News from the works councils (April 2025)

Local councils can directly delegate a member to the COR NWO

At the end of last year, the COR NWO and GOR NWO-I made a number of changes to their working methods. For example, a GOR member no longer has to also be a member of the COR NWO, but may be. The institute councils and the NWO-I office Works Council can delegate separate members to the COR NWO and GOR NWO-I. We hope this change will make members of local works councils more willing to serve on the COR NWO or GOR NWO-I.

Less travel time thanks to digital meetings

The councils also opted to always hold internal meetings digitally from now on, which will save considerable travel time. Consultation meetings with the director will continue to be held in person, but they are more often scheduled at an institute. For example, the COR NWO was a guest at DIFFER in Eindhoven in March, and the GOR NWO-I will meet at NSCR in May. 

Interested in serving on a works council?

Many of the local works councils hold elections before the summer. We hope that some of those new works council members will also want to become members of the COR NWO and/or GOR NWO-I. Would you like to attend a meeting to see whether serving on a works council is for you? Both the Works Council meeting at your institute and the COR and GOR meetings are usually public, and you can attend as a listener (digitally or in person). Do register in advance with the (official) secretary. You can register for a COR meeting via COR@nwo.nl and for a GOR meeting via GORNWOI@nwo.nl.

COR NWO 

NWO-I governance

NWO-I’s governance model had been a topic of discussion for the COR NWO and the director for some time. The formal step was taken on 12 February 2025: the COR NWO received the request for advice on the intended new governance of NWO-I. This request for advice consisted of two parts: 1) a request for advice on the amendment to the NWO-I Articles and Internal Regulations and 2) a request for advice on the organisational change at the NWO-I office. On 17 March 2025, Marcel Levi answered the last pressing questions from the COR NWO. The COR NWO issued its advice on 31 March.  

New NWO complaints regulations

The old complaints regulations from 2013 were outdated, both in terms of terminology and alignment with the current legal framework. It also did not include the NWO-I Foundation. High time for an update. The COR NWO received the proposed new document in mid-September 2024 and it was explained at the consultation meeting on 13 November. In response to questions from the COR NWO, the Complaints Regulations were further amended. The COR NWO agreed to this updated version and these new Complaints Regulations have been in force since 1 February 2025.

NWO vice president 

The COR NWO was asked to advise on the Supervisory Board’s intended nomination to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science of Anka Mulder as new NWO vice president, member of the Executive Board and portfolio holder for NWO operations and finance. In preparation for the advice of the COR NWO, the chairs of the COR NWO, the GOR NWO-I and the NWO-D Works Council had an introductory meeting with Anka Mulder. This was an open and pleasant conversation and Anka Mulder made a very positive impression. The COR NWO advised positively on her appointment; the council considers her joining very fitting, also because she previously held many positions within higher education and institutes. The COR NWO therefore looks forward to a pleasant collaboration from 1 May.  

HFML-FELIX  

In February’s newsletter, you read that laser and magnet lab HFML-FELIX is moving forward as part of a national partnership comprising Radboud University, NWO and six other Dutch universities. From 1 January 2025, HFML-FELIX will be the tenth NWO Institute, making it the responsibility of the Foundation for Dutch Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I). 

Before this decision – on the transition from HFML-FELIX to NWO-I – could be made, the COR NWO had to give its advice. The Works Councils Act (WOR) requires the employer to seek the advice of the Works Council when entering into a long-term partnership or other collaborative arrangement, acquiring a significant interest or undertaking a major investment. 

Because the COR NWO did not initially feel it had been sufficiently informed, relevant additional information was requested from the director, such as the exploratory report and multi-year budget of HFML-FELIX. The COR NWO also raised questions about the future of the HFML-FELIX employees, as they are transferring from employer Radboud University to NWO-I. 

The COR NWO stated that the establishment of the HFML-FELIX collaboration must not be at the expense of the basic funding for the nine other NWO Institutes. The director confirmed this was not the case. It was also agreed that, during the start-up period (of up to two years), the Works Council would be well informed about progress, and especially about issues affecting the employees. The COR NWO made contact with Radboud University’s employee representation body (which represents the interests of their colleagues leaving for NWO-I) and agreed to act jointly in this process.

GOR NWO-I 

Exchange in consultation meeting held on 3 February 

The GOR meeting on 3 February was dominated by an interesting exchange: the GOR NWO-I met NWO-I privacy coordinator Abigail van Moosel and was updated on knowledge security by Ella Bosch, policy officer at the NWO-I office. With the director, the GOR NWO-I discussed the implementation of the ancillary activities policy, NWO-I’s new leadership programme and developments around HFML-FELIX. While the GOR NWO-I does not have the right to be consulted or the right of consent (WOR) on these issues, it appreciates the information provided and the good discussion with the director. 

Requests for consent on working conditions 

In February, the GOR NWO-I received requests for consent on topics related to working conditions. The GOR Health & Safety Committee discussed these issues with the NWO-I Health & Safety and Environment Adviser, Sjoerd Wouda. The requests for consent were subsequently on the agenda at the consultation meeting with the director, on 19 March 2025. The GOR NWO-I agreed to the NWO-I 2025 Health & Safety Annual Plan and the NWO-I Fire-Hazardous Work Policy.