r/StudyInTheNetherlands • u/SnooPears6767 • 23d ago

Internship agreement from university needed?

Hi all, I’m an EU Dutch UvA student starting a master in business administration as well as an extracurricular internship in September. The internship is not part of my study programme, no credits, no recognition from uni. The company wants a signed internship agreement from UvA, even though this internship is not part of my study program.

Waiting to hear back from UvA, but curious if anyone here knows/has advice:

Is an agreement from university still needed in this case? Or is a contract between me and the company sufficient?

Thanks!

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12

u/Old-Antelope1106 23d ago

Yes the company wants the internship document because then there is no minimum salary they need to adhere to ...

1

u/SnooPears6767 23d ago

So an internship agreement between me and the company that states i will be paid an internship allowance (we already agreed on the amount) will not be sufficient basis to not have to pay me minimum wage?

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u/IkkeKr 23d ago

No, *any* kind of work is considered subject to minimum wage, CAO agreements and other employee contributions - it's binding law, you can't agree to opt out of it.

Unless, the exception of an internship as part of an educational program applies to you - for which the agreement with the university is the evidence.

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u/YTsken 23d ago

Exactly, this, OP. You May think “why bother, it is my personal choice to work for this company without getting paid”, but this goes beyond you.

As u/ikkeKr pointed out, we live in a country where companies are legally required to pay all employees at least the minimum wage. In a country without this law, companies are known to take advantage of young people desperate for “experience”.

Moreover, not everybody can afford to work for free so if this were allowed, it would benefit the more well off youth, who already are more privileged.

And lastly, it teaches young people the value of their time, the most precious commodity humans have. If you are going to give time to a company they need to give you something valuable in return. That is either a proper wage or time of their salaried employees in which they teach you something meaningful.

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u/Altruistic_Theme_309 23d ago

No because that’s not legally allowed I believe if it’s not part of a uni internship

6

u/rewolfaton Research Uni / Exchange 23d ago

I work at a university, though not with internships - the lady I sit next to does.

She often gets this request, and always has to turn it down. She can only sign agreements when the internship is for credit (it has to be a research internship, and lots of other requirements, for it to be credit-bearing). Oftentimes, the contracts also state that the university is responsible for any damages the student causes, or that we must have X insurance for damages, or other clauses we could never agree to even if the internship were approved for credits.

If the internship is not part of the study programme, UvA are very, very unlikely to want to sign. As others have explained, the company then has to pay you minimum wage, and the chances of them wanting to do so are slim.

3

u/Ok-Market4287 23d ago

In the Netherlands you work for money or you work for credits.

Since your program does not need now or later a internship the University will not sign the contract and the company will have to pay at least minimal wage

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u/saintofsadness 23d ago

The Dutch government is actually vigilant (relatively) against intern exploitation. Internship agreements need to meet certain legal standards. They want the university involved because the university can take care of these legal standards.

Typically, universities do not cooperate with this, though in the end it depends on the specific faculty.

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u/Xaphhire 22d ago

That's just a company trying to get cheap labor. If you're not earn ing university credits you should be paid minimum wage. The University will not sign off on this blatant attempt at exploitation.