Collective labor agreement (CLA)
In this section, we explain if, and if so, which collective labor agreement does apply for you as a PhD candidate. Do you not know (yet) which contract does apply? Go to this page to find out!
Employed PhD candidates fall under a collective labor agreement (CLA), which determines most of their labor rights and employment conditions. A CLA is an agreement between labor unions and (an association of) employers, such as Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) and Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU).
The CLA includes provisions on wages, working hours, allowances, holidays, training, and pension. It also covers a variety of PhD specific issues, such as contract extensions, the go/no-go moment and the Teaching and Supervision Plan. The CLA lasts for a predetermined period, after which it is renegotiated. This allows for the continual improvement and modernization of labor rights and employment conditions. The labor unions and employers’ associations negotiate on behalf of their members, and require their approval before a CLA can be definitively concluded.
In the Netherlands, adherence to the CLA is not dependent on individual labor union membership. Employers that fall under a CLA must apply it to all of their employees. Adherence to the CLA is also not optional for employees. Which CLA applies to you thus depends on where you are formally employed.
PhD candidates at universities or other higher education institutions
The CLA Dutch Universities (NU) applies to all employees of:
- One of the Dutch universities that are represented by UNL:
- Universiteit van Amsterdam
- VU Amsterdam
- TU Delft
- TU Eindhoven
- Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
- Universiteit Leiden
- Universiteit Maastricht
- Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
- Open Universiteit
- Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
- Tilburg Universiteit
- UTwente
- Universiteit Utrecht
- Universiteit Wageningen
- And, a variety of other higher education institutions that ‘follow’ it:
- De Stichting IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (IHE) te Delft
- De Vereniging PO-Raad (PO-Raad) te Utrecht
- Universiteit voor Humanistiek (UVH) te Utrecht
- Nuffic te Den Haag
- Protestants Theologische Universiteit (PThU) te Amsterdam
- Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) te Amsterdam
- Platform Opleiding, Onderwijs en Organisatie BV (PLATO) te Leiden
- Stichting Roosevelt Academy (SRA) te Middelburg
- Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn (TUA) te Apeldoorn
- Theologische Universiteit Utrecht (TUU) te Utrecht
- Universiteiten van Nederland (UNL) te Den Haag
- De Fryske Akademy (FA) te Leeuwarden
- De Stichting WO2NET te Den Haag
The CLA HBO applies to all employees of the Universities of applied sciences.
PhD candidates at universities or other higher education institutions
The CLA UMC’s applies to all employees of:
- Amsterdam UMC
- Erasmus MC (Rotterdam)
- LUMC (Leiden)
- Maastricht UMC
- Radboud UMC
- UMCG (Groningen)
- UMC Utrecht
Employed PhD candidates at non-UMC hospitals, generally fall under the CLA hospitals (only available in Dutch)
PhD candidates at a research institution
The CLA Research Institutions applies to all employees of:
- The NWO;
- one of the institutions under NWO-I;
- AMOLF, Physics of functional complex matter
- ARCNL, Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography
- ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
- CWI, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica
- DIFFER, Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research
- HFML-FELIX, High Field Magnet Laboratory en Free-Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiment
- Nikhef, Nationaal instituut voor subatomaire fysica
- NIOZ, Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee
- NSCR, Nederlands Studiecentrum Criminaliteit en Rechtshandhaving
- SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research
- And the Royal Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek)
Are you currently experiencing issues during your PhD that you need help with?
Most institutions have a number of contact points for help. This compass is designed to help you find the right support.
In the drop-down menu you can select the institution that you are doing your PhD at. Then the roadmap will show you available contact points. In most cases it makes sense to start by considering contact points in your immediate work environment first and then progress to higher levels (like institutional or national).
At the bottom of the page you can find some examples of problems you can run into and a list of descriptions of each contact point.
Your first contact points
Colleagues: Sometimes it can already help to talk with your colleagues about the issue you are experiencing. This will help you judge the severity of it and can provide you with allies in taking further action.
Daily supervisor*: Naturally, your daily supervisor is the first contact point for all issues. They can help you determine the next steps. Of course, you may not feel comfortable discussing everything with your supervisor, or maybe your daily supervisor is involved in the issue. In these cases have a look at the other available contact points.
Promotor or Co-Supervisor*: Especially, in cases of issues with your daily supervisor, consider reaching out to your promotor or another member on the supervision team and ask for a one-on-one meeting. Maybe they can (temporarily) step-up and help you resolve the issue.If you have a conflict with your supervisor(s), you can also have a look at the PNN PhD supervisor conflict roadmap.
*Note that your annual review talk with your supervisory team is a good opportunity to address issues or suggestions for improvement.
National contact points
Labor unions: Organizations representing the interests of academic staff, offering support on employment-related matters, rights, and fair treatment.
NWO Scientific Integrity Desk: A specialized desk addressing scientific integrity concerns in projects related to or funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Netherlands Board of Research Integrity (LOWI): An independent body handling complaints related to scientific integrity, providing a platform for fair investigation. If you feel like the local scientific integrity committee at your institution did not handle a case correctly, the LOWI can be the next contact point.
Making a police report: In cases involving a criminal offense, please consider contacting local law enforcement to report incidents and seek assistance.