News from the works councils (February 2022)
After the Christmas break, the works councils in the form of GOR NWO-I (NWO-I Group Works Council) and COR NWO (NWO Central Works Council) are fully up and running again. Things are definitely not at a standstill: in the next six months, the external advice about the governance of NWO-I and the realisation of this are important subjects. The GOR NWO-I will, among other things, advise on the intended board decisions concerning the development of NWO-I operations. COR NWO will also discuss the NWO strategy 2023-2026.
News from GOR NWO-I
Policy hybrid working NWO-I: flexible working for institute employees
In the last newsletter of 2021, we already provided an update about the NWO-I-wide policy for hybrid working.
In January 2022, we received a last version of the policy proposal for which the NWO-I Foundation Board representative requested approval from the GOR. The board representative has accepted nearly all of the points for improvement from GOR NWO-I, and we will soon respond to this modified version. The formulated policy applies to the entire Institutes Organisation but does provide the possibility for each institute to make its own agreements within the regulation.
The institute director will discuss such agreements with the local works council. The policy will be shared with all employees as soon as it has been ratified.
Recognition and rewards: involving all colleagues
During the consultative meeting with the NWO-I Foundation Board representative, Laura Jussen, the policy officer at the NWO-I office and project leader, gave a detailed account of almost 18 months of work by the NWO-I committee Recognition and Rewards (R&R).
GOR NWO-I has been invited to reflect on the first draft version. The need for changes in the area of recognition and rewards is plain to GOR NWO, and it is positive about the process and the associated ambitions. Their advice is to continue informing all colleagues about this project. Furthermore, colleagues with a scientific or technical position are currently not represented in the proposed R&R workgroup. The workgroup might be able to involve them in another manner. GOR NWO-I will explore the possibilities!
Diversity & inclusion: a welcome to everyone
GOR NWO-I discussed the Diversity & Inclusion draft implementation plan 2022-2027 during the consultative meeting. We agree with the NWO-I Foundation Board representative that NWO must be an organisation in which everybody feels welcome and free to be themselves irrespective of their cultural, ethnic and/or religious background, gender, sexual orientation, ability to work/health and age. GOR NWO-I therefore hopes that it can work together with the board representative to realise this in the near future.
News from COR NWO
Implementing Regulations: corona keeps us occupied
Unfortunately, as the corona measures are still in force, the temporary agreements about commuting and the working from home remuneration have been extended. However, in February 2022, COR NWO will talk about the working from home remuneration and the remuneration facilitating a home office, as these two remunerations were not previously included in the Implementing Regulations. With the arrival of the hybrid working policy at both NWO-I and NWO-D, good agreements about this need to be made, and so we will begin negotiations.
General state of affairs: what's on the agenda for the near future?
In December 2021, COR NWO talked about the general state of affairs with Dirk Jan van den Berg (chair Supervisory Board), Marcel Levi (president NWO) and Caroline Visser (vice president NWO). As stipulated in the Works Council Act, COR NWO talks with the Executive Board representative twice a year about decisions under preparation and that concern matters in which COR NWO has a say (articles 25 and 27). During the next six months, the following items are definitely on the agenda:
- Governance NWO-I (following advice from the external adviser).
- Operational support NWO-I (following the proposals for improvement, see the article from December 2021. This subject will be dealt with by GOR NWO-I.
- NWO strategy 2023-2026.
- Joint portfolio of the institutes, following the conference of the Permanent Committee on National Institutes (PCNI).
What do GOR NWO-I and COR NWO stand for?
Would you like to know more about the co-determination structure within NWO and NWO-I? And do you want to find out what GOR NWO-I and/or COR NWO stand for and what they do? Then please take a look at the co-determination page on the NWO-I website or read this article in which all roles are explained in detail. Of course you can also contact the COR NWO and the GOR NWO-I via COR@nwo-i.nl and GORNWOI@nwo-i.nl.
Newsletter Inside NWO-I, February 2022
Please also visit the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I.