Our Standard Terms & Conditions

1. Aequivalent platform

1.1. Aequivalent AG (hereafter referred to as the “Aequivalent”) provides an online employment screening platform (hereafter referred to as the «Platform») to manage and execute the quality assurance programmes (hereafter referred to as “Background Checks”) put in place by its clients (hereafter referred to as the “Client”) during the hiring and monitoring of persons under their labour or services agreements (hereafter referred to as “Employee” or “Employees”).

1.2. The Platform allows the Client to verify employee personal data (hereafter referred to as the “Personal Data”) through the use of Aequivalent’s services (hereafter referred to as the “Services”) or through the use of individual verifications (hereafter referred to as “Stand-alone Checks”).

1.3. Through a secure electronic interface, the Client can manage and consult the Platform and has access to standard and tailormade verification programmes, stand-alone checks, questionnaires, documents and verification procedures.

1.4. The Client designates the users of the Platform within its organisation (hereinafter the «Client-Users») who will have personalised and secure access.

2. Services

2.1. The Services consist in the verification and delivery of a detailed employee dossier and a summary screening report (hereafter referred to as the “Employee Dossier”) according to the programmes defined and chosen by the Client (the “Programme”).

2.2. The Client is bound to inform the Employee about the treatment and verification of the Personal Data through the Aequivalent Platform and Services. Aequivalent does not proceed with the Services without prior confirmation by the Employee that they have been informed by the Client regarding the Background Check which will be carried out by Aequivalent. This confirmation is formalised via the Aequivalent platform through a Declaration of authorisation form, which the Employee can sign electronically or by hand.

2.3. The Employees who are subject to the Services are contacted by Aequivalent and receive their own unique, personal, and secure access to the Aequivalent Platform. This access will allow the Employee to consult the Programme, to complete the Personal Data that will be verified by Aequivalent and to consult the Personal Data until they have been deleted (see clause 4.3.).

2.4.  The Services delivery time depends on the type of Programme selected by the Client and the Personal Data that need to be verified. The progress of the Services can be consulted by the Client at any time and, where enabled by the Client on the Platform, by the Employee. A final report will be established at the latest 6 weeks after the Client’s request.

2.5. Based on the Employee Dossier and verification report provided by Aequivalent, the Client may generate and issue its own report and becomes solely responsible for its content and use.

2.6. The Employee Dossier is the Client’s property. The Client is the only one who, according to its interests, may grant the Employee access to the Employee Dossier. The Client will provide the respective instructions to Aequivalent through its electronic interface. Aequivalent cannot be held responsible for the Client’s refusal to grant the Employee access, and the Client will compensate Aequivalent for potential damages due to an unlawful refusal.

2.7. The Services include a customer support service that is available to Client-Users and Employees during normal business hours in Switzerland.

3. Stand-alone checks

3.1.   For Stand-alone Checks, the deliverable is limited to the outcome obtained through a database check or the delivery of a relevant source document. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, Stand-alone Checks do not include the Services as described in paragraph 2 and Employee support is managed by the Client directly: Aequivalent does not review, verify, interpret or compile the result into a screening report.

3.2. The Employees who are subject to a Stand-alone Check receive their own unique, personal, and secure access to the Aequivalent Platform. This access will allow the Employee to complete the Personal Data and to consult the Personal Data until they have been deleted (see clause 4.3).

3.3. According to the Stand-alone Checks that the Client has selected, the Checks could include the use of third-party providers and/or services and may be subject to additional terms and conditions. These additional terms and conditions need to be acknowledged separately by the Client during each order.

4. Data protection / Data security

4.1. The Personal Data are stored in Switzerland and protected by technical and organisational measures in compliance with the ISO/IEC 27001 standards, including the Swiss Data Protection Act, until they are deleted (see clause 4.3).

4.2. Aequivalent cannot use the Personal Data and Employee Dossier for any other purpose than the Services and/or the Stand-Alone Checks it provides to the Client.

4.3. Aequivalent deletes all Personal Data and Employee Dossiers 90 days after the delivery of the final verification report unless a request for earlier deletion is made by the Client, in which case Aequivalent will comply with the request at the earliest possible moment.

4.4. Aequivalent has the right to use certain data (gender, nationality, country of residence, year of birth and country of work) that have been irreversibly anonymised and can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual, for statistical purposes.

4.5. The Client and Aequivalent are bound to comply with every applicable law and provision in the fields of data protection and employment law. In Switzerland, said protection is governed in particular by the Federal Act on Data Protection and its Ordinance, as well as by the existing regulation in the field of workers’ protection (Federal Act on Employment in Trade and Industry and its Ordinances) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

4.6. The Client-users receive a unique and secure personal access, a personal password, and an authentication code for each session. The Client is responsible for the respect of the usual security measures by the Client-Users, as well as for the update of the list of these Client-Users. Aequivalent reserves the right to modify the access data in case of doubt concerning the security of these accesses.

4.7. The Client may choose to manage the access of its Client-Users by setting up a Single-Sign-On (SSO) connection linked to its Active Directory. To do this, this functionality must be activated on the platform by Aequivalent.

4.8. The before mentioned measures do not release the Client nor Aequivalent from the obligation to ensure that unauthorised people are given no possibility of accessing the Personal Data and Employee Dossiers and apply additional and appropriate security measures.

4.9. The Client is responsible towards Aequivalent for every prejudice resulting from the non-compliance of the aforementioned obligations, in particular due to indiscretions or abusive use of the disclosed personal information.

4.10. Where the Services require the verification of data abroad, such as an Employee’s experience, qualifications or official documents, Aequivalent is authorised to transfer the Personal Data strictly necessary for that purpose to the relevant source abroad, solely to carry out that verification and in compliance with applicable data protection law.

4.11. Aequivalent actively invests in compliance with applicable data protection and information security laws and standards, including maintaining its ISO 27001 certification and providing Clients with relevant documentation such as its valid ISO 27001 certificate, Information Security Policy and Data Processing Agreement. Given the number of its Clients, Aequivalent cannot complete additional security questionnaires, undertake bespoke compliance assessments and documentation, or negotiate individual terms and conditions and other customised contractual provisions for individual Clients. Additional requests are subject to a separate agreement and applicable fees.

4.12. For any further questions regarding data protection, the Client and the Employee may consult Aequivalent’s Data Protection FAQ or contact Aequivalent’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@aequivalent.ch.

5. Fees

5.1. The opening of an account for the Client and the use of the Platform in its standardised configuration are free of charge for up to a maximum of 3 Client-Users. To benefit from a Platform with advanced features, the Client can choose a  configuration that meets its needs and calculate the corresponding annual subscription fee.

5.2. Accounts and subscriptions are automatically renewed unless written cancellation by the Client or Aequivalent, at least 30 days before the expiry date.

5.3. In order to use the Platform, the Client needs to operate an account with sufficient user-credit. The Client can acquire (additional) credit at any time, including for each individual Employee Dossier. The Client may also select advanced invoicing options, allowing to receive invoices retrospectively or to work with multiple currencies.

5.4. The fees for the Services depend on the price of the Programme(s) or Stand-alone check(s) selected by the Client and are automatically debited from the Client’s account when placing an order on the Platform.

5.5. If an Employee does not agree to be the subject of the Services before receiving an access to the Platform, the Client is informed, and the Services fees are credited to his account upon confirmation of the cancellation of the order by the Client. Fees for Stand-alone Checks cannot be reimbursed once the order has been approved by the Platform.

5.6. The Programme prices include the costs of official documents and verification sources in Switzerland and the European Union required under Aequivalent’s standard verification procedures. Costs for additional documents or verifications requested by the Client, as well as for documents or verification sources outside Switzerland and the European Union, are charged separately to the Client’s account. Costs exceeding CHF 150.– excluding VAT require the Client’s prior approval. If the Client has insufficient credit, such costs will be invoiced retrospectively.

5.7. Services that are not standardised (hereinafter the «Additional Services»), in particular the execution of customised compliance requests, the development of custom programmes and verification procedures, IT systems development and support services for the integration of IT systems via the Aequivalent API, requests for additional official documents or additional verifications, customised statistical reports or consulting and training services, are provided at the Client’s request and subject to additional costs on a separate agreement with the Client.

5.8. If the Client’s account has not been used for 12 consecutive months, Aequivalent is entitled to charge an administration fee of CHF 480.- or to deactivate the account. Any remaining credit at the time of account closure will be forfeited to Aequivalent unless otherwise agreed separately.

5.9. Invoices are sent to the Client’s main-user by electronic means in PDF format.

5.10. The payment term for invoices is 30 days. In case of payment delay, Aequivalent is granted a 5% interest on arrears, and a CHF 20.- compensation for each payment reminder. The due amounts by the Client must neither be offset with claims, nor used as compensation for other services. In case of payment delay, Aequivalent is granted the right, without previous notice, to interrupt the Services until it receives full payment for the Services provided.

5.11. Aequivalent reserves the right to adapt its prices according to the Swiss CPI or to an increase of external charges, as long as it respects a three months’ prior notice.

5.12. All amounts stated in these Standard Terms of Business and the Client contract are exclusive of VAT, unless provided otherwise.

6. Liability

6.1. Information provided by Aequivalent shall be used as mere support for the Client’s decision, and do not substitute the Client’s own judgement. The interpretation of the information received by the Client, as well as the decision-making itself, is the sole responsibility of the Client.

6.2. Aequivalent assumes responsibility for direct damages suffered by the Client in connection with the execution of this contract, under the conditions and within the limits set out below. Aequivalent’s liability is incurred without contractual limitation, in accordance with Article 100 paragraph 1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, in cases of fraud or gross negligence. Aequivalent is obliged to hold a professional liability insurance covering this type of risk. In all other cases, Aequivalent’s liability is limited to the total amount of the provided Services, excluding taxes. In any case, the Client must inform Aequivalent as soon as it becomes aware of a situation that could cause it harm. In such a case, the Client shall allow Aequivalent a reasonable period of time to remedy the situation, in order to mitigate or even avoid any damage that may be suffered by the Client. Aequivalent’s liability does not cover indirect damages, such as, in particular, loss of profit, loss of a client or business opportunity, damage to reputation, internal management costs, or any other damage resulting from the initial event.

7. Confidentiality

7.1. Aequivalent commits to treating confidentially and keeping secrecy about all the data and information that concern the Client’s organisation and businesses, and which are communicated to Aequivalent to fulfil the contract unless they are public information.

7.2. Clients respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of Aequivalent and comply with the use of personal data according to the contract and the applicable legislation. The Clients undertake not to disclose to third parties all or part of the information of an internal, confidential or bilateral nature (in particular methods, prices, processes) resulting from the collaboration with Aequivalent or from other sources related to the Services. This obligation does not lapse upon termination of the contract.

8. Final dispositions

8.1. Failure to comply with the obligations mentioned in this document may result in the refusal by Aequivalent to provide the Services and Stand-alone Checks.

8.2. Agreements derogating from the present Terms & Conditions are only valid if agreed in written form with Aequivalent. In case of doubt, these Terms & Conditions apply.

8.3. The law applicable to these Terms & Conditions and to the contractual relationship between Aequivalent and its Client is the Swiss law. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all legal proceedings arising out of this contract are the headquarters of Aequivalent.