FNV: ‘Work pressure too high’

Research by the FNV (federation of trade unions) shows that nearly 80 per cent of academic staff feel that the work pressure at universities is too high.
By Peter Keizer / Translation by Alain Reniers

Pressure is too high primarily due to a lack of personnel, an increase in the number of students, emphasis on publishing and an unrealistically high number of contract hours, the staff members say in an FNV survey.

The union states they have asked over 2,500 employees (both academic and support staff) at universities how they feel about their work load. It shows that, apart from a large portion of the academic staff, a little over half of the support staff feels the work pressure is too high.

‘Unhealthy developments’

‘The figures show the effects of a very unhealthy development that has been going on for far too long’, FNV director Jan Boersma says. ‘The number of students has increased by over 50 percent in the past 15 years, but the number of jobs has barely increased. This puts a lot of pressure on employees. Providing good education, research and support is done at its own cost.’

According to the union, employees between ages 36 and 45 in particular experience work pressure that is too high (74 per cent). Over half of all employees state that they have experienced physical or mental issues in the past three years due to high work pressure. Over 90 per cent say they continued working despite being sick, varying from several days to over a month, because of the high work pressure in this period.

‘The figures are appallingly high’, Boersma says. ‘They are so high that six out of ten employees sometimes consider looking for a different job because the work pressure and work load is so high. Employers really need to ease this pressure by budgeting a realistic amount of hours and by providing more permanent contracts with more contract hours.’

Overtime

Nearly 80 per cent of university personnel work in the evenings, weekends and sometimes during holidays to finish the work. Moreover, half of the questioned staff members do not have enough time to prepare the classes to be taught. Overtime is also more standard fare than an exception, especially for academic staff. Seventy per cent works overtime for over six hours a week, FNV says.

Boersma: ‘Educational tasks cannot be postponed, which means that the majority of employees do research and other tasks in their spare time. This is unhealthy. Preparing work and classes is supposed to take place during working hours, not during one’s private time. Not only is this at the expense of class quality, but it also affects quality of life.’

Uncertain

The union also sees that universities are reluctant to issue permanent contracts. As a result, three-quarters of personnel below the age of 35 lives in uncertainty regarding their jobs. About 85 percent experiences the pressure to perform well due to this uncertainty.

Boersma wants to tackle the work pressure in the new collective labour agreement. The union wants more permanent contracts and better agreements regarding the distribution of hours.

 

Update, 11 January:

Workload is an oft-discussed topic at the RUG as well. ‘The RUG regularly conducts strategic staff surveys, and these indicate that staff members here also feel that their work pressure is increasing’, says RUG spokesperson Gernant Deekens.

‘The university board has come to an agreement with the faculties that they can approach the Board of Directors themselves with their own proposals to reduce work-related stress. The Board of Directors has also allocated 35 million euros from the investment agenda for hiring more instructors. The faculties will look into where those new hires can be most effective. This year, we will conduct another employee satisfaction survey which focuses in part specifically on work pressure’, Deekens says.

 

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