“We’ve weighed all the pros and cons”, says drs. Nicole van der Wolk, head of Personnel and Organization. “The student increase has accelerated the decision-making process. Several groups have studied the best ways to accommodate the growth, and one of the answers were evening classes. We’ve anticipated on that. Another advantage of extended hours is the fact we can be an even more attractive employer.”

August 1 marks the end of the local working hours rule. From then on out, it’s the collective labor agreement (cao) that determines TU/e working hours. Employees will be free to work anywhere between 7 AM - 9 PM, and will be allowed to work nine-hour days.

Van der Wolk is not expecting things to change drastically all of a sudden. “I can’t imagine many employees changing their working hours entirely. There are still course schedules, opening hours, and arrangements within groups. We need to come to a more integrated approach, and everything should be considered – departments, services, and building managers. For example: what do we do if people from outside campus want to book a lab in the evening? Should we inform security, etc.”

Employees who’ve made new arrangements with their supervisors can inform the university by filling out the form ‘flexible hours’, which can be found at My TU/e.