I. A KIND OF CAMP
‘They said this was a network for life, and that SSL tutors could get any job they want because of what they learn here.’
Hugo* was drawn in by the glossy image of Stichting Studiebegeleiding Leiden (SSL), a tutoring foundation where he worked as an assistant tutor. Alongside his double bachelor’s degree, he worked on weekends from 8 am until sometimes 10 pm, preparing secondary school pupils for their final exams. (*Names of current and former tutors have been changed to protect their privacy; their real names are known to the editors)
‘I’d heard from people that, not only does SSL pay well, but it’s also a bit like a student association’, says Mees, who joined this year. ‘So I signed up to make a bit of extra cash.’
‘There was something special about getting through those weekends together’, says Hugo. There are a hundred young, enthusiastic tutors on hand. ‘You eat and have drinks together; it’s almost like a kind of camp.’
It is precisely this image of the hard-working student in a close-knit team that SSL likes to cultivate. ‘It’s an identity’, says Hugo. ‘You’re not just a student, you’re an SSL tutor.’
But although the foundation demands a lot from its tutors, they receive relatively little in return. In exchange for their efforts, they get little security, a stifling feedback culture and opaque remuneration. Mare investigated how things work within the organisation, spoke to seven current and former tutors, and examined internal documents and e-mails.
The roughly five hundred students working for the organisation, which was founded in 2001, are led by Hans Huibregtse (49), who is trained as a chemist and economist. Serving as chairman, secretary and treasurer all in one, he is the foundation’s sole board member. On weekends, his tutors provide exam coaching to secondary school pupils in Leiden and occasionally in other parts of the Netherlands. Pupils easily pay five hundred euros each for such a course.
II. AN AVERSION TO ‘BUREAUCRATIC HASSLE’
Those interested in providing these expensive tuition courses have to meet high standards. The selection process for tutors is rigorous. Requirements include an average final secondary school grade of 8.5 and enrolment in a relevant university programme. Following an online interview, candidates are invited to an introductory meeting.
‘That’s a lot like a housemate selection evening, but you only realise that halfway through’, as Mees has found. Of the roughly twenty people present, only a handful make the cut. Hugo: ‘I was proud; I felt a sort of survivor’s joy.’
The process is as follows: sitting in a circle, candidates take turns acting out a role-play with Huibregtse, who pretends to be a secondary school pupil needing help with a difficult question.
‘It’s all about Hans’s gut feeling’, says Mees about the selection process. According to Hugo, the boss’s facial expressions spoke volumes. ‘Looking at the guy next to me, I could tell: he’s not going to make the cut.
Those who successfully pass this group interview are unexpectedly told that it is not a regular job, but a freelance arrangement. This is not mentioned elsewhere in the vacancy posted on the SSL website. They receive neither an employment contract nor payslips.
In an internal document with frequently asked questions, the foundation states the following: ‘Why don’t tutors at SSL have contracts? Firstly, because this only creates bureaucratic hassle. Furthermore, experience shows that this offers no benefits to anyone. Therefore, we work on the basis of trust.’
A red flag, according to experts, because without permanent contracts, workers are vulnerable to exploitation (see text box with comments). The foundation seems to have a general aversion to ‘bureaucratic hassle’, as contracts are not the only form of paperwork it considers excessive; according to SSL, a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) is also unnecessary for tutors.
This document, issued by the government, certifies that a person has not committed any offences that would prevent them from practising a particular profession.
In sectors where people work with vulnerable groups, such as in healthcare or education, a VOG is compulsory. The document is also standard practice in supplementary education. If these tutoring lessons are provided alongside regular schooling in a school building or under a school’s responsibility, they are even compulsory, according to the Ministry of Education.
SSL tutors confirm that students sometimes work one-to-one with secondary school pupils in a classroom in the evenings. But according to the foundation, such a VOG is completely unnecessary.
‘We have to assess whether the cost and the administrative hassle outweigh the benefits’, the FAQ document states. ‘The answer is “no”; there has never been a single incident at SSL that could have been prevented by a VOG.’
When asked, SSL tells Mare that a VOG is not compulsory ‘because we do not fall under a school board’ (see text box for SSL’s response).
III. CULT-LIKE ATMOSPHERE
Despite these working conditions, most SSL tutors are very positive about their work. Tutoring is enjoyable and rewarding, and the students form a close-knit group.
The foundation also continually emphasises the value of its wide network, from which students continue to benefit in their later careers. For example, a former tutor who now works for leading chip machine manufacturer ASML was present at a company party. ‘That seasoned SSL veteran is regarded as a legend within the company’, says Hugo. ‘He still helps out on weekends from time to time.’
In a video, a paediatrician explains how SSL taught her skills for life. Hugo: ‘SSL people are usually very loyal. It’s a life experience they don’t want to speak ill of.’
Yara followed an intensive training programme to become a ‘senior tutor’ as early as her first year; this is a leadership role in which you supervise assistant tutors and lessons. ‘It greatly improved my presentation skills. That was the most valuable thing I gained from that period.’
She learned how extensive the network of former tutors is: during a job interview at another company, she found herself sitting opposite a former SSL tutor. ‘That immediately creates a bond because you were both part of that cult.’
‘Cult’ is a term that comes up frequently in conversations with current and former tutors. According to Hugo, a common joke is: “Haha, you’re in a cult.” Mees received a WhatsApp message from a fellow SSL tutor: ‘Welcome to the cult!’
That atmosphere can feel stifling. Yara: ‘I had a colleague who I’d sometimes exchange knowing looks with during breaks, because of that forced cheerfulness coming from the leadership.’
IV. FEEDBACK AS A ONE-WAY STREET
It is precisely this atmosphere of forced positivity that can lead to criticism being quickly stifled. The tutoring company’s culture of constant feedback exacerbates that sense of oppression, say the students. Tutors are required to monitor one another.
That can be useful in itself, says Mees. ‘I’ve really learnt how to give and receive feedback properly, I have to give them that.’
But that culture can also go too far, especially for newcomers. As a new tutor, Stijn would be evaluated at the end of every teaching block into which the day is divided, much to his frustration.
‘Every experienced tutor wants to share their opinion of you, so it’s quite possible you’ll get feedback three or four times an hour. That feels like every fucking second. Everything has to be labelled with a quality mark. Because of that, you end up focusing mainly on yourself rather than on the pupils.’ Yara also struggled with the feedback culture; it made her feel ‘monitored’. In addition, Huibregtse himself often drops in during lessons.
All feedback is passed on to him at the end of every working day. Senior tutors queue up outside the manager’s office in what is called the ‘Hans line’, where they discuss the tutors under their supervision. ‘I would always stand up for my tutors’, says Yara.
The feedback seems to be very much a one-way street. Criticism directed upwards is not welcome, as two former tutors discovered. For example, Hugo disagreed with some of the step-by-step tutoring guidelines and felt the weekly preparation requirements were sometimes excessive. When he raised these concerns with a senior tutor, they passed them on to Huibregtse. ‘From that moment on, I was under a microscope.’
The situation worsened during a professional training session with Huibregtse. ‘He asked: “Do you have any feedback for me?” Nobody dared say anything. I said that I didn’t like his presentation style.’ The boss didn't take kindly to that.
When a senior tutor later passed on further negative feedback to the boss, that was the end of it. ‘I got a phone call from Hans, telling me that I will not be asked back. I felt humiliated; my entire friend group worked there. When you work there, you have to listen to hours of feedback, but when I was told to leave, I got no explanation whatsoever.’
He also found little support from his former colleagues. He was told he should have prepared better. ‘It’s a family, but they can also spit you out in a heartbeat.’
Other tutors also noticed that, following disagreements about teaching methods or a period of illness, they would no longer be assigned work. Stijn was accused of being unreceptive to feedback. After a meeting, he was hopeful that he would be allowed to stay on, but to no avail. He received a phone call informing him: ‘After consultation with Hans, it has been decided that you will not be coming back.’ Without a contract, he had little means of challenging the dismissal. SSL denies to Mare that it dismisses tutors on the grounds of disagreements or illness.
V. FREE ONBOARDING TRAINING OR EXTRA COACHING
This precarious employment situation often proves disadvantageous. When the coronavirus brings the country to a standstill in 2020 and schools close, tutors hope to be eligible for the Temporary Bridging Scheme for Flexible Workers (TOFA). This fund was set up for on-call workers who are seeing their income plummet due to the pandemic.
Initially, SSL predicts that its tutors would be eligible for the scheme, according to an e-mail exchange obtained by Mare.
However, a month later, an e-mail shows that this is in fact not possible because SSL does not pay employers’ contributions. Since the tutors are not formally employed, the company is not required to pay these contributions – the very funds used to finance social security schemes such as TOFA.
‘It has since become clear that the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) strictly adheres to the definition of social insurance wages’, SSL writes in the summer of 2020. ‘The tutoring fees you receive do not fall under this definition. The scheme applies only to employees with an employment contract. As previously mentioned, you are not employed by SSL. A major advantage of this is that we can pay tutors a considerably higher tutoring fee.’
The latter is a recurring theme in the company’s communications: because there is no contract, SSL claims to be able to pay the tutors more. In practice, however, the difference turns out to be quite minimal, and there is a lack of transparency.
Furthermore, the money that tutors receive is a gross amount. Because SSL does not consider itself an employer, the foundation does not deduct income tax, as regular employers do. This means that tutors must set this money aside themselves and settle it annually with the Tax Authority, something many students do not take into account.
And the pay is not all that generous either. For a working day of twelve to fourteen hours, a tutor receives a fixed fee of 185 euros. Depending on the tutor’s age, this can fall just below the minimum wage, especially when you factor in that tutors do not receive holiday pay, do not accrue vacation hours or pension, and are not paid during periods of illness.
In addition, before receiving their first pay, students must spend one weekend in unpaid onboarding training to familiarise themselves with the work. As part of their training, they are required to take a series of past exams, which, according to sources, takes at least twelve hours. In addition, breaks between lessons are often used as feedback sessions, resulting in working days that may exceed the limits set by the Working Hours Act. SSL denies that this is the case.
Tutors who wish to earn more and are selected for this can – like Yara – progress to the better-paid role of senior tutor. However, you must first complete as many as 100 to 130 hours of unpaid training. After this enormous time investment, the one-off bonus for successfully completing the training amounts to a grand total of 350 euros.
So why are students so eager to continue working at SSL?
‘You get the feeling that you’re benefiting from a network of a special kind of enthusiastic people’, says Hugo. ‘You work together through the weekends. You’ve gone through a strict selection process and initiation. You get the sense that you belong.’
Permanent contracts and VOGs are nothing but bureaucratic hassle, according to Stichting Studiebegeleiding Leiden (SSL). What do the experts have to say?
‘When you read this, all the alarm bells start ringing’, says Stefan Sagel, lawyer and professor of labour law. ‘An employer who says you’re not getting a contract because it doesn’t benefit anyone is, in itself, already a reason to be wary. If they say they’re not entering into contracts because they are bureaucratic hassle, well... It may be bureaucratic hassle for the employer, but it provides protection for the employee.’
Neele Boelens, chair of the FNV Young & United trade union, also sees that a great deal is going wrong at SSL: ‘They’re taking advantage of the fact that these young people have no idea about what’s allowed and what isn’t. And so, they’re being ruthlessly exploited. These workers aren’t even freelancers, because then they’d be registered with the Chamber of Commerce and have a contract with the client. That’s not the case here.
‘Fortunately, we have the law, which states that you’re an employee if you carry out work, are paid to do so and have to do what someone else tells you. If the tutors were genuinely self-employed, they would have a great deal of freedom. But at SSL, they are told where and when to show up and are given detailed instructions about the lesson they are supposed to teach. That is a normal employment relationship between employer and employee.’
Professor Sagel also believes that this appears to be a case of false self-employment. ‘The fact that tutors can decide for themselves when they work is an argument often used by employers to claim that there is no employment contract. But in a recent case, Deliveroo riders were also able to choose their own working hours. The Supreme Court ruled in this case that you must always consider the overall circumstances. Even if there is no such obligation to work, that does not mean there is no employment contract. You have to look at what the situation is when you do come in to work. If you’re then bound by the employer’s instructions, there may very well be an employment contract.’
When told about the 100 to 130 hours of unpaid training for senior lecturers, Sagel can only laugh out loud in disbelief.
Boelens emphasises that onboarding days and training sessions where attendance is compulsory must always be paid.
She also finds it ‘problematic and extremely opaque’ that SSL does not pay employers’ contributions and pays students a gross amount. ‘It’s bizarre that this employer is not complying with these obligations. It’s negligent employment practice. Their main concern is ensuring they have to pay less. When you’re 18, you can’t predict how much you’ll have left after tax. Suppose you work in the run-up to your final exams, from January to May; then you won’t have to pay tax on that income until June of the following year. The question is whether you’ll still have that amount in your account by then. I don’t think many young people take that into account.’
The Ministry of Education says regarding the VOG that ‘in general, working with children and teenagers requires extra attention to safety. That is why it is always advisable to have those employees apply for a VOG’. An enquiry by Mare reveals that other exam coaching providers do require a VOG.
SSL is not the first exam coaching provider to make use of false self-employment, says Boelens. ‘There was a similar case at tutoring company Lyceo, where tutors had to work as falsely self-employed individuals, even though they did have contracts. We then negotiated collectively and succeeded in having them recognised as regular employees. Lyceo now employs its tutors as salaried staff, as it should be. If the SSL tutors want the same, we must take action collectively.
Permanent contracts and job security, normal working hours, decent pay and no more unpaid training – that can all be arranged. Ultimately, you can only force such a change by working together.’
Chairman Hans Huibregtse denies that false self-employment is an issue at Stichting Studiebegeleiding Leiden (SSL)
‘Our tutors are not employed by us. That has never been the case throughout our entire existence.’ According to him, the Tax Authority came to this conclusion following ‘a routine (two-day) audit investigation’ and ‘by conducting multiple site visits and interviews with various tutors’. However, he is unwilling to share the details of that investigation. He has sent only two small screenshots of text excerpts.
‘Whether or not someone is an employee is a complex matter’, says Huibregtse. ‘We are not familiar with the precise way other organisations operate. A company like Lyceo is structured very differently. The Tax Authority has informed us that they assess each organisation individually and that subtle differences can lead to different outcomes.’
Asked to comment, Stefan Sagel, lawyer and professor of labour law, responds that although the Tax Authority can rule on the fiscal aspects of an employment relationship, the civil court is the final authority on employment law matters.
When asked why SSL does not use contracts – which is standard practice in freelance arrangements – Huibregtse did not respond.
He does, however, refute the complaints from tutors who had to work long days. ‘The maximum number of hours a tutor can teach with us in a single day is approximately 10. Not all tutors are present during the evening programme. On average, a tutor teaches around 1 hour per day in the evening programme. That amounts to an average total of approximately 9 tutoring hours per day. Furthermore, our tutors can decide for themselves whether or not to participate in the evening programme. They are under no obligation whatsoever to do so.’
About the numerous evaluations, he says: ‘We point out to our tutors that the breaks are important for relaxing. Only the very first break is partly used to get to know one another. Part of the last break is regularly used for evaluation, but this is also by no means compulsory.
‘Although our tutors don’t teach for 12 hours a day, the days can certainly be intensive. That is precisely why tutors themselves indicate when they are available, so that they can combine this effectively with their studies. The general success of this arrangement is evident from the fact that many of our tutors graduate cum laude, pursue two degrees or are enrolled on honours programmes.’
According to the chairman, SSL is considering requiring all tutors to apply for a VOG for the coming academic year. However, he maintains that this is not really necessary because tutors ‘do not fall under a school board and pupils take lessons with us without any formal involvement from the school. A few secondary schools rent their premises to us, but we are responsible, not the school.’
He denies that tutors sometimes work one-to-one with pupils. ‘We would like to point out that a large proportion of our pupils are already adults and our tutors always work in teams.’
Da Vinci College Kagerstraat, which regularly rents out rooms to SSL, has stated in a response that it will reconsider the partnership pending its own investigation into whether tutors are in possession of a VOG.
Regarding the unpaid training, Huibregtse says: ‘We actively invest in the quality of our tutor network. That is why we provide free training in which tutors are introduced to our working methods, quality standards and teaching methodologies. We expect tutors who carry out assignments through our organisation to possess this specific knowledge. Therefore, completing these training courses is part of our quality assurance process.’
He denies dismissing tutors on the grounds of disagreements or illness. ‘We work with independent tutors on a freelance basis. As with any business relationship, it is possible that a collaboration may not be continued. It is absolutely not our policy to terminate collaborations due to illness or because someone engages in a substantive discussion about teaching methods.’
He is unaware of any internal talk of a cult-like atmosphere. ‘There is a strong focus on delivering quality and bringing out the best in one another. Our tutors are very much engaged in society and operate completely independently, without pressure from anyone.
Finally, he would like to point out that many tutors enjoy working at SSL. Tutors often remain with SSL for several years, are frequently recruited by former SSL tutors, and in an internal survey, they awarded SSL a rating of 8.5.