Dutch universities face inspections over ‘structural overtime’

It should be up to the individual whether they choose to work overtime or not. They should not be penalised if they choose not to but alternatively they should not be penalised if they choose to. As an academic I also work at nights and usually one afternoon on the weekend, and have for at least 10 years, and enjoy it. I get concerned when I hear that "government watchdogs" are carrying out inspections - maybe it is just the language used but it sounds a bit intrusive.

It would be interesting to see a UK analysis and how for purely teaching staff, how it works out over a 22 week teaching year and something like 8-11 hours of student contact time spread between course teaching colleagues. There appear to be massive disparities between those who are available on campus and those who 'work from home' and those who seem to disappear for months during the summer break. Set against that are the academics who undertake research, publish and are always available to students and other colleagues. Has anyone been brave enough at any institution, to actually measure and scrutinise this before looking at 'workloads' ?