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Article 1 - Background
These general terms and conditions apply to the "service vouchers" system, which is used by the service company to pay for the provision of household help to private individuals.
The term "home helper" used in the Special Terms and Conditions and General Terms and Conditions refers to help of a household nature and is understood to be gender-neutral (M/F/X).
The company issuing the service vouchers is currently Sodexo; it is designated by the Regions and could therefore change without the intervention of the service company.
Article 2 - Provision of equipment and warnings
The private individual shall provide the home helper with correctly labelled cleaning products and appropriate equipment (in good working order). The private individual shall inform the home helper of the procedures to be followed for cleaning their home and/or laundry.
They are responsible for the instructions given and for supervising the work carried out by their home helper.
If the private individual wishes to entrust the home helper with the upkeep, cleaning or handling of valuable objects or delicate materials (particularly lacquered surfaces or other surfaces requiring special care), he or she must give the home helper the appropriate instructions beforehand. The private individual will then inform the home helper about the delicate objects and materials in their home and give them the instructions and products they need to care for them.
Under no circumstances may the home helper be asked to look after objects of unusual value (works of art, unique items, etc.).
Article 3 - Payments
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 4 - below, the private individual shall pay one service voucher per hour worked and undertakes to have a sufficient reserve of service vouchers available at the time the services are provided.
- Paper service vouchers
The private individual shall provide the home helper with a valid service voucher, duly signed and in full (including the detachable stub) for each hour worked, no later than the end of the home helper's daily shift.
The private individual fills in the date on the service voucher (the actual date of the service) using a blue or black biros (no pencils, felt pens or other colours) and specifies the type of activity provided (tick box). Please note that Sodexo will not accept any erasures or corrections using "Tipp-Ex" or any other corrector.
- Electronic service vouchers
The private individual selects the option on the Sodexo website, "I authorise the approved company to be informed in the event of an insufficient balance in my electronic wallet".
At the end of the service, the home helper will call a free number from the private individual's telephone and record the number of hours worked, or will make an electronic entry himself/herself.
The private individual must then, within 48 hours, manually validate the service in their personal electronic space and cannot therefore wait for any automatic confirmation from Sodexo's computer system.
If the service company makes a change (e.g. due to a typing error), the private individual has 48 hours to confirm the services entered following the change.
If the private individual disputes the recorded service, he/she must inform the service company no later than the first working day following the service.
Article 4 - Subscription
1. Subscription price
Without prejudice to payment for services via service vouchers, the private individual shall take out a flat-rate subscription with the service company of €9.99 per month (for the Brussels-Capital Region and the Flemish Region).
2. Use
The aim of the subscription is to combat the pressure of external factors (increases in energy prices, wage costs, etc.) and enable the service company to maintain the quality of its various services:
- Recruitment and provision of a home helper,
- In compliance with the new legal obligations, a visit to the property to record any special cleaning requests (in accordance with Article 5 - below),
- Training for home helpers and administrative teams,
- Managing different timetables,
- Finding a replacement for the private individual's usual home helper in the event of absence.
3. Billing and payment methods
The subscription is invoiced quarterly in advance during the first month of the service quarter (3 months x €9.99).
The service company offers several payment methods for private individuals:
- By direct debit,
- By QR code,
- By bank transfer.
If the private individual fails to pay by the due date stated on the invoice, the company reserves the right to suspend services and/or terminate the contract without notice or compensation.
4. Indexation
The subscription rate is indexed on 1 January each year to the consumer price index (for 2004) on the basis of the following formula:
New rate = old rate x new index
base index
The base index is that of December of the year preceding that of the signature of the present contract, while the new index is that of December of the year preceding that of the indexation.
Article 5 - Visiting the home, formalities and procedure for new customers
Legislation relating to service vouchers now requires the service company to visit the private individual's home before starting work.
For all new projects, and before the first service is provided, the private individual agrees to a visit to the home by an employee representing the service company, in order to discuss the various authorised and prohibited tasks, to record any specific requests made by the private individual and to make the private individual aware of the working conditions, well-being and safety of the home helper.
During the contractual relationship, the private individual accepts that visits may be made while the worker is working in their home.
The first subscription invoice is sent to the private individual in the month following the first service to cover the end of the current quarter.
Article 6 - Prohibited work
Under no circumstances may a home helper perform tasks that are dangerous, present a health risk or are unsuitable, such as:
- cleaning windows at height (the home helper can climb a maximum of three steps),
- cleaning litter trays and direct contact with animals,
- outdoor cleaning work in difficult weather conditions (rain, snow, cold or hot weather),
- moving and handling heavy objects (e.g. heavy furniture),
- services requiring expertise that reasonably exceeds that which could be expected of an ordinarily prudent and diligent person performing household tasks.
It is therefore forbidden, in particular, to ask the home helper to carry out cleaning work on completion of a building site, where the debris of all kinds and the stains of cement, plaster, etc., to be cleaned require a level of expertise that cannot be expected of a home helper.
Home helpers may only clean premises for strictly private use. The cleaning of communal stairwells and professional premises such as doctors' surgeries and offices is strictly prohibited. Authorised household errands are exclusively household errands for private individuals that meet their daily needs. The purchase of furniture, household appliances, audio-visual equipment, hot meals and the periodic distribution of newspapers and magazines are not considered as daily needs.
Article 7 - Health and safety
7.1. Generalities
Housekeepers must always work in optimum conditions of health and safety.
In the event of a serious hygiene problem or a situation that endangers the home helper, the helper or the service company may ask the private individual to remedy the situation.
In the event of a contagious disease, the private individual must notify the service company immediately.
In the event of persistent safety or hygiene problems, the home helper will be immediately suspended.
All the equipment provided must be in good condition and safe.
7.2. Maternity protection
In the context of the safety and health of the mother and the child, we emphasize the special adherence to safety measures for the housekeeper. Additionally, we are particularly cautious and attentive to the well-being of our workers here: each of our pregnant employees is systematically removed from work at the start of her third trimester of pregnancy.
All the more reason, the pregnant housekeeper:
• should not come into contact with cats or clean their litter,
• should not be exposed to contagious diseases,
• should not work at a height greater than 50 cm from the ground.
Furthermore, we strengthen the directive regarding hazardous substances: the pregnant housekeeper may never use any hazardous products whatsoever (9 possible pictograms).
If one of the client's children has a contagious childhood illness, the client informs the service company before the scheduled services. The housekeeper will resume work once the child is healed.
Article 8 - Liability
Without prejudice to the application of Article 14 - below, the private individual is liable for any damage caused to property or persons insofar as he/she exercises de facto authority over the home helper as regards the instructions he/she gives.
Article 9 - Rules applicable to the home helper
- The home helper must comply with the following rules:
- the home helper is not allowed to smoke during his/her shift; if there is no break during working hours, the private individual will give him/her the opportunity to smoke a cigarette in the morning and in the afternoon,
- the home helper has a break - during working hours - of a quarter of an hour for every four consecutive hours of service,
- the home helper may not telephone during working hours, unless it is necessary for the service. For exceptional reasons, the home helper may be authorised to use his/her mobile phone for private matters,
- the home helper cannot be a member of the immediate family (not a relative or related by marriage up to the second degree) of the private individual or a member of his/her family. If this happens, the private individual will inform the service company. The service company will then immediately stop providing the service,
- the home helper keeps the keys to the private individual's home only if the private individual has authorised him/her to do so in writing. Where applicable, the private individual must ensure that the home helper returns the keys to their home and that the keys are handed over to another employee of the service company (e.g. in the event of a replacement). The service company recommends that the private individual has the home helper sign a declaration of receipt and/or return of the keys. Under no circumstances will the service company be responsible for managing the keys to the property.
Article 10 - Non-discrimination
The service company offers the private individual a quality service that guarantees respect for human dignity, privacy, ideological, philosophical or religious convictions, the right to complain, the right to information and the private individual's right of access, taking into account the private individual's life situation.
The home helper and the service provider will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation or philosophical or religious convictions when offering or providing services.
Article 11 - Absence from work
The service company will inform the private individual as soon as possible of any changes to the work schedule. In the event of unforeseen circumstances (sick leave, leave due to force majeure or special leave), the private individual will be notified by the service company as soon as possible.
At the customer's request, the absent worker is replaced as far as possible, although the replacement cannot be guaranteed a priori. In the event of a replacement, the hours and days of work may be modified in consultation with the private individual.
Article 12 - Obligations of the private individual
The private individual shall take all the necessary precautions (including access to the home) to ensure that the services of the home helper can be provided throughout the year.
These precautions include the private individual's duty to inform the service provider of any changes to their personal details, including their home address, e-mail address or telephone number, as soon as possible.
If the services are to be moved or cancelled, the private individual must inform the service company in writing:
- of the rescheduling or cancellation of contractually agreed services, at least 10 working days before the week in which the services were due to take place,
- of the replacement date, at least 3 working days before the week in which the services are due to take place.
If the rescheduling or cancellation is not notified in time, the service company will bill the hours of service normally agreed upon at their actual cost (i.e. the value of the service voucher plus the regional contribution (indicative amounts subject to indexation, as indicated in Article 16)), unless the private individual has the weekly hours contractually agreed upon delivered at another time during the current calendar quarter.
"Calendar quarter" means: calendar quarter 1 = January-February-March; calendar quarter 2 = April-May-June; calendar quarter 3 = July-August-September; calendar quarter 4 = October-November-December.
Article 13 - Loss and theft
If theft is suspected, the private individual must always notify the service company.
In the event of theft, the private individual must report it immediately to the police, who will draw up a report.
To avoid any misunderstanding, the following rules must be observed:
- the home helper keeps the key to the private individual's home only if the private individual has authorised him/her to do so in writing and has notified the service company,
- the private individual will exercise due care with regard to any money or valuables entrusted to the home helper.
Article 14 - Accidents at work
The service company is required to take out workplace accident insurance to compensate, in accordance with the law, any home helper who is the victim of an accident at work or on the way to work.
The client directly informs the service company of any accident involving their housekeeper during the execution of her activities.
Article 15 - Duration of the service contract
This agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and takes effect from the date of signature.
The service may be terminated by either party giving one month's notice by registered post (the notice period begins on the first day of the month following the date of dispatch).
The private individual to whom the notice is served may at any time unilaterally reduce the duration of the notice period or cancel it, subject to full payment of the services provided for the duration of the notice period, i.e. the value of the service voucher plus the regional contribution (indicative amounts subject to indexation as indicated in Article 16 - below), as well as the flat-rate contribution due for the current quarter.
The service company nevertheless has the option of terminating the agreement without notice or compensation in the event of force majeure, danger to the safety or health of the home helper, or the impossibility of providing the services for one month.
Termination of the service is indivisible: it automatically applies to all the household helpers of the service company providing services to the private individual.
The collaboration is automatically considered terminated if one of the contracting parties fails to comply with one of the contractual obligations, following formal notice sent by registered post by the other party which has remained unresolved for more than fifteen calendar days from the date on which the formal notice was sent.
This does not, of course, release the private individual from the obligation to hand over the vouchers on first request.
Article 16 - Late payment and collection
In the event of late payment of more than one month from the date of the service, the private individual shall owe the company a fixed amount of €150 by way of collection fees, without prejudice to the sums due for unpaid services.
If payment is overdue by more than one year from the date of the service, the private individual will no longer be able to pay for the service using service vouchers.
For each hour worked, the employee will owe the company the amount of the service voucher plus the amount of the government contribution. For information purposes, on 1 January 2023 these amounts will be €27.43 per hour worked in the Walloon Region, €26.98 in the Flemish Region and €27.12 in the Brussels Region.
Article 17 - Processing of personal data
The private individual consents to his/her personal data being collected and processed by the company, in accordance with the law, in order to carry out the actions necessary for the proper performance of this contract.
In addition, the private individual consents to the use of his or his/her data by the company in order to receive newsletters on service vouchers, home care, home help and various other subjects related to local services and personal assistance.
Article 18 - Disputes
In the event of any dispute relating to the application of these conditions, the courts with territorial jurisdiction shall be those of the registered office of the service company.
