Advisory Board
Doping Authority Netherlands has an Advisory Board that consisted of five persons in 2020 (see Annex 2 for the members of the Board). The Board met on five occasions. In addition to discussing and commenting on the work of Doping Authority Netherlands on the basis of progress reports and other documents, the Board's task is to make recommendations to the CEO of Doping Authority Netherlands. The Board issued five advisory reports in 2020. These were sent for information purposes to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport accompanied by an assessment from the CEO.
Personnel: office
During the year under review, Doping Authority Netherlands had four departments (Education, Enforcement & Investigations, Legal Affairs and Support). Together with the CEO, the four heads of department constitute the Office Board (Bestuurstafel).
At year-end 2020, the office organisation comprised 24 people and 21.5 FTEs. For an overview, the reader is referred to Annex 3.
Doping Control Officials (DCOs)
In addition to the office staff, there were fifteen part-time doping control officials at year-end 2020 (nine men and six women, see Annex 3), who were appointed under 'minimum hours' contracts. The number of hours covered by these contracts was increased in some cases in 2020. The contracts now account for 2.0 FTEs.
Absenteeism
The absenteeism percentage was lower in 2020 than in 2019: staff were absent on 5.7% of working days (2019: 7.6%). This percentage was still significantly affected by the aftermath of an accident outside office hours in 2018. If that incident is left out of consideration, the absenteeism rate was 3.7%.
COVID-19 has not only taken its toll professionally; it has also affected the workforce of Doping Authority Netherlands. The 3.7% absenteeism rate mentioned above included 2.8% as a result of COVID-19. There were six infections in 2020, all of which originated outside the office, resulting in a total of 74 days of sick leave. In one case, the illness resulted in long-term complications and this colleague was not yet able to fully resume work on 31 December 2020. In total, 20 home quarantine periods were required totalling 154 working days. One doping control official was granted temporary unpaid leave at his own request because that official preferred not to work in these circumstances. Finally, several family members and loved ones have been affected.
Company Emergency Services (BHV)
Doping Authority Netherlands has three in-house emergency response workers to maximise the probability of enough support being available when it is needed. There were no significant incidents in 2020. A refresher course was followed with the other tenants in the office building.
Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (TUE committee)
One of the provisions in the doping regulations relates to the procedure for the use of prohibited medication. Doping Authority Netherlands has, for the Dutch sports associations, a committee known as the Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (TUE committee), which consists of independent doctors. There is also a TUE Appeals Committee made up of other doctors with an independent status.
In 2020, Hans Vorsteveld passed away. Hans had been a member of the TUE committee since its inception in 2004.
Compliance with Doping Sanctions Committee (CND) and Appeals Committee for Compliance with Doping Sanctions (BND)
The World Anti-Doping Code requires Doping Authority Netherlands to monitor the implementation of sanctions imposed for doping. If there is any failure to comply with a sanction correctly, the same sanction begins again after the end of the original sanction. The Compliance with Doping Sanctions Committee is responsible for determining whether there has been correct compliance with a sanction and whether there are any reasons to reduce a subsequent sanction. In 2017, an Appeals Committee for Compliance with Doping Sanctions was added. Appeals against decisions by the CND may be submitted to the BND.
No cases were submitted to the CND in 2020. The BND made a decision in one case.
Consultations with the Ministry
As an independent administrative body, Doping Authority Netherlands participates in various specialist consultations. For a relatively small organisation such as Doping Authority Netherlands, it is impossible to attend all meetings but the contacts that are established are useful in all organisational matters. Consultations relate to business operations, human resources, absenteeism prevention, sustainability, information security, general security, privacy and integrity.
Quality assurance
Doping Authority Netherlands is a government organisation covered by the National Code of Conduct for Integrity. The prevention of fraudulent activity is a constant focus of attention and a standing component of the annual performance interviews. No infringements of the Code of Conduct were observed in 2020.
Doping Authority Netherlands also has a Complaints Procedure in addition to the regular procedures that those concerned can initiate under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb). This procedure can be found on the corporate website. It was not used in 2020.
Informal complaints, mistakes, areas for improvement and data leaks are a standard item on the agenda during the fortnightly meetings of the Office Board, and the discussion is noted in the minutes of these meetings.
Archives Act
In order to meet all the requirements of the Archives Act, a selection list was drawn up in collaboration with the Dutch National Archives in 2020.