Approximately 100 employees of the Student Sports Centre at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have been underpaid. The university is now setting aside approximately 750,000 euros to settle outstanding wages, including accrued interest, over roughly six years.
The error affected fifteen permanent staff members and about ninety on-call workers, most of whom were students. Fifty of those involved still work for the university. The issue was the lack of compensation for working irregular hours, including evenings and weekends. Additionally, the university confirmed that the base salary for on-call workers was too low. The discrepancy came to light during an internal audit in May 2025.
University officials believe it could take several months to complete all payments. Max van Veen, director of the Student Sports Centre, explained that the university must investigate each person’s specific situation individually. He noted that finding former students who have since graduated is a particular challenge as the university no longer has their current addresses.
Because the legal limitation period for such cases is five years, the university decided to compensate employees for the period between 2020 and 2026. Employees who worked at the university before 2020 will receive an additional payment alongside their back pay and interest.
Patrick Groothuis, vice chair of the Executive Board, expressed regret about the situation. He stated that the university wants to resolve the matter quickly and acknowledges that those involved may feel unfairly treated. The university is now asking former employees with whom it has lost contact to come forward. Observers noted that the university did not initially place the announcement on its homepage or in its main news overview.
TU/e | NEWS BRAINPORT |
