Forty-four Groningen MD-PhD candidates who claimed they were employees rather than students have definitively won their case against the UMCG. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled last Friday that UMCG’s arguments do not hold up.
This means the UMCG must repay the PhD candidates for all the lost wages and benefits from past years, which could amount to as much as half a million euros.
Experiment
The ruling marks the end of a years-long dispute between Groningen PhD candidates and the UMCG. The MD-PhD candidates were part of a programme where they combined their PhD research with completing their medical studies. Between 2016 and 2018, they were admitted under the PhD Scholarship Experiment, which allowed PhD candidates to be classified as students rather than employees.
The UMCG argued that the MD-PhD candidates had no formal employment relationship with their supervisors. According to the university, they had the freedom to shape their own projects and determine their own time off.
Appeal
But the PhD candidates objected. They argued that they performed the same work as those who pursued PhDs before and immediately after them. They also insisted that there was indeed an employer-employee relationship. The appeals court ruled in their favour, after which the UMCG took the case to the Supreme Court.
The case now returns to the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, which will determine how much back pay, holiday allowance, year-end bonuses, and pension contributions the MD-PhD candidates are owed.
Legal loophole
The Supreme Court went even further than the earlier advice from the Advocate General in autumn 2024. The Advocate General had ruled that, while there was an employment relationship throughout the entire period, only those still employed after 1 January 2020 were entitled to a retroactive employment contract. Before that date, the UMCG was subject to civil service law, which meant it was not allowed to offer standard employment contracts.
At the time, the Advocate General already described this situation as ‘unsatisfactory’. Now, in its final ruling, the Supreme Court has determined that there is no justification for this loophole in the legal protection of scholarship PhD candidates. It upholds the decision of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal that the UMCG must fully compensate the MD-PhD candidates for the entire period.
Next steps
‘I’m really thrilled,’ said lawyer Dino Jongsma, who has supported the PhD candidates in their battle for the past six years. ‘The Supreme Court essentially states that employees should not suffer due to ambiguities in legislation.’
The PhD Network Netherlands, which has long campaigned against the PhD Scholarship Experiment, also expressed satisfaction. The organisation is calling on PhD candidates and graduates who were part of the experiment to fill in a form on their website. ‘These details will be used to coordinate possible next steps.’