Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2000): Services for the Disabled - Overseas

RECONSTRUCTION AND REORIENTATION: CHANGING DISABILITY POLICIES IN THE NETHERLANDS AND NORWAY

J. A. Dropping, B. Hvinden and W. Van O Orschot

European Journal of Social Security, vol. 2, 2000, p. 35-68

Turbulence in labour markets has posed serious challenges for social protection systems, and especially for disability policies. The Norwegian government has responded by introducing stricter qualifying criteria, shorter maximum duration for some benefits and an increased emphasis on rehabilitation and re-insertion into work. In the Netherlands, in addition to curtailment of disability benefit and sick pay replacement rates, there have been successive moves to privatise sick pay by making employers responsible for paying the wages of sick employees. Reductions in sick leave were further promoted by an obligation laid on every firm to develop a sickness absence prevention and control policy.