Terms and conditions

General Terms and Conditions

CareLend GmbH

Feldstr. 4a

06667 Weißenfels – Germany

represented by the managing director Mohammed Behairy

§1 Scope

The following General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply only to the legal transactions and orders for consulting and other services of CareLend GmbH (hereinafter referred to as “we” or “us”) with its contractual partner/business partner listed under points b) and c). Any deviating or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer, as well as any ancillary agreements, are only binding if they are expressly confirmed in writing by CareLend GmbH.

• Contracting partners/business partners are all legal entities that have a direct contractual relationship with the company to be audited with regard to the placement and recruitment of international nursing staff.
• First and foremost, we are a service provider for the integration of international professionals (hereinafter referred to as candidates). We select suitable candidates for the nursing profession according to a precise selection process and organize their transfer from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and GCC countries to Germany.
• We provide consulting services in the areas of personnel placement for general care, as well as their training and recognition process. In addition to general advice, the services also include the planning, support and implementation of individual projects, such as expert reports, recruitment, language training for skilled workers, official measures and document handling.

§2 Conclusion of contract

• After the first business contact between CareLend GmbH and the client, the agreements made are usually set out in writing in individual contracts that regulate the details of the service agreement.
• The client can place an order either orally or in writing. The contract is concluded by means of a written order confirmation.

§3 Basic principles for the placement of professionals from abroad

The following principles are an integral part of all legal transactions and must be agreed to in writing by the contracting parties (hereinafter referred to as the “CP”).

• The CP are committed to fair and ethical recruitment and placement practices in accordance with the principles of the “Fair Recruitment Care Germany” seal of quality:
  • Written form for verifiability:
    All recruitment and placement processes are recorded in writing to ensure complete and comprehensible documentation.
  • The placement process is free of charge for nursing professionals:
    The entire placement process is free of charge for nursing professionals. We are committed to not charging nursing professionals any direct or indirect placement costs or costs for services directly related to the placement. All placement costs incurred are borne exclusively by the employer – in line with the employer-pays principle. This principle applies to the entire service chain.
  • Limiting the economic risk for nursing professionals:
    We are committed to minimizing the economic risk for nursing professionals. No direct or indirect placement costs or costs for services directly related to the placement are charged.
  • Transparency of structures, services and costs:
    All relevant structures, services offered and costs incurred are communicated openly and comprehensibly in order to provide a sound basis for decision-making.
  • Sustainability and participation:
    We promote sustainable approaches and actively involve all stakeholders in the placement process in order to achieve long-term, sustainable and participatory solutions.
  • Overall responsibility for the entire service chain:
    We assume overall responsibility for all process steps along the service chain and ensure that all processes meet our ethical and quality standards.
• VP is committed to complying with the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and does not recruit in countries that are on the current WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List.
• Compliance with international human rights standards
• VP is committed to fully complying with and promoting internationally recognized human rights standards. In particular, we are committed to complying with the following standards:
  • the ILO core labor standards
  • the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and Definition of Recruitment Fees and Related Costs
  • the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
  • international UN human rights conventions

• CareLend defines guidelines with minimum requirements for its business partners and partners in terms of human, migration and labor rights. All international conventions supported by the Federal Republic of Germany apply.
• The VPs are committed to the employer pays principle. This means that we explicitly refrain from including retention and repayment obligations in our agency contracts with care professionals if they are directly related to the costs of the placement and are not compatible with the criteria of the “Fair Recruitment Care Germany” quality seal. In addition, there will be no brokerage of employment contracts that provide for retention and repayment obligations for nursing professionals that relate to the costs of the brokerage.

§4 Right of inspection and compliance with contractual requirements

• Right of inspection:
  CareLend expressly reserves the right to verify compliance with the defined requirements and principles by all VPs. This general audit reservation serves to ensure that all parties involved meet the high ethical and qualitative standards. As soon as there are concrete indications or evidence of a possible violation of the contractual requirements, we reserve the right to carry out a detailed audit of the relevant CP based on the occasion. In doing so, additional evidence and supporting documents may be requested to verify compliance with the agreed standards.
• Right of termination in the event of repeated non-compliance:
  Should there be repeated violations of the provisions of these GTC and the principles, the provider reserves the right to terminate the contractual relationship with the affected CP without notice. Should it be a first-time offense, the CP will be granted a right of rectification.

§5 Termination and withdrawal

The customer cannot terminate the contract in the normal way. Care workers have the right to terminate the contract in the normal way with a notice period of one month.

Both parties have the right to extraordinary termination without notice for good cause in accordance with § 314 BGB. The termination must be in writing. CareLend reserves the right to verify the customer’s compliance with these requirements. In the event of a violation of the established guidelines, CareLend is entitled to terminate the contract extraordinarily.

In the event of premature termination of the contract, the repayment of costs incurred by the caregiver will not apply in the following cases:

• Termination during the first 50 teaching units
• Termination for health reasons or due to pregnancy
• Termination of the contract due to force majeure
• Loss of a close family member (parent, sibling, child)
• If the company can be shown to have violated the criteria of the requirements catalog for the “Fair Recruitment Care Germany” seal of quality

If the premature termination of the contract occurs for a reason for which the nurse is responsible, CareLend reserves the right to reclaim the costs actually incurred in accordance with §§ 346 ff. BGB.

The cooperation is considered terminated by the client if

1. the customer terminates the contract for a reason within the customer’s sphere of responsibility and risk, or
2. the service provider terminates the contract for an important reason for which the customer is responsible and the service provider has unsuccessfully warned the customer prior to termination, insofar as a warning is not dispensable, or
3. the customer, without terminating the contract, expressly or conclusively rejects further cooperation with the service provider, or
4. the customer culpably fails to begin the adjustment measures or culpably fails to successfully complete them, or
5. the customer fails to respond to a request from the service provider, made in a text form at a minimum, to take an action necessary to fulfill the contractual obligations of the service provider or to submit a corresponding declaration within a reasonable period of time specified in the request – but lasting at least six weeks – and the service provider points out to the customer in the letter of request that that the customer’s failure to respond to the request in a timely manner will be considered a declaration of termination of the cooperation by the customer (Section 308 No. 5 BGB).

§6 Repayment obligation in the event of the nursing professional leaving the language course in their home country prematurely

1. A repayment obligation in the event of the nursing professional leaving the ongoing language course in their home country prematurely is only permissible if the reason for leaving is the fault of the nursing professional.
2. The nurse is granted a monthly right of termination as well as the option of paying in installments.
3. The following are examples of cases in which no repayment may be demanded:
   • During the first 50 teaching units,
   • If the program has to be discontinued for health reasons,
   • In the case of pregnancy,
   • In the event of force majeure,
   • In the event of the loss of a close family member,
   • In the event of a demonstrable violation by the company of the criteria in the requirements catalog for the “Fair Recruitment Care Germany” seal of quality.
4. Only costs actually incurred for the following services up to the point of withdrawal in the country of origin may be included in the repayment amount:
   • Participation in the language course in the country of origin,
   • The language test in the country of origin,
   • If applicable, payments made to the nursing professional to cover living expenses during language acquisition in the country of origin,
   • The administrative fees for translations, notarizations, visas and the equivalency determination.

1. The maximum repayment amount is €2,000.

§7 Pooling and Matching

Matching is the successful alignment of job requirements with personal

characteristics, skills and preferences of the candidates for this job.

During the recruitment round, all potential candidates are collected in a pool to ensure an optimal match.

• The candidate will not be matched with an employer when the language training starts.
• This will only take place later during the recruitment round.
• The candidate’s wishes for the matching are queried and taken into account for the planned recruitment with the future employer. The employer is also advised to pay attention to the wishes when selecting the candidate.
• If no matching occurs in the planned recruitment round with a specific employer, a new matching will be arranged. There will be no costs for the candidates in connection with the language training.
• We will cover all costs associated with the placement process as long as no employer has been found for the candidate during the recruitment round.
• We are committed to finding the right employer for the candidate based on their matching criteria.
• The nursing professional is not obliged to accept every job or employer proposed by CareLend GmbH. The freedom to decide whether to accept or reject a job offer is always preserved. The nursing professional can reject a job offer without stating a reason and will not be subject to sanctions, fines or other adverse consequences as a result.

§8 Integration and language training

• We support and supervise courses, schools and administrations for the right candidates in the above-mentioned countries.
• In addition, we offer our own language training courses for the B1 and B2 level as well as integration and cultural courses for candidates in Germany to promote successful recognition and completion of training.

§9 Training and recognition process and recognition procedure

The recognition process begins with the recognition procedure by the responsible authorities and institutions. They check the equivalence of the foreign school and professional qualification, which is compared to the qualification of a German reference occupation. The foreign school and professional qualification is recognized as equivalent if there are no significant differences to the German qualification. Further prerequisites are personal aptitude and knowledge of the German language. If a partial recognition is issued, an adaptation measure is carried out in accordance with the official notification after entry in order to obtain the required full recognition. During the training process, we submit the candidate’s application to the relevant authorities. After the documents have been recognized, we refer the candidates to suitable training companies.

• The employer provides a contact person for the document processing
• so that we can promptly initiate the necessary administrative steps
• According to § 40 Abs. 3 S. 3 of the Nursing Professions Act (PflBG), applicants have the option of choosing between a knowledge test and an adaptation course to compensate for existing qualification differences. It is expressly emphasized that the decision regarding the choice of compensatory measure is left to the discretion of the nurse.

§10 Duties of the contractual parties

• CareLend Solution is obliged to carry out the contract conscientiously and carefully and to take all necessary measures to search for suitable candidates.
• The client is obliged to support CareLend GmbH in the fulfillment of its contractually owed services to the best of its ability. This includes, in particular, the timely provision of all necessary information.
• The client is obliged to maintain close and transparent communication with CareLend GmbH. The conformity of documents and measures will be set out in writing.
• The client is obliged to provide a written company integration management concept based on the DKF pilot standards when the job offer is made and ensures that it is implemented accurately in order to prevent problems.

This concept must include the following sections in accordance with the DKF pilot standards:

• • Foreword / Introduction
  • Preparations after recruitment
  • Adapting induction
  • Arriving and the first few days
  • Supporting team building
  • Support with relocation management
  • Expand skills
  • Establish integration management
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Sponsorships and mentoring
  • Facilitate social participation
  • Organize recognition process
  • Deal with termination and poaching

The respective concept is presented to candidates when they are offered a job. The respective concept becomes an appendix and part of the employment contract. Existing works or staff councils are involved in the implementation of the respective concept.

• The client is obliged to provide measures and instruments for operational and social integration, for language support and for support during the induction period.
• The client is obliged not to enter into any binding or repayment agreements with the care workers that conflict with the requirements of Carelend, the “Fair Recruitment Germany” seal of quality or German labor law.
• The client is obliged to remunerate the care workers at least within the framework of the applicable collective agreements.
• The care professional must not incur any costs for services directly related to the placement. Therefore, the employer undertakes to cover the costs incurred in the context of the recruitment in accordance with the customer principle.
• CareLend GmbH undertakes to reimburse payments that have been made by the care professional to business partners despite this being prohibited and that fall under the employer pays principle (payment ban).

§11 Complaints

We have set up a special complaints channel at beschwerde@careland.de for receiving complaints. Ms. Fichtler will take care of your concerns. After we receive your complaint, you will usually receive an acknowledgement of receipt by email immediately, but no later than within two business days. We will review the facts and plan and initiate appropriate measures. You will receive a response within a period of fourteen working days and will be informed of the result by email. The processing will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

§12 Confidentiality/Confidentiality Clause

• The contractual partners undertake to maintain confidentiality regarding all operational, business and private matters that have become known to them in the course of their contractual activities. The duty of confidentiality shall also apply after termination of the contract.
• We undertake to store the documents provided for the purpose of the consulting activities with due care and to protect them from inspection by third parties.

§13 Remuneration and payment terms

• The fee is the payment for the services specified in the contract. The price specified in the contract applies.
• CareLend GmbH’s services are free of charge for candidates.
• If and to the extent that the services listed are not subject to a fee in accordance with paragraph 2, they are free of charge for the client.
• The nurse must not incur any costs for services directly related to the placement. For this reason, the employer is obliged to cover the costs incurred in the context of recruitment in accordance with the “ordering principle”.

§14 Guarantee

• If the service is provided in several stages, the client will receive written notifications regarding the progress of the work.
• If the service is delayed due to external influences that are not the fault of the service provider, we will agree on an alternative date for the service within a reasonable period of time.
• If CareLend GmbH is at fault for not providing the service in accordance with the contract, it is obliged to provide the service in accordance with the contract within a reasonable period of time and at no extra cost to the customer.

§15 Liability

• CareLend GmbH’s liability for the breach of material contractual obligations is limited to intent or gross negligence.
• CareLend GmbH is not liable for the success of the brokerage activities or for damages caused by candidates. No liability is accepted for damages resulting from false statements made by applicants during job interviews or from the applicants’ failure to disclose relevant information during job interviews.
• The limitation of liability set out in this section does not apply to data protection claims.

§16 Final provisions and place of jurisdiction

• Amendments and supplements to these provisions and the contract must be made in writing.
• The data protection declaration and any associated documents will be regularly reviewed and updated. (The last update status is specified in the footer of the respective documents).
• The data protection declaration and any associated documents will be provided in Vietnamese.
• The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply.
• The place of performance and exclusive place of jurisdiction is Leipzig.
• Should any of the provisions of these terms and conditions be invalid in whole or in part, the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.

Version 2.1.0.