Forms of employment

Forms of employment

The university has various forms of employment. Below, you can read about how they affect you as an employee and about aspects such as maximum contract terms, function-based contracts and how long a temporary contract term is.

Employment contracts and appointments

The Public Servants (Standardisation of Legal Status) Act (Wet normalisering Rechtspositie Ambtenaren) entered into force on 1 January 2020. With effect from that date, all employees are employed at a university on the basis of an employment contract. There is no longer a difference between an employment contract and an appointment. For more information, see the website of the VSNU.

Function-based contract

Function-based contracts are based on performance rather than time, allowing employees to organise their time and work more easily. You are responsible for managing your own working hours, break times and holidays. The most important rule is that your performance must satisfy the agreements made with your supervisor. For the duration of the current CAO, the university may conclude function-based contracts with academic staff and with support and management staff below salary scale 11. More details can be found in Article 4.5 of the CAO.

No obligation
You are not obliged to conclude a function-based contract with the university – both parties have to agree in order to do so. If you conclude a function-based contract when starting employment, you may cancel it within three months without stating a reason.

Contract term and extension of temporary employment contracts

The maximum term for temporary employment contracts depends on the position, as does the number of times they may be extended. Depending on your job category, the following applies:

• Academic staff: the total duration (including any successive contracts) may not exceed three years. For certain positions and duties a total maximum duration of four years applies. These exceptions are found in Article 2.3.1 of the CAO. The university may not extend a temporary employment contract with a new temporary contract more than twice.
• Support and management staff: the total duration (including any successive contracts) may not exceed three years. For certain positions and duties a total maximum duration of four years applies. These exceptions are found in Article 2.3.2 of the CAO. The university may not extend a temporary employment contract with a new temporary contract more than twice.
• Doctoral students: contracts are always temporary, for the anticipated length of the degree programme. In principle, this is four years in the event of a full-time working week. In the event of a part-time appointment, an adjusted duration is the obvious option. When commencing employment, the university may conclude an 18-month temporary contract once only in order to evaluate your suitability for the position. For doctoral students, no maximum applies to either the number of successive temporary contracts or the duration of any contract.
• Student assistants: always a temporary employment contract during the degree programme. No maximum applies to either the number of successive temporary contracts or the duration of any contract for student assistants.
• Employees who have reached their retirement age and are entitled to an old-age pension: the university may extend a temporary employment contract no more than six times within a period of no longer than four years.