CMNT_TITLE

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Netherlands (RATIFICATION: 1988)

Other comments on C159

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government and the social partners in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government, as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019. The Committee notes the observations by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV), the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands (CNV) and the Trade Union federation for Professionals (VCP) joint to the Government’s report.

Persons with disabilities and COVID-19. The Committee notes that in its supplementary information the Government acknowledges that the pandemic has put persons with disabilities under further pressure. The Government is closely monitoring the situation and aims at using the emergency packages to mitigate as much as possible the negative impact of the pandemic on persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete impact of the pandemic on the employment situation of workers with disabilities and the diverse measures and benefits that were made available to them to cope with it.

Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee had previously requested the Government to provide information on the impact of measures such as the Participation Act and the Occupational Disability Act to increase the employment levels of persons with disabilities and to reduce the gap in the employment rate between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities. The Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that with the implementation of the Participation Act, young persons with disabilities but with capacity to work who in the past would have been covered by the Young Disabled Act (Wajong) and thus under the authority of the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) fall now under the authority of the municipal authorities. The Government further indicates that the Participation Act was accompanied by the Job Agreement between the government and the social partners for the creation every year of a specific number of jobs for persons with disabilities until 2026. In accordance with this agreement, employers in the public and private sector would create respectively 25,000 and 100,000 jobs for people with disabilities by 2026. If they do not meet this objective, the Government has the option of activating a legally binding quota. The Government further indicates that the procedure to implement the agreement has been simplified and the private and public sectors are now considered as one. The Committee notes that the effects of the Participation Act on the employment opportunities for persons with disabilities would be evaluated at the end of 2019, but that so far, the monitoring showed that since the implementation of the Participation Act the number of young persons with disabilities placed in employment had increased every year since 2015. The Government indicates that in order to foster the employment of persons with disabilities, since 2018, those that used to receive an unemployment benefit and resume employment, continue to receive their unemployment benefit for the first five years. The Committee notes, however, that the FNV, the CNV and the VCP argue that there is a high number of persons with disabilities that no longer fall under the Assistance Act for Young Persons with Disabilities (Wajong) but have not been provided with enough support from the municipalities. They are deprived from any benefit and unable to reintegrate the labour market. They also indicate that the modification of the system has translated the pressure from the private to the public sector. Furthermore, they indicate that employers have the possibility to buy off their obligation to create jobs for workers with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the implementation of the Participation Act and the Job agreement in the creation of jobs for persons with disabilities, particularly in light of the observations of the FNV, the CNV and the VCP as well as on the results of the evaluation carried out in 2019 of the Participation Act. The Government is also requested to provide statistics disaggregated by age and sex on the number of persons with disabilities covered by the Act as well as on their rate of participation in the labour market.

Article 4. Positive measures. Participation Act. Assistance Act for Young Persons with Disabilities (Wajong). The Committee notes that in reply to its previous request the Government indicates that with the entry into force of the Participation Act, the Young Persons with Disability Act (Wajong) is no longer applicable to persons with work capacity. However, those existing Wajong recipients (before the introduction of the Participation Act) with employment opportunities and the young people with a disability who are permanently unable to work remain under the services of the UWV. The Government indicates that the UWV has been granted additional resources for the professionalization of labour experts and intensive services advisers. By the end of 2017, of the 245,800 persons that fell under the Wajong Act (Wajongers), 115,200 persons had the ability to work. By the end of 2017, 59,200 of these persons were effectively working; 1,400 more than a year earlier. The Government adds that the share of working Wajongers rose to 24.7 per cent of the total Wajong population at the end of 2017. The Committee notes that the FNV, the CNV and the VCP indicate, however, that the new rules should not lead to a deterioration of the income security of young persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the Young Persons with Disability Act (Wajong) including statistics concerning the number of young persons with disabilities covered and the number of these persons that are in employment, disaggregated by sex and age and nature of disability.

Article 7. Employment services for persons with disabilities. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on the impact of the new measures adopted to help young persons with disabilities in their reintegration into the labour market. The Government indicates that with the Participation Act the municipal authorities have new services at their disposal to offer to persons with disabilities in order to increase their employment opportunities. Besides the earlier mentioned jobs agreement which aims to stimulate employers to hire persons with disabilities, the municipal authorities offer structural labour costs subsidies (LKS), job coaches, and sheltered employment for those that are not able to work in a regular labour market setting. In this regard, the Government indicates that there has been a rise in the usage of services. By the end of 2018, almost 200,000 persons had received support (a rise of 23 per cent compared to before the introduction of the Participation Act in 2015). This rise can partly be explained by the fact that the usage of LKS has risen to almost 20,000 at the end of 2018. With respect to “Sheltered Employment” a similar pattern is observed. In September 2018, municipal authorities offered this service to slightly more than 2,000 persons. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the different measures taken by the Government and the municipalities in application of the Participation Act to improve the services provided to young persons with disabilities to help them in their reintegration to the labour market.

Education and training opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that besides the new services provided in the framework of the Participation Act, municipal authorities can offer other services ranging from social activation, job interview training, and vocational training to adjust to the workspace, as well as provide other employability tools. To improve the monitoring information on the kind of services provided to the people under the municipal authorities, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) recently introduced a new directive to the municipalities (“SRG Richtlijn 2019”) which enables better distinction between educational and training services and other kinds of services. Over the next years, more information about the education and training opportunities should become available to persons with disabilities. The Government adds that in order to remove financial obstacles for people covered by the Wajong Act to follow education, it is preparing a modification to the Wajong Act. The goal is to avoid that the fear to lose the entitlement to benefits prevents people to access education. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any improvement made on the education and training opportunities for persons with disabilities with a view to increasing their levels of employment, including on the open labour market. The Government is also requested to provide statistics on the participation of persons with disabilities in education and vocational training.