Labour inspectorate to look into working conditions at universities

The agency will start evaluating current working conditions at the Netherlands’ universities before the end of the year. The inspectorate has officially committed to investigating the issues set out in a joint complaint submitted by the protest movement WOinActie and the FNV trade union.

Last month, the protest movement contacted the labour inspectorate after collecting over 700 reports of structural overtime at Dutch universities. Complaints that may be caused by this extra workload range from physical conditions and mental health issues to interpersonal problems.

FNV formally notified the inspectorate of this issue in its capacity of trade union. “And in accordance with procedure, we have now received a formal letter of confirmation,” says union officer Jan Boersma.

“We had already stated that we would be investigating the complaints when the report was first submitted, says a Labour Inspectorate spokesperson. “And now this promise has been formalised in writing.” The agency has not yet decided when it will be launching the investigation exactly, nor which shape it will take.