Terms and Conditions

Article 1. Definitions

In these terms and conditions, the following definitions apply:

1. Temporary employment agency: any natural or legal person who, in the course of their profession or business, makes agency workers available to a hirer to perform work for that hirer;
2. Agency worker: any natural person who, through the intermediation of a temporary employment agency, performs or will perform work for a hirer;
3. Hirer: any natural or legal person who obtains agency workers through the intermediation of a temporary employment agency;
4. Assignment confirmation: the agreement between a temporary employment agency and a hirer on the basis of which an agency worker will perform work for that hirer through the intermediation of that temporary employment agency;
5. Client rate: the amount per hour that the hirer owes the temporary employment agency for making the agency worker available;
6. Agency work agreement: the employment contract under which the agency worker is made available by the temporary employment agency to a hirer in order to perform work under the supervision and direction of that hirer, pursuant to an assignment confirmation concluded by the hirer with the temporary employment agency;
7. Employment agency business: any natural or legal person who assists an employer, a job seeker, or both, in finding workers or employment respectively, with the aim of establishing an employment contract.
8. Client: any natural or legal person who uses the services of an employment agency business.
9. Employment mediation agreement: the agreement between an employment agency business and a client and/or a job seeker for the provision of the services referred to under 7.
10. NBBU collective labour agreement (NBBU-cao): the collective labour agreement for agency workers that applies to temporary employment agencies that are members of the Dutch Association of Intermediary and Temporary Employment Agencies (NBBU).
11. Where these terms and conditions refer to agency workers, this means both male and female agency workers, and where reference is made to “him” and/or “he”, this means “him/her” or “he/she”.

Article 2. Applicability of these terms and conditions

1. These terms and conditions apply to every offer made by the temporary employment agency to a hirer, and to every assignment confirmation between the temporary employment agency and a hirer in respect of which the temporary employment agency has declared these terms and conditions applicable, as well as to the resulting deliveries and services of any kind between the temporary employment agency and a hirer, insofar as the parties have not expressly deviated from these terms and conditions in writing.
2. A hirer with whom a contract has once been concluded on these terms and conditions is deemed to have tacitly agreed to their applicability to any assignment confirmation subsequently concluded with the temporary employment agency.
3. All offers, regardless of how they are made, are without obligation.
4. The temporary employment agency is not bound by the hirer’s general terms and conditions insofar as these deviate from these terms and conditions.
5. If any provision of these terms and conditions is null and void or is annulled, the remaining provisions of these terms and conditions will remain fully in force, and the parties will consult with each other in order to agree new provisions to replace the null and void or annulled provisions, taking into account as far as possible the purpose and intent of the null and void or annulled provision.

Article 3. Method of invoicing

1. Unless otherwise agreed, the temporary employment agency’s invoices are based in part on the time records completed and approved by the hirer.
2. The hirer is responsible for the correct, timely and complete completion and approval of the time records. Approval takes place by (digital) signing of the time records, unless otherwise agreed.
3. In the event of a discrepancy between the time records submitted to the temporary employment agency and the hirer’s own records thereof, the time records submitted to the temporary employment agency are deemed correct, unless the hirer proves otherwise.
4. If the agency worker disputes the data in the time records, the temporary employment agency may invoice the number of hours worked and other costs according to the agency worker’s statement, unless the hirer proves that the time records are correct.
5. The hirer ensures that the temporary employment agency’s invoices are paid within 14 days of the invoice date, without any deduction, discount or set-off.
6. Rate changes resulting from collective labour agreement obligations and changes in or resulting from laws and regulations, such as tax and social security laws and regulations, will be passed on to the hirer with effect from the moment of those changes and are payable by the hirer accordingly, even if these changes occur during the term of an assignment confirmation.

Article 4. Payment terms

1. Only direct payments to the temporary employment agency discharge the hirer’s obligations.
2. Direct payments or advances by the hirer to the agency worker are not permitted, regardless of the reason for or manner in which this occurs.
3. If the hirer disputes an invoice, the hirer must notify the temporary employment agency of this in writing within eight days of the date the relevant invoice was sent, on penalty of forfeiting the right to dispute it. Disputing an invoice does not suspend the hirer’s payment obligation.
4. If the hirer fails to pay any amount owed, or fails to pay it on time or in full, the hirer is in default by operation of law as of the due date of the relevant invoice. From that moment, the hirer also owes the temporary employment agency interest for late payment of 1% per month, whereby part of a month counts as a full month, calculated over the gross invoice amount.
5. All costs, both in and out of court, including the costs of legal assistance, that the temporary employment agency must incur as a result of the hirer’s failure to meet its payment obligations, are for the hirer’s account.

Article 5. Dissolution

1. If a party fails to fulfil its obligations under the assignment confirmation, the other party is entitled to dissolve the assignment confirmation out of court by means of a registered letter. Dissolution will only take place after the defaulting party has been notified in writing of the notice of default and has been given a reasonable period to remedy the serious shortcoming.
2. Furthermore, one party is entitled, without any demand or notice of default being required, to dissolve the assignment confirmation out of court in whole or in part with immediate effect by means of a registered letter if: a. the other party applies for (provisional) suspension of payment or is granted (provisional) suspension of payment; b. the other party files for its own bankruptcy or is declared bankrupt; c. the other party’s business is liquidated; d. the other party ceases its current business; e. through no act of the one party, a substantial part of the other party’s assets is seized, or if the other party must otherwise be deemed no longer able to meet the obligations under the assignment confirmation.
3. If, at the time of dissolution, the hirer has already received performance in execution of the assignment confirmation, it may only partially dissolve the assignment confirmation, and solely for that part that has not yet been carried out by or on behalf of the temporary employment agency.
4. Amounts that the temporary employment agency has invoiced to the hirer before the dissolution in connection with what it has already performed in execution of the assignment confirmation remain payable by the hirer and become immediately due and payable at the moment of dissolution.
5. If the hirer, after having been given notice of default, fails to fulfil any obligation arising from the assignment confirmation, or fails to fulfil it in full or on time, the temporary employment agency is entitled to suspend its obligations towards the hirer without being liable for any compensation towards the hirer.

Article 6. Liability

1. Except for provisions of mandatory law, and with due observance of the general standards of reasonableness and fairness, the temporary employment agency is not obliged to compensate for any damage of any kind, direct or indirect, caused to the agency worker or to property or persons of or at the hirer or a third party, where such damage has arisen as a result of: a. the making available of the agency worker by the temporary employment agency to the hirer, even if it turns out that the agency worker does not meet the requirements set for them by the hirer; b. unilateral termination of the agency work agreement by the agency worker; c. acts or omissions of the agency worker, the hirer itself or a third party, including the entering into of obligations by the agency worker.
2. Any liability of the temporary employment agency for any direct damage is in any case limited, per event, to 50% of the relevant invoiced amount or amount to be invoiced. The temporary employment agency is never liable for indirect damage, including consequential damage.
3. The hirer is obliged to take out adequate, fully covering liability insurance for all direct and indirect damage as referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
4. In any event, the hirer must indemnify the temporary employment agency against any claims by the agency worker or third parties for compensation of damage as referred to in paragraph 1 of this article suffered by that agency worker or third parties.
5. The limitations of liability set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article lapse if there is intent or gross negligence on the part of the temporary employment agency and/or its management staff.
6. The temporary employment agency has the right at all times, if and insofar as possible, to remedy any damage suffered by the hirer. This also includes the right of the temporary employment agency to take measures that can prevent or limit any damage.

Article 7. Force majeure

1. In the event of force majeure on the part of the temporary employment agency, its obligations under the assignment confirmation will be suspended for as long as the force majeure situation continues. Force majeure means any circumstance beyond the control of the temporary employment agency that permanently or temporarily prevents the fulfilment of the assignment confirmation and that should not be for its account either by law or according to standards of reasonableness and fairness.
2. As soon as a force majeure situation as referred to in paragraph 1 of this article arises at the temporary employment agency, it will notify the hirer thereof.
3. Insofar as not already included, force majeure also means: strikes, occupation of premises, blockades, embargo, government measures, war, revolution and/or any comparable situation, power failures, failures in electronic communication lines, fire, explosion and other calamities, water damage, flooding, earthquake and other natural disasters, as well as large-scale illness of an epidemiological nature among staff.
4. For as long as the force majeure situation continues, the obligations of the temporary employment agency will be suspended. This suspension will not apply, however, to obligations to which the force majeure does not relate and which arose before the onset of the force majeure situation.
5. If the force majeure situation has lasted three months, or as soon as it is established that the force majeure situation will last longer than three months, each party is entitled to terminate the assignment confirmation prematurely without observing any notice period. Even after such termination of the assignment confirmation, the hirer remains obliged to pay the temporary employment agency the fees it owes relating to the period before the force majeure situation.
6. During the force majeure situation, the temporary employment agency is not obliged to compensate for any damage of or at the hirer, nor is it obliged to do so after termination of the assignment confirmation as referred to in paragraph 5 of this article.

Article 8. Hiring agency workers

1. The agency work agreement is concluded between the agency worker and the temporary employment agency. The NBBU collective labour agreement for agency workers applies to the agency work agreement. There is no employment contract between the hirer and the agency worker.
2. When the agency worker is made available by the temporary employment agency to the hirer, the agency worker in fact works under the direction and supervision of the hirer. In doing so, the hirer exercises the same care as towards its own employees. As the formal employer, the temporary employment agency has no insight into the workplace or the work to be carried out.
3. The work is carried out as agreed in the assignment confirmation. If the hirer wishes to deviate from this during the assignment confirmation, this may only be done in consultation with the temporary employment agency.

Article 9. (Hourly) pay and other allowances of the agency worker

1. The pay and allowances of the agency worker are determined prior to the making available and, if necessary, during the making available, and are equal to the pay and allowances granted to comparable employees working in equivalent positions employed by the hirer (the so-called pay comparison rule).
2. Pay and other allowances comprise the following components: a. only the applicable period wage within the pay scale; b. the applicable reduction in working hours. This may, at the temporary employment agency’s choice, be compensated in time and/or money; c. allowances for overtime, shifted hours, irregularity (including public holiday allowance) and shift work; d. initial pay increase; e. tax-free expense allowances: travel costs and other costs necessary for the performance of the position; f. periodic increments.
3. The hirer informs the temporary employment agency in good time about the components referred to in paragraph 2. If the hirer provides the temporary employment agency with incorrect information about these components, the temporary employment agency is entitled to correct the pay and other allowances of the agency worker, as well as the hirer’s rate, accordingly, with retroactive effect from the moment the relevant position commenced, and to charge this to the hirer.
4. If the pay and allowances of the agency worker cannot be determined according to the pay comparison rule, they are determined in consultation between the temporary employment agency, the agency worker and the hirer. The guiding factors here are the education level and experience of the agency worker, as well as the responsibilities and capabilities required to fulfil the position.
5. If, from the perspective of its business operations, the hirer requires the agency worker to have certain items, such as a certificate of good conduct or personal protective equipment, these are provided by the hirer insofar as possible. If the items are provided by the temporary employment agency, the temporary employment agency is entitled to charge the associated costs to the hirer.

Article 10. Content of the assignment confirmation and notice periods

1. The assignment confirmation states the duration of the making available of the agency worker and, if this is not yet clear in advance, as accurate an estimate thereof as possible. Insofar as possible and desirable, it also records the start and end date of the making available, the number of hours to be worked, the notice period and the terms of employment of the agency worker.
2. If the agency work clause applies to the agency work agreement, neither the temporary employment agency nor the hirer need observe a notice period if they wish to terminate the making available prematurely, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
3. If the agency work clause does not apply to the agency work agreement, there is an agency work agreement for a fixed or indefinite period. In this case, the assignment confirmation ends only upon the expiry of the agreed duration of the making available, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
4. If the hirer wishes to terminate prematurely the making available of an agency worker who works on the basis of an agency work agreement for a fixed or indefinite period, the hirer will owe the temporary employment agency an immediately due and payable fee. This fee amounts to 100% of the most recently applicable client rate for the agency worker concerned, multiplied by the number of hours agreed in the assignment confirmation falling in the period from the moment of premature termination until the moment the assignment confirmation would have ended as originally agreed.
5. If the hirer wishes to terminate the making available while nothing has been agreed regarding the duration of the making available and the agency worker works on the basis of an agency work agreement for a fixed or indefinite period, a notice period of one calendar month applies, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Article 11. Hirer entering into a direct employment relationship with the agency worker

1. If the hirer wishes to enter into a direct employment contract, or another type of employment relationship, with an agency worker who has been or is to be made available to it by the temporary employment agency, it will notify the temporary employment agency thereof immediately in writing. The parties will then consult to discuss the hirer’s wish.
2. The hirer does not enter into a direct employment contract with the agency worker if the agency worker has not legally terminated the agency work agreement with the temporary employment agency.
3. If an agency worker has been introduced to a (potential) client through the intermediation of the temporary employment agency, and this potential client enters into an employment relationship with that agency worker for the same or a different position before the making available comes about, this potential client owes a fee of 25% of the client rate that would have applied for the agency worker concerned over a period of 1,040 hours, had the making available come about. The client always owes this fee if the client initially came into contact with the agency worker through the intermediation of the temporary employment agency. The client also owes the fee referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph if, within 3 months after the contact was established, the agency worker applies to the client directly or through third parties, or if the client approaches the agency worker directly or through third parties within 3 months after the contact was established, and as a result enters into an employment relationship with the agency worker concerned.
4. If the client enters into an employment relationship with the agency worker during an assignment that is terminable in the interim, the client is entitled to decide not to observe the notice period agreed under the assignment. In that case, however, the client is obliged to compensate the damage that the temporary employment agency suffers as a result. This damage is fixed at 25% of the client rate over the notice period not observed for the relevant assignment.
5. If the client enters into an employment relationship with the agency worker during an assignment that is not terminable in the interim, the client is obliged to pay the agreed client rate for the agency worker concerned for the remaining duration of the assignment, insofar as applicable.
6. The client rate, as referred to several times in this article, is calculated over the number of hours or overtime hours last applicable or customary per period (week, month, and so on) under the assignment and conditions, as if the assignment had come about or had not ended, with a minimum of 20 hours per week.

Article 12. Selection of agency workers

1. The agency worker is selected by the temporary employment agency on the one hand on the basis of the qualities and skills known to the temporary employment agency of the agency workers available for assignment, and on the other hand on the basis of the information provided by the hirer to the temporary employment agency regarding the work to be assigned.
2. Non-job-related requirements in the provision of information regarding the work to be assigned, as referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, may not be set by the hirer. In any event, these will not be honoured by the temporary employment agency.
3. The temporary employment agency is not liable for fines or claims imposed on the hirer because the hirer has failed to meet its obligations as referred to in the preceding paragraphs.
4. The hirer has the right, if an agency worker does not meet the requirements set by the hirer, to notify the temporary employment agency of this within 4 hours of the commencement of the work. In that case, the hirer is obliged to pay the temporary employment agency at least the pay and allowances owed to the agency worker, increased by the employer’s share in social security contributions and premium levies and obligations arising from the collective labour agreement.
5. During the term of the assignment confirmation, the temporary employment agency is entitled to propose replacing the agency worker, for example if the agency worker is no longer able to perform the work. The client rate will then be redetermined.

Article 13. Hirer’s duty of care and indemnification of the temporary employment agency

1. The hirer is aware that, under the Working Conditions Act and Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code, it has the obligation to ensure a safe workplace for the agency worker. The hirer gives the agency worker concrete instructions to prevent the agency worker from suffering damage in the performance of their work. The hirer also provides the agency worker with personal protective equipment insofar as necessary.
2. The hirer will not in turn sublet the agency worker it has hired to a third party to work under that party’s supervision and direction, without the temporary employment agency’s permission.
3. The hirer is liable towards the agency worker and the temporary employment agency for, and consequently obliged to compensate, the damage that the agency worker suffers in the performance of their work, unless the damage is to a significant extent the result of intent or deliberate recklessness on the part of the agency worker, all with due observance of the provisions of Article 6.
4. If the agency worker suffers injury in the performance of their work resulting in death, the hirer is, in accordance with Article 6:108 of the Dutch Civil Code, obliged towards the persons referred to in that article and towards the temporary employment agency to compensate the damage to the persons concerned, unless the damage is to a significant extent the result of intent or deliberate recklessness on the part of the agency worker, all with due observance of the provisions of Article 6.
5. The hirer will indemnify the temporary employment agency at all times against claims brought against the temporary employment agency due to the hirer’s failure to meet the obligations referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, and grants the temporary employment agency the authority to assign its claims in this respect to the directly interested party/parties, or to assert them against the hirer, including on behalf of the temporary employment agency.
6. The hirer is obliged to take out adequate, fully covering liability insurance for all direct and indirect damage as referred to in this article.

Article 14. Identification and personal data

1. At the start of the making available of an agency worker, the hirer establishes the agency worker’s identity on the basis of the original identity document.
2. The hirer treats the personal data of agency workers that comes to its knowledge in the context of the making available confidentially, and processes it in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act.

Article 15. Disputes

1. Dutch law applies to the assignment confirmation.
2. With regard to disputes between the parties relating to the assignment confirmation, only the Dutch court has jurisdiction.
3. Insofar as the adjudication of such disputes falls within the competence of a district court, these will be adjudicated exclusively by the district court within the district in which the temporary employment agency is established.

This is a translation provided for convenience. The Dutch version of these terms and conditions is legally binding.