Hi all, I’m currently signing an employment contract for a new company. But I have some questions about how common some of the clauses are. It’s an English teaching company based in Osaka.
For one, the company has asked me to provide a personal reference. All fine so far. But it requires the reference to agree to pay up to 8M yen in damages should I purposefully or negligently bring damage to the company. The agreement is also binding for 5 years. Is this normal in Japanese employee contracts? I’m struggling to find anyone who would agree to sign it because of the sheer amount of money it stipulates.
Also, there is a non-competition clause which says I can’t work for a competing company for three years after my contract is terminated. Is this also normal? I feel like it leaves me with very few options should I leave this company. I’m not sure whether they would be extremely strict about it or not.
Any help appreciated!
by closedlotus