Tax employees feel unsafe at work, union says

Tax Authority employees don't feel safe at work, union FNV reports based on a survey among a thousand employees. Almost all respondents report an unsafe atmosphere at the workplace. People who are critical about the policy are reprimanded by managers and supervisors, with some even losing their job as a result, respondents said, NU.nl reports.

The result of this culture of fear is that Tax workers no longer dare to report problems to a manager, according to the union. "There is settlement culture at the Tax Authority that leads to employees fearing to report abuses", union manager Mieke van Vliet said.

A former tax official recently told RTL Nieuws that Tax Authority ignored internal reports and complaints about the way it treats citizens for years, and due to the culture of fear, employees didn't dare push through with complaints.

FNV calls on State Secretary Menno Snel of Finance to set up an independent integrity committee where employees can go with their complaints.

"The employees must be listened to. This requires a place where they can safely tell their story", Van Vliet said, according to the newspaper. "Employees indicate that they want to contribute to a cultural change in the survey, but they above all expect the management to be a good example to bring about that change"."