Combating discrimination in the workplace

In 2017, the Minister for Education, on behalf of vocational education and the business community, launched the workplace discrimination hotline (Meldpunt Stagediscriminatie) on the website of the Cooperation organisation for VET and the labour market (SBB). Any reports of discrimination are followed up immediately by SBB. The most severe sanction is to withdraw the company's training company licence. Between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018, the workplace discrimination hotline received 17 reports of incidents. SBB has investigated all of them.

In the school year 2018/19, there were 62 statements of workplace discrimination reported to the workplace discrimination hotline.

Together with the partners involved in the policy to prevent internship discrimination, the education ministry has set up a more accessible contact point. Various VET colleges and JOB (the Youth Organisation for VET) have put a link to the contact point on their websites.

In November 2020, the campaign Choose me (KIES MIJ) was launched. The campaign aims to raise awareness about internship discrimination and how it should be tackled. It supports students, schools and companies. With personal stories of VET learners who had experienced internship discrimination, spread through various digital channels, the campaign aims to reach a wide audience. The relevant online platform targets employers, schools and learners to support them in addressing the issue.

The campaign is a joint initiative with multiple partners, the education ministry, SBB, JOB, the council of VET schools (MBO Raad).

Motions from the Dutch Parliament aim to strengthen the arrangements of 2018 to improve equal opportunities for internships. The minister answered the motions with several commitments:

1. to educate companies on ways to recognise and prevent discrimination during selection;
2. new conditions for becoming a recognised internship company are postponed to the new cabinet;
3. students are aware of the workplace discrimination hotline and the usefulness of reporting discrimination via the 2020 KIESMIJ campaign;
4. setting up an expert team / advisory committee, consisting of experts and those who experienced discrimination, to advise VET institutes and companies on ways to combat discrimination;
5. to make VET institutes responsible for the application internship procedures. This way VET institutes can detect and prevent discrimination early in the application process. VET institutes can judge whether the workplace is recruiting and selecting students objectively. This is expected to be an effective method to combat discrimination and prejudice in the internship workplace.

The education ministry proposed a plan - called 'stagematching' (internship-matching) to oblige companies to accept interns that VET schools present to the company. This proposal should help prevent discrimination on the workplace. The proposal places the school in the role of matchmaker, and thereby puts the responsibility of finding a suitable internship on the schools, rather than on the students themselves. This proposal has not been accepted yet since some stakeholders are not (yet) convinced of the plan's benefits. JOB (Youth Organisation for VET) states for instance that internship-matching limits the freedom of choice for students and possibly shifts discrimination from the selection process to the workplace itself. The MBO-Raad (Council for upper secondary VET schools) is worried about the workload and pressure of education professionals and the VNO-NCW (National Association of Employers) believes that it will limit the freedom of employers.

In February, the education minister and the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment along with stakeholders from education and business, signed an Internship Pact (Stagepact). One of the objectives of the Internship Pact is to eliminate internship discrimination.

To combat internship descrimination among first year students, the Minister of Education focusses on internship matching (stagematching). Internship matching means that together with their supervisor, students draw goals and are then placed in a training company, based on these goals. This process aims to provide equal opportunities by focusing on competencies and learning needs rather than subjective factors like a personal 'click'. This initiative was presented to the parliament in April 2023 and is part of the broader ,Internship Pact MBO 2023-2027, which includes commitments to eliminate internship discrimination, ensure sufficient internship opportunities, provide quality mentoring, and establish fair internship compensation​.

In February, the Minister of Education informed the parliament about the Inspectorate's research into VET institutions' policies on internship discrimination. The study revealed several key findings:

1. most VET institutions acknowledge the importance of combating internship discrimination;
2. many stakeholders find it difficult to recognise internship discrimination;
3. VET institutions do not have a clear understanding of how often internship discrimination occurs, as very few reports are formally reported. One reason therefore is that students do not know where they can safely report it;
4. where anti-discrimination policies exist, they are often still in their early stages of development.

Based on these findings, the Inspectorate made three recommendations to address internship discrimination:

1. increase awareness and recognition of internship discrimination;
2. establish clear social norms against internship discrimination;
3. foster a culture of safety to encourage reporting and address discriminatory practices effectively.

In April, the Minister of Education informed the parliament about the outcomes of different studies related to internships and apprenticeships.

Key findings of the studies include, first, that many VET students do not receive an appropriate internship fee, with their compensation is often significantly lower than that of students in higher education. This financial disparity underscores the need for equitable support for VET students during their internships. To address this issue, the Internship Pact MBO 2023-2027, includes agreements to promote fair and adequate internship fees, ensuring that VET students are appropriately compensated for their contributions. Second, the studies reveal that over 10% of students with disabilities report experiencing discrimination during internships. Alarmingly, discrimination based on disability is perceived as more socially acceptable than discrimination based on factors such as skin colour.

As a result of these findings, the researchers made five key recommendations to address the challenges faced by students with disabilities during internships:

1. encourage awareness of the issue among educational institutions and employers, ensuring all stakeholders understand the prevalence and impact of discrimination;
2. promote objective and inclusive recruitment practices among employers to ensure fairness in the selection of interns;
3. encourage employers to establish anti-discrimination policies to create a more equitable and supportive environment for interns;
4. inform employers about the financial and other support options available from the government to assist them in guiding students with disabilities during internships;
5. foster a culture where students feel safe and supported in reporting discrimination experiences to address issues effectively and build trust in the system.