Reintegration of Labour Handicapped Persons in Employment

The Act on the Reintegration of Labour Handicapped Persons (REA) came into force on 1 July 1998. It contains measures for labour handicapped and chronically ill workers who need not work under specially adapted conditions but who - with some help - can find a job with a regular employer.

The aim of the REA is to encourage employers to implement preventive policies and to retain or hire labour handicapped persons.

Because the former instruments regarding the (re)integration of labour handicapped people appeared to be poorly organised and not very effective, an attempt has been made to avoid all unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. With the REA it has become easier to place or transfer a person at an early stage. Any employer who hires a labour handicapped person or transfers such a person to a different position within his company may, without further bureaucratic procedure, receive a fairly substantial cost allowance. Employers are entitled to a (re)placement budget or a tailor-made package of facilities in order to (re)integrate people with a disability. Various measures can now be applied in a flexible way. It has also now become clearer who is entitled under which circumstances to a certain measure.

The placement budget (in the case of a job under a new employer) amounts to NLG 12,000 in the first year, NLG 8,000 in the second year and NLG 4,000 in the third year of employment. The yearly budgets are proportional for part-time employment. The replacement budget (in the case of a new position with the original employer) is fixed at NLG 8,000 for one year.

If the costs of (re-)integration surpass the placement or transfer budget, an employer may also choose to receive a cost allowance on the basis of an estimate of the costs (tailor-made package). The fairness of the estimate is checked by the institution responsible for the implementation. If major adjustments to the company are required, the employer is also asked to pay a contribution. Employers are required to (partially) reimburse all subsidies should the desired effect not ensue. The point of departure for the refund policy is that employers should not be worse off when they hire labour handicapped workers.

In addition to the placement and transfer budgets and the tailor-made packages for employers, the REA has created the possibility to experiment with a personal budget to be used for reintegration activities. With this budget the labour handicapped are more directly involved in all aspects of their reintegration and less dependent on, for instance, the employer or the implementing social security body (Uvi). Experiments have been started in three regions, which will be evaluated after 2.5 years (2001).

The REA has also extended the use of (re-)integration benefit. This specific benefit was initially restricted to those placed on probation with an employer but is now also used for training. The duration of probation periods has been extended to six months and labour handicapped persons who are not in receipt of a disability benefit are now also eligible.

An other important element of the REA is a more clear division of the responsibilities regarding the reintegration activities. In the first instance, the employer is responsible for the reintegration of the labour handicapped employee. Only once it has been established that reintegration with the original employer will be impossible, does the responsibility shift towards the implementing social security body of the (Uvi) or to the local municipalities. The PES is responsible for assisting all other labour handicapped persons (essentially those without a benefit).

As regards the reintegration of difficult-to-place labour handicapped persons, the Uvis and the local municipalities are for the time being to a large extent obliged to buy services from the PES. The government intends to liberalise this market in the coming years.

All budgets are financed from a Reintegration Fund specifically reserved for the reintegration of labour handicapped workers. The resources of this fund stem from the national disability funds (Aaf and Aof) and the national unemployment fund (Awf). The total budget for 1999 amounts to NLG 783 million.

63,000 reintegration trajectories are expected to be realised in 1999, for new entrants as well as the stock of labour handicapped clients. The Lisv has been monitoring the efforts of the Uvis by means of a special reintegration monitor called "Remon". Over the first year (July 1998 - June 1999) the Uvis initiated 82,800 activities focused on a return of labour handicapped persons into employment, resulting in 10,690 placements. In this first year 35,600 reintegration trajectories were started: 15,400 in the second half of 1998 and 20,200 in the first half of 1999. Nearly 20,000 reintegration instruments were allocated, of which training was the most important (7,200).

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department