VPOD/SSP Survey at the University of Zurich
73.5% of junior academics at the University of Zurich regularly work overtime. Half of them work 10 or more hours per week. This is shown by a broad-based survey conducted by VPOD Zurich. What is particularly controversial is that because time recording is voluntary and hardly established, doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, assistants, and research assistants can neither compensate for the overtime nor receive compensation for it. They perform a great deal of unpaid work for the university.
The results clearly show that there is an urgent need to improve the employment conditions of young academics. The VPOD has therefore written to the university management, calling on it to take action: “Academic mid-level staff should also be compensated for all work performed.”