Exhibit 10.8
Dated May 29, ?2004
By and Between
Pluristem Ltd.
a
company organized and existing under the laws of Israel (the “Company”)
of Haifa, Israel.
and
Yossi Keret I.D.22337810
of Hod Hasharon (the
“Employee”)
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| WHEREAS:
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the Company wishes to retain the Employee as a CFO; and
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WHEREAS:
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the Employee declares that he is qualified and capable of performing all that is and will be
required of such a position; and
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WHEREAS:
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the Company and the Employee agreed to set forth in writing the terms and conditions of their
understandings regarding the employment.
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NOW THEREFORE, with the foregoing
recitals being an essential part hereof, and in consideration of the respective agreements
of the parties, it is agreed as follows:
1. Preamble and Exhibits
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The
preamble to this Agreement and the Exhibits hereto form an integral part of this
Agreement. |
2. Engagement
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The
Company hereby agrees to engage the Employee, and the Employee hereby agrees to be
engaged by the Company in the capacity of CFO and in that capacity, amongst other things,
to assist in establishing, developing and maintaining the goodwill, trade and business of
the Company. The Employee shall use his best endeavors to further the prosperity,
reputation and business interests of the Company and he shall well and faithfully serve
the Company to the best of his ability. |
3. Employee’s
Declarations
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The
Employee hereby declares as follows: |
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(i) He
shall devote all the time and effort necessary and all his skills, knowledge
and experience to the fulfillment of his duties for the benefit of the
Company and in its best interest. During the term of this Agreement, the
Employee shall not be employed by or perform any work, whether for payment
nor without payment, for any third party, except for such work and/or
employment that shall have been authorized in writing by the Company.
Without derogating from the above, the Company hereby gives its consent to
the Employee being employed and/or to performing the work as provided in
Exhibit “A” hereto. |
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(ii)
The execution of this Agreement will not conflict with or result in a breach of
the terms, conditions or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any
contract, covenant or instrument under which the Employee is now obligated. |
4. Remuneration
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(i) The
remuneration and other benefits payable to or provided for the Employee
during the period of his employment shall be as specified in Exhibit
“B”, incorporated into this Agreement as an essential
part hereof. |
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(ii) The
Employee hereby agrees that except from the remuneration and other benefits
that are specified in Exhibit “B”, he will not be entitled to
any additional remuneration and/or to any bonus and/or to any benefit
and/or to any other payment. |
5. Working Hours
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Subject
to specific work requirements, the Employee’s regular working hours shall be 40
weekly hours, Sunday to Thursday from 08:00 am to 16:30, including a half a hour lunch
break. It is agreed that as long as the headquarter is located in Haifa, the employee will
work from the office three days a week and will work from home the rest of the time. |
6. Term
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This
Agreement is in effect as of May 18, 2003 and shall terminate according to Section 6
hereof. |
7. Termination
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The
parties may terminate this Agreement as follows: |
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(i) The
Company shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement upon the delivery of
ninety (90) days prior written notice to the Employee. |
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Without derogating
from the above, in the case of changing management and/or relocation of the Company’s
offices and/or laboratories the Company shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement
upon the delivery of ninety (90) days prior written notice to the Employee |
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(ii) The
Employee may terminate his employment for whatever reason, upon the delivery
of ninety (90) days prior written notice to the Company. |
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Upon
termination, for any reason, the Employee shall be obliged to transfer his position in an
orderly and complete manner and return to the Company all books, records, documents,
tools, equipment, keys, car, cellular phone and/or any other articles belonging to the
Company and such other work related writings as the Company deems reasonable to receive
back from the Employee. |
8. Confidentiality and
Non-Competition
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A
Confidentiality and Non-Competition Agreement, which is attached to this Agreement as
Exhibit “C” will be signed by the Employee upon the signing of this
Agreement and is an essential part of this Agreement. |
9. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Policy
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The
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Policy, which is attached to this Agreement as Exhibit “D” will
be signed by the Employee upon the signing of this Agreement and is an essential part of
this Agreement. |
10. Development Rights
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(i)
The Employee hereby declares that he has, and shall have no suit and/or claim
of any kind against the Company in an matter relating, whether directly or
indirectly, to any idea and/or product of the Company’ Protected
Information, or other information of the Company which came to his knowledge as
a result of his employment in the Company. |
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(ii)
To remove any doubt, the Employee hereby declares and confirms that he does not
have any proprietary right, including, without limitation, copyright or any
other right, relating to any idea, product or any other development of the
Company, and that all such rights belong to the Company. |
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(iii)
The Employee hereby declares and confirms that all rights in development and/or
products, including, but not limited to, trade secrets and know-how, patents and
other rights in connection therewith developed by the Employee or with the
contribution of Employee’s efforts and created during the term of this
Agreement, as part of his employment with the Company, shall be the sole
property of the Company, and the Employee shall execute all documents necessary
to assign any patent to the Company and otherwise transfer such proprietary
rights to the Company. |
11 Notices
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Any
notice under this Agreement shall be in writing and sent by registered mail or delivered
by hand to the other party to its above-mentioned address. |
11. Waiver of Breach
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The
failure or waiver of any party to execute, in any respect, any right provided for by this
Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver of any further or future right hereunder. |
12. Assignment
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The
Employee acknowledges that the services rendered by him are unique and personal.
Accordingly, the Employee may not assign any of its rights or delegate any of his duties
or obligations under this Agreement. The rights and obligations of the Company under this
Agreement shall be passed on to, and shall be binding upon, the successors or assignees
of the Company. |
13. Insurance and
Indemnification
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The
Company hereby undertakes to insure and indemnify the Employee for any liability on his
part resulting from an action carried out by him in his capacity as an Officer of the
Company, all in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association and the
Companies Law. |
14. Governing Law and
Jurisdiction
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(i) This
Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with laws
applicable for the time being in Israel. |
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(ii) Any
dispute arising out of this Agreement shall be referred to the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Courts of Tel Aviv. |
15. Severability
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The
provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed severable and the invalidity or
unenforceability of any provisions shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the
other provisions hereof. |
16. Illegality
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If
any term of this Agreement is held to be illegal or contrary to public policy or
unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall attach only
to such provision and shall not in any way affect or render invalid or unenforceable any
other provision of this Agreement. |
17. Entire Agreement
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This
Agreement contains the entire understanding of the parties. It may not be changed orally
but only an agreement in writing signed by the party against whom enforcement of waiver,
change, modification, extension or discharge is sought. |
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the
parties hereto has set its hand and seals the day and year first above written.
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| /s/ Yossi Keret
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/s/ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇
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| Employee
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Company
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EXHIBIT “B”
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(OPTIONAL
– for each employee ) |
1. Salary
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(a) |
The
Company shall pay the Employee a monthly gross salary of 33,000 New Israeli
Shekels (the “Salary”). |
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(b) |
The
Salary will be subject to withholding taxes and serve as the basis for other
deductions at source, including superannuation contributions and the
Employee’s share of any social or other benefit requirements as
may be required by law. |
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(c) |
The
Salary shall be adjusted in accordance with governmental directives
published from time to time and binding the Company (“Tzavei
Harhava”) with respect to cost-of-living increases (“Tosefet
Yoker”) in the amounts and at the levels as set forth in such
directives. |
2. Other Benefits
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In
addition to the Salary the Employee shall be entitled to the following benefits: |
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(i) |
The
Employee shall be entitled to 24 days annual paid leave. |
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(ii) |
The
Employee shall be entitled to accumulate up to 48 days of annual leave (the
“Maximum Amount”), any accumulation of annual leave days in excess of
the Maximum amount requires the specific consent of the Company and the
Company, at its discretion, may pay the Employee the equivalent of the
accumulated leave days. |
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(i) |
The
Employee shall be entitled to sick leave days in accordance with the Israeli
Sick Leave Law 1976 and subject to the presentation of a medical certificate. |
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(ii) |
Both
the Company and the Employee hereby declare that any accumulated sick leave
days can not be redeemable. |
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The
Employee shall be entitled to use a Company car (the “Car”) pursuant to the
following conditions: |
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(i) |
The
type of the Car shall be type 3. |
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(ii) |
The
Employee hereby declares that he is aware that in order to provide him with the
Car, the Company intends to lease the Car from a leasing company, pursuant to a
car lease agreement. Employee undertakes to strictly comply with all of the
provisions of the said leasing company relating to the use of the Car. |
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(iii) |
The
Company shall bear the following expenses in respect of the Car and/or its
maintenance (the “Car Expenses”): |
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(a) |
mandatory
Insurance and Third Party Insurance. |
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(d) |
Car’s
repairs which are covered by the Leasing Agreement. |
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(e) |
All
deductible amounts with which the Company may be charged by the insurance
company issuing the insurance policy covering the Car in the event of
damage to the Car. |
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(f) |
In
the event of loss of the Car due to theft resulting from the Employee’s
negligence — all deductible amounts and all other expenses related to
said loss. |
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It
is hereby agreed that any other expenses other than the Car Expenses shall be borne by
the Employee and the Employee hereby agrees that such expenses be deducted from his
Salary. |
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(iv) |
The
Company shall bear the value of the monthly use of the Car, which shall be
grossed up by any taxes payable by the Employee on such value in accordance
with income tax regulations applicable thereto. |
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(v) |
In the event that the leasing company shall
demand the payment of compensation of any type, due to the unlawful and/or unreasonable and/or negligient use by the
Employee of the Car - the Company shall forward such demand to the Employee and the Employee shall be entitled
to defend, at his own expense, against such demand. Any amounts to be paid to the leasing company, regardless of whether
or not the Employee chose to defend against the leasing company's demand, shall be paid by the Employee. |
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(vi) |
It
is hereby agreed that the Employee shall not be entitled to any additional
traveling expenses. |
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(vii) |
It is hereby further agreed that the Car Expenses shall not be considered as
part of the salary for the purpose of the calculation of social benefits. |
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(viii) |
The
Employee shall bear and pay all expenses relating to any violation of law
committed in connection with the use of the Car and shall indemnify and/or
reimburse the Company upon its first demand for all expenses incurred by it,
including all legal and/or court costs, as a result of such violations. |
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(ix) |
The
Car will be made available to the Company for any maintenance and/or repairs
and/or for the use of the Company. |
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(x) |
In
case of termination of the Employment Agreement, the Employee shall return the
Car to the Company on the last day of his employment in good order and
condition. |
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The
Employee shall be entitled to use a cellular phone of the Company (the “Phone”)
pursuant to the following conditions: |
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(i) |
The Company shall bear all the expenses in respect of the Phone. |
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(ii) |
Any
taxes connected to the use of the Phone shall be borne by the Company. |
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(iii) |
In
case of termination of the Employment Agreement, the Employee shall return the Phone,
together with any other equipment supplied, to the Company on the last day of his
employment in good order and condition. The Employee shall have no rights of lien with
respect to the Phone and/or any other equipment supplied. |
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(e) |
Manager’s
Insurance Plan and Severance Payment |
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(i) |
The
Company shall contribute an aggregate monthly amount equal to 13.33% of the
Salary as premium on a Manager’s Insurance (“Bituah Menahalim”)
policy (“Managers’ Insurance Policy”), which contributions shall
be allocated as follows: 8.33% of the Salary towards Severance Pay (“Severance
Component”); 5% of the Salary as pension deposits (“Pension Deposit
Component”) and plus of up to 2.5% towards disability insurance component. |
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(ii) |
In
addition, the Employee shall contribute, and for that purpose he hereby
irrevocably authorizes and instructs the Company to deduct from his Salary at
source, an aggregate monthly amount equal to 5% of the Salary to such
Managers’ Insurance Policy as the Employee’s premium in respect of
the Pension Deposit Component. |
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(iii) |
The
Company shall be the owner of all rights in such Managers’ Insurance
Policy , and the Employee shall be the beneficiary thereof. |
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(iv) |
The
Employee will bear any and all taxes in connection with amounts paid by the
Employee and/or the Company to the Managers’ Insurance Policy under this
section (e). |
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(v) |
In
the event of termination of the Employee’s employment under this
Agreement, for any reason other than a Termination for Cause (as defined
hereinafter), the Employee shall be entitled to all sums accumulated in the
Managers’ Insurance Policy. |
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The
term “Termination for Cause” shall mean termination of the Employee’s
employment as a result of the occurrence of any one of the following: (a) theft or
embezzlement by the Employee and/or conviction of the Employee of a felony or of any
crime involving moral turpitude; (b) the Employee deliberately causes harm to the Company’s
business affairs; (c) the Employee breaches the confidentiality and non-competition
Agreement. |
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(vi) |
It
is hereby agreed that the above-mentioned contributions shall be subject to
the provisions of the law, as same may be changed from time to time. |
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(i) |
The
Company shall make monthly contributions on the Employee’s behalf to a
recognized advanced study fund (hereinafter the “Study Fund”) in an
amount equal to 7.5% of the Salary. In addition, the Company shall deduct 2.5%
from the Salary also to be paid to the Study Fund. |
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(ii) |
In
the event that the Salary exceeds the recognized ceiling for withholdings that
are exempted from taxes under the provisions of applicable law in effect from
time to time (the “Advanced Study Fund Ceiling”), the Employee will
bear any and all taxes applicable in connection with those amounts payable by
the Employee and/or the Company to the Advanced Study Fund under this Section
(f). |
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(i) |
The
Company hereby undertakes to ensure that the Board of Directors of Pluristem
Inc. (the “Parent Company”) shall grant to the Employee options (the
“Options”) to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Parent Company,
pursuant to a share option plan in accordance with the newly amended Section
102 of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance, effective as of January 1, 2003 (the
“Plan”), as approved by the Board of Directors of the Parent Company
and the Israeli Tax Authorities, which Plan shall provide for capital gains
treatment of options granted under said Plan. |
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(ii) |
All
terms and conditions of the options, including vesting terms, exercise price
and customary provisions such as those pertaining to certain adjustments,
restrictions on transfer, and termination of employment shall be as set forth
in the Plan and the option agreement to be entered into between the Parent
Company and the Employee (the “Option Agreement”). |
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(iii) |
The
Employee undertakes to execute any and all documents, including the Option
Agreement, as may be required by the Company and/or the Parent Company in
connection with the Options and the grant of the Options shall be subject to
the Employee’s fulfillment of the aforesaid undertaking. |
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(iv) |
As
agreed with ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, The options amount will be around 2%
of the Share capital. |
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You
shall be entitled to annual recreation pay (▇’▇▇▇ H’avra-ah) Starting from 7
days a year for the first year. |
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The
Employee shall be entitled, at the end of each year, to a yearly bonus , which shall be
subject to the approval of the Company’s Board of Directors and shall be conditional
upon the Company accomplishing its goals, purposes and business plan during the past
year. The Bonus structure will be discussed and approved by the board of director on the
middle of April, 2004. |
Date: __________
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___________________
PLURISTEM LTD.
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______________________
(Employee's Signature)
________________________
(Type/Print Employee's Name)
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Exhibit “C”
Confidentiality and
Non-Competition Agreement
The undersigned,
________________, holder of I.D. No. __________ (hereinafter: the "Employee"),
hereby undertakes as follows:
Confidentiality
The Employee hereby acknowledges and
agrees that he will have access to confidential and proprietary information concerning the
business and financial activities of the Pluristem Ltd. (hereinafter the
“Company”) and information and technology from the Company’s product
research and development, including without limitation, the Company’s banking
investments, Investors, properties, employees, marketing plans, customers, suppliers,
trade secrets, and test results, processes, data and know-how, improvements, inventions,
techniques and products (actual or planned). Such information, whether documentary,
written, oral or computer generated, shall be deemed to be and referred to as
“Proprietary Information”.
Proprietary Information shall be
deemed to include any and all proprietary information disclosed by or on behalf of the
Company and irrespective of form but excluding information that (i) was known to the
Employee prior to his association with the Company (ii) shall have appeared in any printed
publication or shall have become a part of the public knowledge except as a result of
breach of this Agreement by the Employee.
The Employee agrees and declares that
Proprietary Info, patents and other rights in connection therewith shall be the sole
property of the Company and its assigned.
At all times, both during the
Employee’s engagement by the Company and after its termination, he will keep in
confidence and trust all Proprietary Information, and he will not use or disclose any
Proprietary Information or anything relating to it without the written consent of the
Company except as may be necessary in the ordinary course of performing his duties
according to the Employment Agreement.
The Employee’s undertakings in
this paragraph shall remain in full force and effect after termination of this Agreement
or any renewal thereof.
Non-Competition
The Employee hereby agrees and
undertakes that he will not, so long as he is employed by the Company and for a period of
one year following termination of his employment for whatever reason, directly, in any
capacity whatsoever engage in, become financially interested in, be employed by, or have
any connection with, any business or venture that is engaged in any activities competing
directly with the Company and/or its business and shall not approach any of the
Company’s suppliers and/or customers.
The Employee hereby agrees and
undertakes that during the period of his employment and for a period of one year following
termination thereof, he will not, in any business in which he is deemed to be a beneficial
owner, for any purpose or in any place, employ any person employed by the Company on the
date of such termination or during the preceding one year.
If any one or more of the terms
contained above shall for any reason be held to be excessively broad with regard to time,
geographic scope or activity, the term shall be construed in a manner to enable it to be
enforced to the extent compatible with applicable law.
_________________
[signature of Employee]
EXHIBIT “E”
GENERAL APPROVAL
REGARDING PAYMENTS BY EMPLOYERS TO A
PENSION FUND AND INSURANCE
FUND IN LIEU OF SEVERANCE PAY
[TRANSLATED FROM HEBREW]
By virtue of my power under section
14 of the Severance Pay Law, 5723-1963 (hereinafter the “Law”), I certify that
payments made by an employer commencing from the date of the publication of this approval
publication for his employee to a comprehensive benefit fund that is not an insurance fund
within the meaning thereof in the Income Tax (Rules for the Approval and Conduct of
benefit Funds) Regulations, 5724-1964 (hereinafter the “Pension Fund”) or to
managers’ insurance including the possibility of an insurance pension fund as
aforesaid (hereinafter the “Insurance Fund”), including payments made by him by
a combination of payments to a Pension Fund and an Insurance Fund (hereinafter the
“Employer’s Payments), shall be made in lieu of the severance pay due to the
said employee in respect of the salary from which the said payments were made and for the
period they were paid (hereinafter the “Exempt Salary”), provided that all the
following conditions are fulfilled:
(1)
The Employer’s Payments –
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(a) |
to
the Pension Fund are not less than 14 1/3% of the Exempt Salary or 12% of the
Exempt Salary if the employer pays for his employee in addition
thereto also payments to supplement severance pay to a benefit fund
for severance pay or to an Insurance Fund in the employee’s name
in an amount of 2 1/3% of the Exempt Salary. In the event the
employer has not paid an addition to the said 12%, his payments shall
be only in lieu of 72% of the employee’s severance pay; |
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(b) |
to
the Insurance Fund are not less than one of the following: |
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(1) |
13
1/3% of the Exempt Salary, if the employer pays for his employee in addition
thereto also payments to secure monthly income in the event of disability, in a
plan approved by the Commissioner of the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings
Department of the Ministry of Finance, in an amount required to secure at least
75% of the Exempt Salary or in an amount of 2 ½% of the Exempt Salary,
the lower of the two (hereinafter “Disability Insurance”); |
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(2) |
11%
of the Exempt Salary, if the employer paid, in addition, a payment to the
Disability Insurance, and in such case the Employer’s Payments shall only
replace 72% of the Employee’s severance pay. |
In the event the employer has paid in
addition to the foregoing payments to supplement severance pay to a benefit fund for
severance pay or to an Insurance Fund in the employee’s name in an amount of 2 1/3%
of the Exempt Salary, the Employer’s Payment shall replace 100% of the
employee’s severance pay.
| (2) |
No later than three months from the commencement of the Employer’s
Payments, a written agreement is executed between the employer and the employee
which – |
| (a) |
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the employee has agreed to the arrangement pursuant to this approval in a text
specifying the Employer’s Payments, the Pension Fund and Insurance Fund, as
the case may be; the said agreement shall also include the text of this
approval; |
| (b) |
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the employer waives in advance any right which it may have to a refund of monies
from his payments, unless the employee has withdrawn monies from the Pension
Fund or Insurance Fund other than by reason of an entitling event; in such
regard “Entitling Event” means death, disability or retirement at
after the age of 60. |
| (3) |
This approval is not such as to derogate from the employee’s right to
severance pay pursuant to any law, collective agreement, extension order or
employment agreement, in respect of salary over and above the Exempt Salary. |