Unsafe work environment at Dutch prison authority's integrity department
There is a crisis in the integrity department of the Dutch Correctional Institutions Agency (DJI). Current and former employees report an unsafe working environment, resulting in high absenteeism and staff turnover. That, in turn, is leading to investigations into possible integrity violations being delayed, Nieuwsuur reports.
The DJI’s Integrity Bureau investigates reports of corruption, fraud, and other unethical behavior by prison staff. The department also performs this work for other judicial organizations, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and the Child Protection Council. The department has about 20 employees conducting dozens of investigations per year.
Last week, the director of the Integrity Bureau suddenly resigned. According to Nieuwsuur, this happened within 24 hours of the program asking him about the high staff turnover and absenteeism in his department. The deputy director is home on sick leave, so the department currently has no leadership in place.
Sources in the department told Nieuwsuur that the Integrity Bureau lost over half of its employees in the past three years. They attribute the high turnover to people feeling unsafe under management. Absenteeism also rose to over 20 percent last year.
In the most recent employee satisfaction survey, a third of the Integrity Bureau’s workers indicated that they have faced verbal aggression, threats, or intimidation. The department performed very poorly in the categories of “leadership” and “social safety.”
Because of the high staff turnover, capacity is becoming strained. Nieuwsuur saw an internal memo stating that due to “high workload,” requests for investigations from organizations other than the DJI, IND, and the Child Protection Council are “currently being rejected.” Current and former Integrity Department employees told the program that reports of possible integrity violations by the DJI are also being left unresolved, and the processing times for ongoing investigations are increasing.
Employees fear that the longer lead times, with suspended employees stuck at home for longer periods, will discourage prison directors from investigating integrity reports.
An email in Nieuwsuur’s possession shows that DJI Director-General Wim Saris was personally informed of the problems by several employees, but failed to intervene. The problems were not reported to the Works Council nor to the Ministry of Justice and Security.
A spokesperson for the DJI declined to comment on Nieuwsuur’s questions about absenteeism, staff turnover, and increased waiting times for investigations. She did say that “there was no lack of capacity” and that “investigation processing times can vary.” She also said that the recently resigned director was tasked with changing the Integrity Bureau shortly after his appointment three years ago. “Changes within an organization always bring about movement.”
