With the appointment of Job van Luyken, Radboud University has a new ombudsperson for employees. Rather than acting as a personal adviser, he wants to focus particularly on structural problems at the university. 'If I advise adjusting policy or taking action in certain situations, for example, I expect that advice to be followed.'

The Radboud University campus is not unfamiliar territory for the new ombudsperson. After studying law in Nijmegen, Job van Luyken pursued a career at several major international banks, where he held various managerial positions but was also a regular member of participational bodies. After doing a course for confidential advisors, Van Luyken became TU Delft’s first ombudsperson – a position that was still in a pilot phase at the time.

After the pilot ended, TU Delft wanted to employ a permanent ombudsperson, but that was not Van Luyken’s plan. ‘When I chose to become self-employed, I resolved never to take a permanent position anywhere again. I also feel that you can work better and more independently as an ombudsperson if you are not in permanent employment.’

In October, after a period at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Van Luyken joined Radboud University on a temporary contract until the end of 2025. ‘I’m pretty settled in already. My predecessor, Nancy Viellevoye, had documented and transferred everything well. I’ve already read a lot of the files from the past.’

Shaking things up

Van Luyken spends twenty hours a week on the Nijmegen campus, in addition to working as a labour mediator and conducting research into (alleged) undesirable behaviour at various organisations. As an ombudsperson, Van Luyken says that he does not want to act as a ‘personal advisor’ to employees to resolve a range of individual problems. ‘That’s somebody else’s job and I think you have to be cautious about that’, he says. ‘After multiple reports about the same problem, I hope to ensure that structural abuses get the attention they need. If no one wants to take the lead, then I’ll step in – and I have the investigative powers to do so. Which is what the position of ombudsperson was originally intended for.’

Giving less personal advice, observing more trends, positive and negative: that’s what Van Luyken sees as his main task. ‘My role is to shake things up, identify the problem and make sure that action is taken. If I advise adjusting policy or taking action in certain situations, for example, I expect that advice to be followed.’

The new ombudsperson feels that there are fewer reports now than in the previous two years. ‘Whether that’s because there was no ombudsperson for some time or because there are fewer problems, I don’t know. Now that the university has announced my arrival, I do get more emails and phone calls, but I’m not overwhelmed with them.’

Infographic

With the Prevent Care Cure Plan which is currently being implemented, the university aims to tackle undesirable behaviour on campus. The new ombudsperson will be involved, but preferably not too actively. ‘I’m obviously happy to share my knowledge and expertise, but I also want to be able to express an opinion afterwards, for example when people encounter an issue. And that is only possible if I am not too actively involved. That means that I’ll attend various meetings, but I’ll stay in the background.’

‘When you have a central hotline, people don’t know what happens to their report next’

However, Van Luyken does want to say this: in his opinion, the new central hotline for students and employees who have experienced undesirable behaviour, a result of a Collective Labour Agreement, is a bad idea. ‘It’s seen as a solution to a problem, namely making it easier to file a report, but I don’t see it that way. When you have a central hotline, people don’t know what happens to their report next and lose control over it. I therefore wonder whether that hotline will generate more reports or fewer.’

He feels there is a simpler solution for that problem. ‘Create a clear infographic on the website and on social media about social safety, explaining what a confidential advisor, an ombudsperson, an occupational health physician and an organisational psychologist do. And that will ensure that, like now, if you do end up in the wrong place, you will always be referred to the right organisation.’