There is fear and unrest among the staff of Weener XL, the social work company in Den Bosch. The employees are at a distance from the labor market and should therefore be properly supervised, but the opposite seems to be true. Employees complain about exploitation, belittling and threats. The municipality is now going to thoroughly examine the company.
That promised alderman Marianne van der Sloot of the Bossche CDA during a council meeting Tuesday evening. The intention is that an external research agency will conduct an annual survey, in which employees can respond anonymously. In this way, abuses should be prevented in the future.
Weener XL has been rumbling for years. In 2017, the SP even drew up a black book about how employees are treated in the company. That led to parliamentary questions, but the tumult eventually passed. “The alderman wiped everything off the table and it was no longer discussed,” says Ben Koot of the Durfhuis foundation, who followed the case with great interest.
“People are hired and are warned like: make sure you don’t become an XL too.”
Koot was recently engaged by the employees as a confidential adviser and heard their stories during a crisis meeting. According to him, emotions ran so high that two employees received a TIA. He wrote a letter to the municipality and exposed the abuses. “Swearing is the order of the day, people are told they are not allowed to go to the toilet and they are treated as inferior,” he says. The letter also made it clear that employees do not dare to open their mouths because they had previously been threatened with withholding wages.
According to Koot, there is a culture of fear at the social work company. “Initially it was about one department and now you hear that there are the same experiences throughout the organization. People come here as a manager and are warned by the people on the floor like: make sure you don’t become an XL person too. That is of course sad.”
“Given the anger there is, I think it will remain explosive.”
The management of Weener XL denies in all tones that there is something going on in the workplace. The employees would be proud of the work company. On Tuesday evening, an attempt was made to convince mayor Jack Mikkers of this by offering a petition. A number of (former) employees who were waiting outside the town hall told Dtv Nieuws that the petition had been imposed from above. Director Sjoerd van het Erve van Weener XL denies that.
Ben Koot is happy that an investigation is finally being launched and that this is repeated once a year. He’s just worried it might be too late. “We will be six months further before that agency gets started. Given the anger that prevails, I think it will remain explosive. I wouldn’t be surprised if those employees call in sick en masse.”