general terms and conditions equals

version october 2026 · we support w b.v., trading as equals · nrto member

article 1: definitions

1.1 equals: the private limited company we support w b.v., trading as equals, with its registered office in amsterdam, having its place of business at keizersgracht 316, 1016 ez amsterdam, registered with the chamber of commerce under number 77800311.

1.2 client: any natural or legal person who uses the services of equals, including commissioning parties (municipalities, uwv, employers, grant providers) and private participants.

1.3 participant: the natural person who takes part in an education programme, training or the member club of equals, whether she pays the costs herself or a client does.

1.4 service: all education programmes, trainings, guidance, placement, memberships, events, partnerships and advice offered by equals.

1.5 agreement: any arrangement between equals and a client or participant concerning the delivery of a service, including the participant agreement or course contract.

1.6 website: the website of equals (equals.nl), including all subdomains.

article 2: applicability

2.1 these general terms and conditions apply to all quotations, agreements and services of equals, unless agreed otherwise in writing.

2.2 any general terms and conditions of the client are expressly excluded, unless equals agrees to them in writing.

2.3 equals is a member of the nrto (dutch council for training and education). agreements with private participants in education programmes and trainings of equals are additionally governed by the nrto general terms and conditions for consumers and the nrto code of conduct. in case of conflict with these general terms and conditions, the nrto terms prevail.

2.4 arrangements in a participant agreement, course contract or quotation concerning a specific service prevail over these general terms and conditions insofar as they deviate from them.

2.5 for each education programme or training, equals states in advance, in writing or on the website: the content and method of delivery, the start date and duration, the admission requirements, the price including all costs and the method of payment, the compulsory teaching materials and the conditions under which the programme does not go ahead. these details are confirmed in the participant agreement or course contract.

article 3: purpose and services

3.1 equals aims to increase the opportunities of women on the dutch labour market and to promote diversity and inclusion within organisations.

3.2 to that end equals offers, among other things: dutch language trajectories and labour market preparation for internationally educated women (dutch programs), reskilling programmes towards roles in tech and engineering (equals in tech, brabant leert), programmes for female entrepreneurship (equals entrepreneurship), a member club with meetings and events, and training, advice and placement services for employers. this list is not complete; new programmes are also covered by these terms.

3.3 equals delivers services on behalf of clients (such as municipalities, regional mobility teams, uwv and employers), with grant funding, or directly for private participants.

article 4: obligations of the client and the participant

4.1 the client and the participant provide correct and complete information needed for the delivery of the service, and report changes in good time.

4.2 the participant takes an active part in the programme, attends the scheduled lessons and meetings, and reports absence in advance with the reason. for programmes funded by a client or grant, equals may be required to report attendance and progress to that client.

4.3 the client and the participant comply with the equals code of conduct and the house rules of the teaching location.

4.4 the client is responsible for compliance with applicable laws and regulations within its own organisation.

article 5: payments and costs

5.1 equals charges fees for certain services and trainings. the amount and payment terms are communicated before the agreement is concluded. all amounts are exclusive of vat unless stated otherwise; no vat is charged for education programmes covered by the vat exemption for education.

5.2 where a programme is funded by a client or grant, equals invoices that client and participation is free of charge for the participant, unless expressly stated in the participant agreement. this also applies to participants subject to the civic integration obligation for whom the municipality purchases the course; participants who pay for their civic integration course themselves receive an invoice that meets the requirements of duo and blik op werk.

5.3 cooling-off period. a private participant who purchases a paid education programme or training at a distance (via the website, e-mail or telephone) may withdraw from the agreement within fourteen days of concluding it, without giving reasons. if the programme starts at her express request within that period, she pays a proportionate part of the price upon withdrawal. amounts already paid are refunded within fourteen days.

5.4 cancellation and early termination. for private participants, the cancellation and early termination rules in article 5 of the nrto consumer terms apply; equals may deviate from them only in the participant’s favour. for business clients, the cancellation terms in the quotation or agreement apply. cancellation is made in writing or by e-mail.

5.5 price. the price stated in the agreement includes all costs, unless stated otherwise. a price change within three months of concluding the agreement and before the start has no effect on the participant; in the event of a later price increase before the start, the participant may withdraw from the agreement.

5.6 payment and collection. payment is made before the start of the programme, unless payment in instalments has been agreed. if payment is not made, equals first sends a free reminder with a payment term of fourteen days. after that, equals may charge statutory interest and extrajudicial collection costs according to the statutory scale. while a complaint or dispute about the service concerned is being handled (article 10), interest and collection costs are suspended.

article 6: termination of services

6.1 equals has the right to terminate an agreement with immediate effect if the client or the participant does not comply with the arrangements or the code of conduct, or harms the objectives of equals. for participants this happens only after a conversation and a written warning, unless the seriousness of the situation justifies immediate termination.

6.2 if a training or service is cancelled by equals due to force majeure, an alternative solution is offered in consultation.

6.3 the client has the right to terminate the agreement in writing, subject to any applicable notice period and cancellation terms. a participant who stops early reports this to her student counsellor or the project coordinator; equals informs the client where necessary.

6.4 equals is entitled to cancel or terminate, in whole or in part, a booking, reservation or agreement concerning the use of space or facilities, even where there is no force majeure, in the event of business-economic, organisational or operational circumstances that arise after the agreement is concluded or become known to equals after that time, including the full or partial loss of the availability of the location concerned. equals informs the client of this in writing as soon as possible.

6.5 in the event of a cancellation or termination under article 6.4, amounts already paid by the client for the cancelled service are refunded within 14 days. equals makes reasonable efforts to offer a suitable alternative where possible, without being obliged to do so and without the absence of an alternative giving rise to any liability.

6.6 apart from the refund of amounts already paid, equals is not obliged to compensate any further loss suffered by the client as a result of a cancellation or termination under article 6.4, expressly including consequential loss, loss of turnover or profit and costs incurred by the client towards third parties.

article 7: liability and indemnity

7.1 in the event of an attributable failure, equals is liable for the direct loss resulting from it. liability for personal injury, death and damage to property is not excluded or limited. this also applies to employees and persons engaged by equals.

7.2 towards business clients, the liability of equals for other loss is limited to the invoice amount of the service concerned, and equals is not liable for consequential loss or loss of turnover or profit.

7.3 equals is not liable for loss resulting from incorrect or incomplete information provided by the client or the participant.

7.4 the client indemnifies equals against all third-party claims arising from the use of the services.

7.5 equals gives no guarantee that an exam, certificate, job or other result will be achieved; equals makes its best efforts to that end.

article 8: intellectual property

8.1 all intellectual property rights in teaching materials, research, analyses and advice provided remain the property of equals or its licensors.

8.2 without the prior written consent of equals, it is not permitted to reproduce, publish or share the materials provided with third parties. participants may use teaching materials for their own study.

article 9: confidentiality and data protection

9.1 both parties undertake to keep confidential all confidential information obtained in the context of the agreement.

9.2 equals processes personal data in accordance with the general data protection regulation (gdpr) and the equals privacy regulations (version september 2026), available at equals.nl/privacybeleid. the privacy regulations form part of the agreement. they describe which data equals processes, for what purposes, for how long, with whom they are shared and which rights the participant has.

9.3 personal data are recorded only at registration, with the consent of the person concerned, and upon participation in a programme or the member club of equals.

9.4 for programmes funded by a client, equals reports to that client on participation, attendance, progress and outflow, insofar as laid down in the agreement with the client. where equals processes personal data on behalf of a client, the parties conclude a data processing agreement.

9.5 questions and requests about personal data can be addressed to the data protection officer of equals at ricardo@equals.nl.

article 10: complaints

10.1 equals answers questions about its services within ten working days. complaints about the services of equals are handled in accordance with the equals complaints procedure, available on equals.nl. a complaint is submitted within two months of arising to the complaints officer at dieuwke@equals.nl. equals confirms receipt within two weeks and handles the complaint within six weeks. complaints are treated confidentially.

10.2 if the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, she may submit the dispute, within twelve months of filing the complaint, to the disputes committee for private education institutions (geschillencommissie particuliere onderwijsinstellingen, degeschillencommissie.nl). the committee issues a binding decision; the nrto guarantees compliance by equals under the compliance guarantee in the nrto terms. if equals itself wishes to submit a dispute with a private participant to the committee, it first asks the participant for her consent within five weeks.

article 11: disputes and applicable law

11.1 all agreements and disputes between equals and the client are governed by dutch law.

11.2 disputes are first resolved by mutual consultation. if that fails, the dispute is submitted to the competent court in amsterdam, insofar as the law allows, and without prejudice to the right of private participants to submit the dispute to the disputes committee referred to in article 10.2.

article 12: changes to the general terms and conditions

12.1 equals reserves the right to amend or supplement these general terms and conditions.

12.2 changes are published on the website and communicated to existing clients. current agreements remain governed by the version that applied when the agreement was concluded, unless the client agrees to the change or does not object within 14 days of notification.

version: october 2026. adopted by: dieuwke van buren, managing director. we support w b.v., trading as equals, keizersgracht 316, 1016 ez amsterdam, chamber of commerce no. 77800311.