Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

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

Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. In its 2005 observation, the Committee noted the comments by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) indicating that the provisions of the Work and Care Act and the Act on Structure of the Organization of Implementation in the area of Work and Income (SUWI Act) were not fully relevant to the application of the Convention. The Committee asked the Government to describe in detail the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment for workers with disabilities including practical data on the achievements in promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the open labour market. In the report received in August 2007, the Government provided new information particularly relating to legislation which, in so far as they are relevant, relate mainly to self-employment of persons with disabilities. Keeping in view that the object of the Convention is to enable a person with disabilities not only to retain but also to secure and advance in employment, the Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide a report describing in detail the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment for workers with disabilities including practical data on the achievements in promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the open labour market, in particular for women workers with disabilities, as required by the Convention (Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention). The report should include detailed information on the efforts to achieve effective equality of treatment between men and women workers with disabilities and other workers (Article 4); the manner in which representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, as well as representative organizations of and for disabled persons are consulted on the implementation of the policy (Article 5); the vocational guidance and training, placement, employment and other related services provided to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment (Article 7); the services provided for persons with disabilities without financial resources (Article 8); and the measures adopted in practice to ensure the availability of suitably qualified staff in the field of vocational rehabilitation (Article 9). Please also include information on the manner in which the Convention is applied including, for example, statistics, extracts from reports, studies and inquiries, concerning the matters covered by the Convention.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]