues on the Tutopiya platform (excluding internet connectivity or issues related to the tutor’s or student’s devices)

(ii) Student/ Parent requests to extend the lesson 

(iii) Any extension without the students/Parents’ consent will not be claimable. 

(iv) Trial lesson extensions will not be claimable. It’s the tutor’s responsibility to stick to the agreed time.                        

●If a tutor requests to drop a student before the utilization of all hours assigned for the tutor, they will need to pay a penalty equivalent to the remaining hours left of all students that they are currently teaching.

●If a student changes the grade and curriculum, this must be confirmed or informed to the support or billing team by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/X31SG7JyQU8Nt15C6,  in advance before claiming a new grade.

●Any payments less than SGD 20 will be paid with the next invoice.         

● Remittance fee (Bank Transfer fee)

Country Bank Transfer fee
Malaysia (MYR)
1%
United Kingdom (GBP)
1%
India (INR)
1.5%
Australia (AUD)
1%
Hong Kong (HKD)
1.5%
Philippines (PHP)
1.5%
Mexico (MXN)
2%
Egypt (EGY)
3.5%
Europe (Euro)
1%
Indonesia (IDR)
1.5%
Russia
2%
Pakistan
1.5%

 

● New joiners need to complete their profile, with bank details on or before the 20th day of the month, if they wish to receive the payment on the stipulated payment date. (7th of the Subsequent month)

● To receive payment of Fees from Tutopiya, you will need to provide us with your bank account details. We will not be remitting the tutor fees to any third-party account

● Change of bank account details are to be conveyed via sending an email to “billing@tutopiya.com” on or before the 20th day of the month, to receive the payment at the stipulated pay date (7th of the Subsequent month), to your new Bank Account. Earned Fees will be remitted to your bank account net of any Penalty Costs and remittance fees every month. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you will be able to receive and withdraw money from your Bank Account. The company does not hold responsibility for any losses due to incorrect bank details provided by the Tutor.

● If you incur any Penalty Costs without any Fees against which to offset such Penalty Costs, you will remain liable to Tutopiya for the full amount of such Penalty Costs until such time that any earned Fees payable to you exceed any accumulated Penalty Costs, failing which you will remain responsible to reimburse Tutopiya for such Penalty Costs.

● In the case a tutor wants to appeal a penalty, please ensure to fill out this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9-DIe75AZ9vVDbjhIOiUSILI0H5J6GMif4SBXgzfTqwOVQw/viewform