Active inclusion of the labour market- how can we be more effective?

1. Active inclusion of the labour market- how can we be more effective? Sigrún Sigurðardóttir Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant Ása Dóra Konráðsdóttir Senior Consultant at VIRK-Vocational rehabilitation Fund

2. Plays a central role in people´s lives (Thomas 2001) • Provides monetary resources and links the individual to society (Schneider 1998; Waddell and Burton, 2006) • Social identity and status, social contacts and support • A Human Right • A means of structuring and occupying time-unemployed people do not exploit the extra time available for leisure Why do we work?

3. The health status improves as well as quality of life • Lack of work is detrimental to health and well being • Unemployed people consult their GPs more often than the general population • Unemployed people for more than 12 weeks show between four and ten times the prevalence of depression and anxiety • Unemployment is associated with increased rates of suicide People that are sick or disabled improve their health and psychosocial status with going back to work Positive effects of workWaddell & Burton 2006

4. Despite the recent decade of strong economic growth and increased emphasis of employment integration, employment among persons with health problems has not increased and has even fallen in relation to other groups • People with disability are at a significantly higher risk of relative income poverty in most OECD countries. The poverty risks of these people have increased faster than for the rest of the working-age population in the majority of countries Labour force participation

5. 50 million European Citizens are disabled • Disability has an influtential and disadvantageous role on emplyment possibilities • The longer a person is off sick, the more difficult it is to return to work and the less likely it is they will ever return to work • Levels of absenteeism, unemployment and long term disability claims due to work related stress and mental health problems have been increasing • World Health Organisation (WHO) expects that by 2020 depression will be the most frequent cause of disability in the world Work and disability

6. People suffering from mental conditions are typically 30-50% less likely to be employed than those with other health problems or disability ( OECD 2008) • Is this related to changes in the nature of work – making it more difficult for certain groups in the population with low skills and qualifications to compete and succeed. Work and mental illness

7. “The painful journey into unemployment which often begins with a period off sick leave, with stress or depression, could be avoided if employees were better able to manage mental distress at work and if health services were more proactive early on in sick leave”

8. The vast majority of persons with partial work capacity who take up disability benefits never turn to the labour market. • Data from various countries suggests that after being on disability benefits for a year, statistically more recipients are dying than returning to employment. • It is necessary to better identify such persons and help ensure they remain attached to the labour market through careful tailoring of welfare and other supports (OECD 2009). Inclusion of the labour market

9. Getting the right services to the right people at the right time • Turning disability benefits into re-employment payments • Managing sickness absence and making work more health-friendly OECD (2008). Modernising Sickness and Disability Policy

10. Getting the right services to the right people at the right time The number of people with health problems who benefit from rehabilitation and employment support is rather low. Employment support for people with health problems or disability are in most countries poorly administered, hard to access and typically offered too late. Issues that need to be addressed cont.

11. Turning disability benefits into re-employment payments Benefit systems remain very passive in nature and disability benefits are seen as lifetime pensions. There is generally little interest in providing sufficient financial incentives for beneficiaries for them to make an effort to return to the labour market Issues that need to be addressed cont.

12. Managing sickness absence and making work more health-friendly It is critical to identify health problems early and can only be achieved by involving employers and the workplace. Healthy work environment and job adjustment needs to be encouraged and supported by the employers Issues that need to be addressed cont.