Research by the labour inspectorate reveals extreme work pressure and the prevalence of undesirable behaviour at the TU/e. The conclusions were drawn based on a survey with 436 university employees and documents from TU/e.
Workload
Forty-three percent of respondents indicate that they must do an ‘extreme amount’ of work. Fifty-six percent indicate that they work more weekly than is contractually agreed. On average, TU/e employees would work seven hours more per week than stated in their contract.
Behavior
Scientifically related undesirable behaviour is said to occur regularly: falsely claiming authorship and acting fraudulently. Twenty-nine percent of respondents would have experienced it directly, 43 percent would have seen it with a colleague, while 28 percent of respondents say they have been discriminated against and 42 percent say they have seen it. Gender and nationality are the main basis of discrimination. Aggression, violence, bullying and sexual intimidation have also been directly experienced or witnessed.
Previous reports
The situation in which there is too much work pressure and undesirable behaviour has been going on for a long time – the problems also exist at other universities in the Netherlands. In 2020, the labour inspectorate conducted an initial investigation in which the problems were demonstrated for the first time. In 2023, it turned out that the same problems still existed and that the university was not doing enough to make improvements.
According to the report, too much attention is paid to the individual when tackling the problems and the causes are ignored too much. The policies that are supposed to bring about improvements are hardly tested for effectiveness, according to the researchers.
Improvement and Fine
The labour inspectorate will conduct another inspection at TU/e at the end of 2025. If no improvement is found, the inspectorate can introduce a so-called ‘compliance requirement’. If that doesn’t help, fines can be issued.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Seetha
