FAQ for student assistants Faculty of Science

As a student assistant, you can find the salary table (scale SA) in the Collective Labour Agreement on the website of Universiteiten van Nederland. The gross hourly wage is the gross monthly income from the salary table divided by 38, multiplied by the factor 12/52.

If you're enrolled in a master's programme, your salary will be set at scale point 4. If you're enrolled in a bachelor's programme, you'll be paid according to scale point 2 as long as you've earned less than 120 ECTS. Once you've earned 120 ECTS, you'll progress to scale point 3.

If you obtain more than 120 ECTS during your appointment or start a master's programme, it's your responsibility as a student assistant to report this change to ensure that you're paid according to the correct salary scale point.

One of the allowances you are entitled to is a year-end bonus. This amounts to 8.3% of your gross monthly salary. In addition, 8% of your gross salary is reserved as holiday pay each month. If your employment contract is terminated, you will receive any year-end bonus and holiday pay you have accrued up to that time in the month following the month of dismissal/resignation.

See for more information the intranet page about salary.

The salary payment date is around the 24th of each month. Log in to mijn.uu.nl to view your salary slip.

Everyone who receives a salary from Utrecht University is required to pay income tax on that salary in the Netherlands, which is called payroll tax or "loonheffing" in Dutch. However, you may be eligible for a tax credit called "loonheffingskorting," which reduces the amount of tax you need to pay on a portion of your income. You can indicate whether Utrecht University should apply the loonheffingskorting to your salary by completing a "loonbelastingverklaring" (payroll tax declaration form). If you have multiple jobs at the same time, you can only apply the loonheffingskorting at one employer.

See the intranet page about salary for more information.

Go to the intranet page about pensions for more information about your pension.

Transition payment refers to the compensation that the employer must pay out when an employee is dismissed. This payment is meant to ease the transition to another job. As a student assistant, you are entitled to a transition payment is your temporary employment contract is discontinued.

The amount of the transition payment is 1/3 monthly salary per year of service worked. The calculation of the transition payment is based on your final gross monthly salary, including your holiday allowance and year-end bonus on the date on which your employment ends.

For more information, see the intranet page on the transition payment.

When you join Utrecht University, your supervisor will initiate the process of starting the employment. To draw up an employment contract and complete your recruitment, we need your personal details.

• You will receive an e-mail to your private e-mail address to securely submit the required personal data on mijn.uu.nl. Log in with your employee email address. You can also use your Solis ID to access all information on the UU intranet.
• After completing the data, you will receive a notification at your private e-mail address that your employment contract is ready for you to read and sign in ValidSign's secure environment.

If you have any questions about the content of the employment contract and the agreements included, please contact the HR department of the Science Faculty via science.hr@uu.nl.

• identification documents (front and back);
• proof of the obtained university credits (You can find the Study Progress Overview on Osiris under Progress);
• proof of student registration (You can download the official proof of enrollment from Osiris. Click on your image at the top righthandside of your screen, then click on 'My details'. Select the tab 'Enrolment study programme' and click on the button 'Declaration of Enrolment' to download the statement (in PDF).);
• payroll tax declaration, if the student-assistant is in possession of a BSN. The payroll tax declaration can be found on the intranet page about salary;
• resume, if the nationality is other than Dutch.

In most cases, a motivation letter is not necessary.

If your employment ends, you will receive a written notice no later than one month before the end of your employment.

If your employment is terminated, a final settlement will take place in virtually all cases. You will receive the accrued holiday pay and year-end bonus. If you have not had the opportunity to take leave, you can submit a request for payment of your leave hours to your supervisor, unless other agreements have been made within your department.

It is also possible to be appointed as a student assistant through the internal staffing agency Topselect, for example, when it concerns occasional or administrative work. You will then be employed by Topselect but work under the supervision of a teacher at the UU. Topselect takes care of administrative matters, from drafting employment contracts to paying wages. Matters such as leave, sickness, and pension are also taken care of by Topselect. Go to the website of Topselect for more information.

Residence permit

As a student assistant with a residence permit, you need to have the annotation 'vrij op de arbeidsmarkt' or a work permit to be allowed to work. If this annotation is not yet present, the HR department will have to apply for it, which can take about 8 weeks. It is not allowed to perform any work before this has been arranged, and payment cannot be made retroactively. After approval, it is not allowed to work more than 16 hours per week as a student assistant.

Health insurance

If you live or work in the Netherlands, you are required to take out basic health insurance. As a student assistant without the Dutch nationality, you also need to take out a Dutch basic health insurance. You are free to choose your insurer. The University of Utrecht has collective contracts with Zilveren Kruis Achmea and OHRA for health insurance. If you use one of these contracts, you will receive a discount on any additional insurance. You have 30 days to join an insurer after starting employment, with medical selection not required for most variants.

In mijn.uu.nl you can:

• view/modify your name and address details
• register/view/modify your emergency contact
• view your salary statement
• modify your bank details
• view your annual statement

To do this, go to mijn.uu.nl.

Intranet is the place that keeps you up to date on the latest daily news from the university, faculties and service departments, where you can easily find all information in time and where you can quickly find your colleagues. All employees with a Solis-id have access to the intranet.

See for more information the intranet page about intranet.

When you are sick, you report this by phone to the lecturer before 9:30 in the morning. If your lecturer is not available, you report to his or her substitute or, if necessary, the designated reporting point (often the secretariat).

When you are fully or partially recovered, you report this to the lecturer. The lecturer then formally reports that you have recovered. This prevents you from being incorrectly reported as 'sick' in the personnel system.

The campus card can be used for facilities such as coffee and printing. The card also gives you free access to the Utrecht Botanic Gardens and the University Museum.

Request your campus card online via this website.

For more info, see the intranet page about the campus card.

When you study at Utrecht University, and you work here as well, you will receive an employee mail address along with your normal student mail address. This address is bound to the same inbox, but will end in “@uu.nl” instead of “@students.uu.nl”. All your mail will be sent and received from this new address, but people will still be able to reach you using your student mail address.

When your activities as a University-employee come to an end, you won’t lose access to the mails from your employee mail address. After 3 months, however, you will lose rights to employee services, and you will have to sign in to outlook.office.com using your student mail address again.

For more information, see the manual about this subject.

Multifunctional printers are available in all Utrecht University buildings. You can print, copy, or scan documents. You have to use your campus card to log on to the multifunctionals. It is automatically linked. Go to all information and manuals about printing.

For (large) printjobs and ordering copies, please use the Canon Webshop.

Your specific tasks and responsibilities can be discussed with the lecturer or supervisor. Examples include:

• Assisting and answering questions during the tutorial or practical
• Preparing theory and assignments and explaining them to students during tutorial sessions
• Checking submitted work (In difficult cases, students are referred to the teacher. It is possible that students are also involved in marking exam questions, always under the responsibility and supervision of the tutorial leader and the teacher.)
• Supervising during exams

Nowadays, being a student assistant means more than just the transfer of knowledge. A student assistant must act responsibly when handling the data and information relating to your students. The student assistant must be aware of the strict privacy guidelines that have been drawn up since the implementation of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) or AVG (Algemene verordening gegevensbescherming) in Dutch. The protection of data, such as grading models, is very important in order to prevent situations where a student obtains a higher mark as a result of their access to this information.

We do not, however, expect you to know all about privacy or how to handle data protection from the start. To introduce you to these topics, we have compiled a security instructions document including various good practices. This document explains how to deal with and secure the data that you will be entrusted with in the execution of the duties.

You can find the security instructions document at the bottom of the intranet page about student-assistents.

The Faculty of Science offers a short course for student assistants, the Teaching Assistant Training, which can be found under FI-MTT in Osiris. The course consists of 3 sessions of 2 hours each and awards 1 EC credit. It is recommended to take the course simultaneously with assisting in a course. Enrollment is done through Osiris, during the regular registration periods.

If you have a question about your salary or contract, please contact HR Science via science.hr@uu.nl.

If you have any questions about the application process or your tasks as a student assistant, please contact the contact person for student assistants within your department. This is often the person with whom you had contact during recruitment and/or appointment.

Or take a look at the website of your programme:

• Mathematics (Dutch)
• Physics (Dutch)
• Chemistry (Dutch)
• Contact person Biology: bachelor.bio@uu.nl
• MBLS (English)

It may happen that you are confronted with a problem in the workplace. For example, you may have a disagreement or conflict with the teacher, experience something unpleasant in the workplace, or have personal problems that affect your work performance. In this case, you can contact:

• the contact person within your department;
• one of the confidential advisers of the UU.