“It takes two to tango”

Eline Versluis-Penninga has been working at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences as a participation employee since two years. Both she and her supervisor Eric Klumpers are satisfied with the match. 

Eline (29) came in on a trial period at the Employees' Secretariat of Psychology. That turned out to be an ideal opportunity. The moment the UWV expects that someone has difficulty getting work because of matters like an occupational disability, he or she can be eligible for a trial period. This gives both the employee and the employer the opportunity to experience whether or not it is a good fit.

Eline explains: “I started as a front-desk employee, but I quickly started doing things for the back office too. That which the academic staff can't do themselves or has no time for, we do instead.”

Inge Maarseveen works at the BIGA Groep as a job coach and supervises Eline. “We look how someone handles a position and which support is needed for that. Eline has indicated that she would like to have job coaching after the trial period too. We meet monthly. We then discuss the progress and I think along on how Eline can handle certain situations in a handy way.”

Multi-deployable

Eric Klumpers, Department Manager of Experimental Psychology, has the Secretariat Team as one of the organisations in his portfolio. “Eline does administrative work for the Department of Developmental Psychology, but also takes on tasks from the other departments if needed.”

The Employees' Secretariat has a front-desk function: that's where colleagues go to with their questions. And they have a back office for questions that cannot be dealt with at the front desk. The team consists of eight management office assistants, who form the Secretariat of Psychology together. Eline advanced in regards to the portfolio of tasks for which she was hired. Eric and Eline both initially thought that she would just sit at the front desk, but they quickly concluded in consultation that Eline could do more.

“I'm actually very flexible,” Eline says. “I take on what's needed, from sitting at the front desk for a day to organising a conference.”

Applying under the Dutch Participation Act

The Dutch Participation Act is to ensure that more people find work, including people with occupational disabilities.

Eline says: “The reason I'm covered under the Dutch Participation Act is that I'm psychologically vulnerable because of my sensitivity to depressions. I also have the diagnosis autism and probably ADD. I hit a wall in my Dutch Sign Language Interpreter degree programme. I didn't obtain a degree in this programme and you're not allowed to do that work then.”

Eline first spent some time at home unemployed. After that, she spent two years at a work-experience position at the municipality of Zeist. When that expired, she ended up in the Dutch Participation Act, where she ‘got a stamp mark’, as she puts it.

“Eline received the vacancy at Utrecht University via the municipality and decided to apply. “There certainly were other candidates, too,” Eric explains. “But Eline's work experience and motivation linked up with the vacancy the most, and she turned out to be the best candidate. Eline has met every qualification she put in her resume.”

Looking back on it, Eline says: “That stamp mark is actually pleasant. It's a positive thing. It gives me the space to sometimes feel less well too and even though I work half days, that's just okay. That's not crazy. My circumstances are simply considered. My colleagues can take over tasks from me if I'm not doing so well. I can work from home for a day if that's more pleasant right then. In that regard, I ended up in a very good team.”

Be yourself

After the first secondment, Eline started her second term. It connects on both sides. Now that her supervisor is transferring to another position within the university, she receives a long-term contract. 

Eric says: “You can be as happy as a supervisor can be with a new employee, but employees have to feel good about it too. It takes two to tango.”

Eric thinks it is important that potential colleagues from the participants' network do not pretend to be different than they are or try to cover things up. “Back when Eline just started, it was for 20 hours. That was actually just a bit too much, which she also indicated fairly quickly. Her hours were then reduced to the initially agreed upon 16 hours. And that is going very well. So just be yourself.”

Eline certainly feels good about it. “I think the colleagues really make the work fun. I love to support people and facilitate them in their work activities. I make it easier for colleagues by taking over work from them, so they can do what they must do. My colleagues also see me as a regular colleague on top of that, not as a participant, and that's also how they treat me.”