Cooperation between Local Communities, Employment Services and Social Security Agencies at the Regional Level
Cooperation between Local Communities, Employment Services and Social Security Agencies at the Regional Level
During 1998, units of cooperation between local communities, employment services (PES) and social security agencies are being established in all regions of the Netherlands. But the pace and intensity of creating the 220 so-called "Centres for Work and Income" (CWIs) differ sharply by region.
This can be inferred from a memorandum of the Minister and State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment to parliament. The memorandum concludes that the process of cooperation shows adequate progress, but that some effort is still required from all the parties in order to reach the agreements on cooperation which the government wishes to have completed before the end of 1998.
The memorandum also lays down that there will be a uniform, nationally applicable system of categorising registered jobseekers (the so-called "meetlat"). This system intends to assess the chances of jobseekers on the labour market as equitably and objectively as possible. The meetlat system will be developed by the Public Employment Service, the National Institute of Social Insurances (Lisv) and the Association of Dutch Local Communities (VNG). Thereafter, it will be formalised by ministerial regulation and is scheduled to become effective on 1 January 1999.
The new system of assessment will relate to the so-called "phases model" developed at an earlier stage by the Steering group "Cooperation for Work and Income" (SWI). This model enables a jobseeker's labour market position to be assessed in terms of four phases.
Phase 1 means a person is ready to find a job on the labour market ("direct bemiddelbaar"). To this end, the jobseeker may use, for instance, the following services: information, counselling and referral to existing vacancies.
In Phase 2, the jobseeker needs "some improvement" in order to stand a good chance of finding work. He/she is expected to have "a distance to the labour market" of at most one year. With the help of, for instance, job application training or professional reorientation training, the person should be able to (re-)enter into paid employment within one year.
Those categorised in Phase 3 will need "extensive improvement". They are considered to be not placeable into employment for at least one year, and require, for instance, intensive training and counselling and application of the instruments of the Jobseekers Employment Act (WIW).
Persons classified under Phase 4 "hardly stand a chance" of finding employment due to serious personal handicaps which prohibit finding work within the foreseeable future. They can avail of certain forms of activation, support or care in order to again develop a realistic prospect of gaining work.
The labour market position of a jobseeker will be periodically reassessed. This may also lead to a readjustment of the categorisation according to the "4 phases model".
The categorisation into phases will be elaborated by the implementing bodies into a concrete, practice-related method of categorising jobseekers. In addition, agreements will have to be reached on a procedure for the treatment of complaints regarding the outcome of the classification. A possible solution could be the establishment of a committee on complaints. This committee would have to judge whether classifications have been reached with due care.
EU – European Commission DG EMPL/A/2 J
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