Many staff members at Maastricht University (as is the case at sister institutions) do not take all their vacation days. An employee in a full-time position (38 hours) is entitled to about six weeks per year. With a full-time position (38 hours), an employee is entitled to around six weeks per year. Part of this (the so-called statutory holiday hours, twenty days) expires after eighteen months; the remainder (eighty so-called non-statutory hours) can be used for a holiday up to five years after they are accrued, or set aside immediately to save for, for example, a sabbatical or early retirement.
Workload
Research staff in particular repeatedly report that the workload is so high that taking a holiday often falls by the wayside. Teaching takes up a great deal of time, leaving little room for research. This has created a ‘leave reservoir’ that has now grown to 634,368 hours, amounting to an average of 112 hours per staff member. Notably, associate and assistant professors, as well as full professors, are well above this average (between 172 and 195 unused vacation hours), according to recent UM figures.
Need a break
This is problematic, say Ellen Schuit, interim director of People & Development, and Karin Quanten, strategic communications specialist at P&D. “It’s important to have time to recover and recharge. Everyone needs a break. We want staff to discuss with their supervisors how they can use their remaining vacation days. This doesn’t have to be a full holiday; it could also be taking one day per week off to extendthe weekend.” They hope the survey will provide more insight into “what is going on, and how we can address it”.
Aside from showing that employees “aren’t taking enough rest periods,” the leave reservoir also creates a financial reservation in the university budget: in 2025 it amounted to more than 27 million euros. Money the university cannot use for anything else.
The survey can be completed until 15 April 2026.