27 July 2023

On 26 July 2023, the Universities of the Netherlands and the employees’ organisations have converted the previously concluded negotiation settlement on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) into a definitive agreement about the CAO-NU 2023-2024. The CAO will be valid until 30 June 2024.

The CAO-NU includes the following agreements:

• The salaries of all permanent and temporary staff will be increased by 9% from 1 August. There will also be a one-off payment, based on full-time employment, of €1200 for employees receiving the minimum hourly wage for the sector, €1000 gross for employees up to scale 9 and €800 gross for employees from scale 10 and higher;
• Universities will increase the proportion of permanent jobs. Within three years, the number of lecturers on temporary contracts as a percentage of academic staff (consisting of professors, associate and assistant professors and lecturers) will have to be reduced to 13.5%. The number of temporary contracts in that group is currently 15%;
• From 2024, staff will have the option to enjoy paid leave on a holiday that is important to them by exchanging Good Friday for another holiday or day of remembrance;
• From 1 August 2023, the parties will arrange for partially paid transition leave for visits to a doctor or psychologist related to diagnosis, medical transition and/or hormone therapy during the transition period. By doing so, the parties anticipate a legal regulation. If there is one, this article will expire and the parties will consult to see if further agreements are needed.

What next?

The parties to the CAO will translate the agreements from the CAO into a final text. For the exact details of the agreements, we will therefore have to wait for the final CAO text. This is expected to be available online by the end of September 2023.

As soon as the complete text is available, HRM will identify the impact of the new agreements for Leiden University and, in cooperation with the faculties, draw up an action plan for their implementation. Read the full CAO text (in Dutch) with all changes.