One in ten civil servants at the central government had to deal with racism in the workplace in the past year, State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Home Affairs) reported based on a survey. An approximately equally large group has experienced colleagues being racist towards citizens. Around 4,500 government officials were interviewed for the study.
Whistleblowers are entitled to free legal aid and conflict mediation since last Thursday, January 31. This was announced by State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Digitalization) and Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) together with the House for Whistleblowers. They hope that this will encourage more people to speak up about social grievances and will not be deterred by the threat of a legal dispute with their employer.
The Dutch government sees both opportunities and risks in generative AI, describing it as a technology that “affects society to the core” in a letter sent to parliament on Thursday. A big concern is short-term job losses, outgoing State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Digitalization) and outgoing Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs) wrote. The impact this technology will have on society must not be underestimated, they said.
The Dutch government is essentially forcing certain groups of people to structurally commit fraud, the National Ombudsman, Reinier van Zutphen, said in a report published on Tuesday. It involves professional administrators, legal representatives, and informal caregivers who have to digitally do business with the government, a health insurer, or the bank on someone else’s behalf, Trouw reports.