TU Delft fails to address workload and undesirable behavior

These were the findings of the Netherlands Labour Authority in a report on TU Delft’s policy covering workload and undesirable behaviour. The report that covers all 14 universities was issued on 14 May. Its main conclusion is that the large majority of employees at universities experience a heavy workload and undesirable behaviour, and for years their employers have done far too little to improve these.

It is now up to the universities themselves whether they wish to make their section of the report public or not. On 14 May, TU Delft had announced that it would make its report public, and drafted a response before posting it on the intranet on 30 May. More about its reaction below.

The Netherlands Labour Authority’s report seems to be a confirmation of the Inspectorate of Education’s report, that concluded that the conditions for employees was subject to mismanagement.

The process

The major difference between them lies in the process of obtaining information. While the Inspectorate of Education started an investigation in 2022 after receiving reports and published a report in March 2024, the Netherlands Labour Authority has carried out investigations at universities for years.

It had requested a plan of action as early as 2020 after receiving ‘signals and reports relating to psychosocial work presssure’. In response, the Authority issued feedback containing points to be addressed in 2021. In 2023, an inspector from the Authority and a researcher visited TU Delft again. The current report was then published. It contains a list of the points to be addressed for all universities from 2021 onwards, and what has or has not been improved at TU Delft during the 2023 visit.

The Authority bases its judgement on documents obtained from TU Delft, interviews with various people including staff members of HR, the Works Council, Confidential Advisors, and a survey among academic staff that was filled in by 890 people.

In the dark

One thing that the findings of both TU Delft’s report and the report covering all universities is that the policies to address heavy workloads and undesirable behaviour are often directed at individuals and not at underlying problems. Policies rarely seem to be founded on an analysis of problems and the effects of the policies are rarely monitored. In 2021, the Authority had already written that universities should go through a ‘plan, do, check, act cycle’ (PDCA). They now write that TU Delft has ‘insufficiently demonstrated that the labour policy has undergone a complete PDCA cycle’.

The Authority advises TU Delft to involve its employees in the improvement process

This suggests that TU Delft is in the dark when it comes to all sorts of issues: how many hours employees really work; whether they experience any aspects of the Erkennen en Waarderen (recognition and rewards scheme); which of the 12 legal discrimination areas play a role; what the causes are of undesirable behaviour; what measures should thus address these; whether the number of confidential advisors is enough; and, what kind of care is there for victims of undesirable behaviour.

Action plans

The Netherlands Labour Authority note that while there are all sorts of documents – such as action plans at faculties, and annual reports from confidential advisors and the ombudsperson – there is no cohesion. ‘Integrating all these different parts is desirable.’

The survey that the Netherlands Labour Authority ran in the autumn of 2023 among academic staff confirms this conclusion. The Authority says that its findings apply to support staff too.

Some of the findings about TU Delft

• 40% of the respondents agree with the statement ‘I am expected to do an extremely high amount of work’.
• 37% are very or extremely vulnerable to having a burnout given the level of exhaustion they experience.
• Assistant professors 2 carry out an average of 9 extra tasks above and beyond their job description.
• 39% have themselves experienced bullying and 33% discrimination in the last two years.
• 58% witnessed a colleague being bullied and 52% saw how colleagues were discriminated against in the last two years. These were mostly related to nationality or gender.
• 52% see ‘power differences and dependence’ as the cause of undesirable behaviour, 40% put it down to the ‘lack of leadership qualities among managers’, 33% to the ‘lack of sanctions for people that show undesirable behaviour’ (the respondents could tick several causes).
• Many were not aware of measures in relation to excessive workloads and undesirable behaviour. Only two of the 27 listed measures were known to more than half the respondents: ‘few meetings and few email weeks’ (55%) and ‘mentors for PhDs’ (53%).
• Most of the 27 stated measures were known to less than 20%. Examples of the lowest percentages (both 4%) are ‘reducing the size of committees’ and ‘reducing the number of tasks when assigned new tasks’.
• 27% have reported an excessive workload, 16% have reported undesirable behaviour.
• 49% of the respondents judged the handling of their reports as adequate or very good, 51% as poor or bad.

The outcomes are in line with those of other universities. As there has been little improvement over the years, the Netherlands Labour Authority has had enough. It has now announced that enforcement inspections that ‘are directed at the shortcomings in the labour policy of universities’ will be done in 2025. The Authority will again state points of attention and share knowledge ‘so that employers can take preventive measures more easily’.

It adds that the methodology is not optional. If TU Delft and the other universities do not demonstrate any improvement by 2025, the Authority may enforce a so-called ‘demand to comply’ and thereafter levy a fine. The Authority advises TU Delft to involve its employees in the process of improvement.

Executive Board response

On the intranet, the Executive Board responded by saying that it is taking the Authority’s findings ‘to heart’ and that the necessary improvements are part of the change management plan that it submitted to the Inspectorate of Education in mid-May which should bring about greater social safety. A separate action plan will be made to address workload. The issue is also on the table of the current Collective Labour Agreement (CAO). It states that TU Delft will draft a ‘workload work plan’.