How much time will it take to log my travel? This and other questions about the new mobility policy
From 1 November we will have a new mobility policy and will track our commuting with an app. The new regulation is more sustainable and will also save us time and effort, say the union reps from the Local Consultative Body.
The Local Consultative Body is the consultation between the unions and the Executive Board representing staff interests. Nicole van Os is chair of the union delegation and represents the AOb, the largest education union in the Netherlands. Ian Hornes represents CNV Overheid, a union for public sector workers.
1. Hi Nicole and Ian, people have been calling for some time for changes to the travel allowance. Why has the ball started rolling now?
Nicole: ‘As the Local Consultative Body we have often said it should be improved. The University Council also agreed but as this regulation is part of the terms and conditions of employment, it was mainly the job of the unions. But you can’t just change the travel allowance like that because it costs time and money. The breakthrough finally came from the shop floor with faculty managers insisting that things had to change.’
Ian: ‘They argued that the current regulation is losing us staff. The job market has changed and organisations are having increasing difficulty finding staff. So if you live in Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Utrecht why would you work in Leiden if you have great universities there and can save on your travel expenses? We were losing out there. And that began to cause problems, especially with hard-to-fill roles.’
‘It was always important to us that it would be a green, sustainable regulation’
2. Why did they choose to pay in full for public transport?
Nicole: ‘As unions, it was always important to us that it would be a green, sustainable regulation. Luckily, the Executive Board fully supports that too. Added to that is new legislation requiring large employers to track their carbon emissions and a large proportion of these come from commuting and domestic travel. This new system will immediately record these, enabling the university to submit the information to the government.’
3. How will this system work in practice?
Nicole: ‘The new system will work with the Shuttel app and an accompanying public transport card. If you check in with this card, your journey is logged automatically. You can also use the Shuttel card for private trips, but you will obviously have to pay for these yourself each month. On Wednesday 16 October all staff will receive a registration mail for the Shuttel card.’
4. Will it take us more time to log our travel?
Ian: ‘No, the app should make it easier; as the Local Consultative Body, we made sure of that. You can enter a lot of standard information in Shuttel in advance, such as your regular route to work. That is called a recurring trip. It will also save time and effort with traveling costs for domestic business travel. Now you have to manually enter receipts in SAP Self Service but in future you will use the app and the university will automatically pay for your traveling costs.’
5. Is this app a permanent thing?
Ian: ‘We are going to use it for a year and will then evaluate the new policy.’
Nicole: ‘The regulation could then be expanded to include other forms of transport such as a bicycle lease plan, for example. But those are just ideas for the future, especially now with tough financial times ahead.’
‘You can enter a lot of standard information in Shuttel in advance, such as your regular route to work’
6. Public transport is not ideal for everyone. Is there room for exceptions?
Nicole: ‘Definitely, we lobbied hard for that. Although we want to encourage people to use public transport, sometimes it is impossible to do so. For example, if you live somewhere with very few buses or because you work irregular hours. But the allowance for your own car has also been adjusted. The maximum of 45 euros per month has been scrapped and will be replaced by a maximum of 45 kilometres per one-way trip. Minus the lower limit of the first 10 kilometres, this makes it 35 kilometres maximum per one-way trip. Staff will not lose out.’
Ian: ‘And if you do, let us know. Then we’ll return to the bargaining table with the Executive Board.’
7. Are there agreements with Shuttel about privacy and personal data?
Ian: ‘Yes, hard contracts are in place with the party behind it about the confidentiality of personal data. The system fully complies with European privacy laws. And as a last bit of reassurance: the Executive Board will not know how often you as a staff member travel or where you go in your free time. They will receive relevant management information about the number of trips and the associated CO2 emissions but not details about individual staff members.’
Activate your Shuttel account from 16 October
The new mobility policy will take effect on 1 November. You will receive a first mail from Shuttel at your university email address on Wednesday 16 October asking you to register for a Shuttel card and activate your account. Once you have registered, the card will be sent to your home address. Everyone will receive a Shuttel card, even if you do not travel by public transport that often. If you do not register, Shuttel will send you a weekly reminder.
Want to find out more? More information about the implementation of Shuttel and a short video about how the app works. You can also read the FAQ.
Text: Evelien Flink
Banner: Shuttel