The Labour Inspectorate will conduct a new investigation into work pressure and undesired behaviour at universities. Photo Shutterstock. The Labour Inspectorate is preparing a new round of inspections into work pressure and undesired behaviour at universities. The investigation is to start in the second quarter of this year, says Delta, Delft’s counterpart to Resource.
The new investigation was announced after the Inspectorate released a sharp report in which it concluded that universities are doing insufficient to ensure a healthy and safe working environment. At the time, a date for the start of a new investigation was not yet available.
Asked by Delta, the Labour Inspectorate states it intends to investigate the universities again in the second quarter, as it did in 2023. In that year, the Inspectorate interviewed employee representatives and confidential counsellors, analysed occupational health care documents and conducted an online survey among scientific and teaching staff. The results were considered to apply in equal measure to the support staff, the Inspectorate said at the time. A survey may be held again this year but will include support staff as well, a spokesperson said.
Shocking
The results of the investigation painted a harrowing picture of work pressure and undesired behaviour at universities. And, although Wageningen’s response to the social safety needs of employees was not as seriously lacking as Delft’s, where the Inspectorate encountered ‘misconduct’, there was still enough work to do for Wageningen. ‘This shows that WUR must make a more concerted effort to challenge particular structures to stop undesired behaviour. Examples include hierarchical structures, power structures and the way WUR organises its leadership,’ the then ombudsperson Jacqueline Schoone told Resource.
The Labour Inspectorate told Delta it expects to release the new report in the first quarter of 2026. The conclusions of that report must be more favourable than those of the previous report, as the Inspectorate has already announced it will enforce and ‘issue a fine if the universities fail to comply.’
