Terms & Conditions

General Recruitment and business conditions – NiK PB GmbH
(NiK PB – registered merchant)

Our recruitment and business conditions form part of the contract and shall apply exclusively. We do not recognise any contradictory or deviating conditions from the customer unless we have agreed to their validity in writing.
We also do not recognise deviating conditions when we execute the order of the customer without reservation with knowledge of the customer conditions which are contradictory or deviating from our conditions.

Our recruitment and business conditions are valid insofar as it concerns a mutual trading transaction, also for all future business with the customer. The version which is valid at close of contract is decisive. Complementary or deviating agreements to the recruitment and business conditions, which we have made with the customer, override these recruitment and business conditions insofar that these have been agreed in writing by both parties. Oral agreements are only binding when we have confirmed them in writing.

Para. 1 Service provision, duty to cooperate and confidentiality

NiK PB is to conscientiously and carefully fulfil the order placed. As the NiK PB service takes place on a performance basis there is no legal right towards NiK PB for a position being filled on the part of the customer.

The client declares the readiness to provide all necessary or demanded documents or data to fulfil the order, or to enable the creation of these by NiK PB in the client’s company. This applies above all to companies where the cooperation of personnel recruitment is needed such as the composition of a job description and identification of a job specification.

NiK PB is to handle all shared information and data provided to NiK PB within the framework of the consultation order from the client confidentially and observe any lock flags. The applicant synopses, which are received by the NiK PB client, remain the property of NiK PB. They are to be dealt with in the strictest confidence. The synopses are to be immediately returned to NiK PB or destroyed on non-recruitment of the applicant. Transfer to third parties as well as producing and keeping copies for own use is not allowed. Insofar that saving of personal data delivered by NiK PB takes place at the client, the client is responsible for fulfilling all legal data protection demands when saving and/or processing the data provided. The customer shall upon first request discharge NiK PB of claims which are based on violation of his legal data protection obligations.

Para. 2 Recruitment

1. Recruitment with a fee claim for NiK PB has taken place when an employment contract or a service contract (main agreement) between the client and a candidate suggested by NiK PB has been made.

2. Should a candidate which has been suggested by NiK PB be recruited within 12 months, whether directly by the client or indirectly addressed or offered by third parties, it is to be assumed that this can be traced to the original NiK PB recruitment. NiK PB is to be immediately informed of this and the fee claim is due for payment, unless the client succeeds in providing proof that the candidate was not employed on the basis of the NiK PB recruitment. Proof can be provided in particular when the candidate had been employed by a third employer in the meantime.

3. Should a candidate whose profile has been proposed by NiK PB already be known to the client, NiK PB is to be immediately informed of this, at the latest 3 days after receiving the profile (disclosure requirement).

4. Should the client omit to provide NiK PB with the disclosure in due time, the claim for remuneration is also due, as soon as the client has employed the candidate according to the stipulation in clause 1. The personnel or candidate file created up to then is in case of doubt to be anonymised and disclosed by the client to clarify the claim.

5. The candidate has already been introduced by the sending of a simple candidate profile to the client, also when the name of the candidate is not fully given in the profile provided or other decisive features are lacking. The preceding is accordingly valid insofar that a client‘s affiliated company closes an employment contract with the candidate. The client has the right to disprove the previous assumption in that it proves that the contract of employment would also have been made without our provision of recruitment.

The special regulations for the Direct Search offer under Para. 6 are valid within the framework of a consultancy mandate or Executive Search order.

Para. 3 Fee invoice and payment conditions

The fee settlement is based upon the target salary which is the annual income of the recruited employee and is understood as including all monthly salaries, Christmas bonus, and holiday pay as well as bonuses which are discharged to employees on reaching a target of 100%, if necessary including flat premiums (target salary) The fee claim cannot be reduced when the candidate’s performance does not lead to achieving the target salary.

All fee remunerations are immediately due without discount on issue of invoice. They are understood as additionally including the respective legal Value Added Tax. The fee is immediately due for payment after service provided by NiK PB, thus the closure of a main agreement in terms of Para. 2 clause 1, simultaneous calculation of the fee claim and thus after receipt of the invoice, is immediately due for payment.

Para. 4 Special service and additional charges

The applicant’s travel costs (according to client’s guidelines) and if applicable the accompanying consultant when requested by the client are carried by the client and invoiced with accompanying documentation.

Subject to other agreements in individual orders; in the case that the talks held with candidates by NiK BP consultants/and or the client do not, as ordered by the client take place at the NiK BP company they are to be invoiced as follows: next to travel costs for NiK PB consultants (private car 0.60 €/km or train journey in 2. class or with Bahn Card 50 (rail saver card) in 1. class) as well as the travel allowances at half the travel time. The basic rate per travel hour is 100.00 €/per hour. Flights and accommodation allowances are made by agreement.

Special services such as aptitude tests, search advertisements or similar are only carried out by express request and after agreement with the client and shown separately in the invoice.

Para. 5 Advertisement or internet-based personnel search

The scope of services for advertisements or internet supported personnel recruitment is individually defined when placing the order and after execution is calculated according to time and effort and the agreements made. A separate signed order from the client for NiK PB in which all costs and steps are defined is necessary for this purpose.

Para. 6 Recruitment Direct Search

The following regulations are valid within the framework of a consultancy mandate or a so-called Executive Search Order, next to the agreements specified in the Direct Search and/or Executive Search offer.

A detailed job specification and a stakeholder analysis are, as much as is possible carried out with all those involved in the process: in situ in the company; against the background of the information in relation to the vacant position which has been sent to us. Furthermore the means for example for advertisement- supported research or direct approaches are jointly defined and the necessary agreements are jointly established: for example advertisement design, definition of target companies for potentially interesting candidates. Resulting costs for placing an advertisement are separately calculated and invoiced (analysis and identification phase).

NiK PB is to identify and if applicable directly contact the jobholder in question based on a position profile developed in agreement with the client’s decision-makers.
In the case of advertising, NiK PB views the responses from the applicants and is to discuss a qualified selection of suitable candidates for further processing with you. (viewing phase)

NiK PB assumes a total of approximately 20 to 40 contacts in this phase. Telephone and personal interviews will be carried out with the potential candidates resulting from this process.

The candidates are initially introduced in writing in the form of a CV with an estimation of the candidates by NiK PB as well as, if applicable a profile analysis. NiK PB is then to present the people in question in person after agreement with the company. Naturally these talks can also be carried out without a NiK PB consultant if desired. (talk and presentation phase)

As a rule, the first presentation takes place 4-6 weeks after placing the order, also earlier in special cases, respectively according to agreement and availability of the parties involved. NiK PB presents 2-5 candidates to you according to the job specification profile.

The order is completed on employment i.e. when one of the candidates signs a contract in the sense of Para. 2.1. In the case of the working relationship being dissolved within the trial period for reasons which are not expressly within the responsibility of the company, NiK PB is obliged to carry out a renewed search and present the company with at least 2 candidates who meet the search profile and the job specification.

A previously agreed fee for a consultancy mandate within the framework of a so-called Direct or Executive Search Order is invoiced according to the position. Subject to another regulation in the individual order the first instalment of the fee is due when placing the order and includes in all cases providing the analysis and identification (Target List and Long List); the second instalment is invoiced after talks have taken place and when presenting the candidates (Short List); the third payment and thus the final invoicing takes place on the basis of the actually agreed salary after signing the contract of employment with the candidate. Services not included within the scope of the order are only provided by express request and where applicable invoiced separately.

Should the search for a potential candidate have to be broken off early for unforeseeable reasons or internal restructuring, the time and effort made until then according to the project status will be invoiced.

Para. 7 Cancellation

The recruitment order can be cancelled in writing by both parties at any time with observance of a cancellation period of four weeks. The agreed remuneration as well as costs to the effective date of notice of termination, insofar that they originated before the receival of the notice of termination are to be paid.

2. Our recruitment activities in the sense of Para. 2 clause 1 and/or 2 are also valid after ending the recruitment contract, for whatever legal reason in the case that a work or other service relationship takes place between the client and a candidate introduced by Nik PB within twelve (12) months after the completion of our recruitment activities.

In this case the whole remuneration is due as originally agreed and is to be paid in full.

Para. 8 Liability

1. NiK PB is to execute the order with the necessary care, research and make a pre-selection on the basis of statements made by the applicants. NiK PB assumes no liability for the completeness and correctness of statements made by the applicants.

NiK PB provides recruitment services to the best of its knowledge according to the client instructions.
The decision for a candidate lies solely in the client’s responsibility. There is no guarantee exceeding this, NiK PB assumes in particular neither liability for the suitability of the candidate in view of the client’s purposes, nor will it be guaranteed that the search for a suitable candidate will be successful. A howsoever trust in the sense of 311 BGB (German Civil Code) is not established between the parties.

2. NiK PB is liable for deliberate or grossly negligent acts, for damage from injury to life, body and health as well as lighter negligent violations of essential contractual duties. Essential contractual duties are such duties which are to protect the essential legal contractual position of the client as well as such duties which first make fulfilling a regulated execution of the contract at all possible and which the client can regularly rely upon being kept. The liability of NiK PB for a lighter negligent violation of essential contractual duties is however limited to the compensation of typical damages, which are foreseeable when the contract is closed. Further claims for damages no matter from which legal grounds are excluded. The limitation of liability also benefits employees and colleagues of Nik PB as well as their fulfilment and performance aides and sub-contractors.

Claims for damages from the client according to paragraph 2 lapse within one year.

Para. 9 Other conditions

The contractual regulations in the order, these recruitment conditions, the provisions from BGB (German Civil Code) to service contracts as well as Para. 298 SGB (German Social Security Code) II and insofar that no deviating agreement has been made apply to the contractual relationship of both parties. German law is solely applicable. Side agreements are to be made in written form. NiK PB also considers telefax and electronic means via non-encrypted email to be written forms.

Para. 10 Place of jurisdiction

Only German law applies to the contractual relationship with NiK PB. The NiK PB location is the place of jurisdiction for all disputes.

Status March 2018