Els Sol

The individual job seeker in the sphere of contractualism

Purpose – Activation policies in most Western countries have discovered the private tool of contract and in a short period of time the contract has penetrated the whole domain. Among the forerunner countries contracts in different forms, collective as well as individual, have become the central steering instrument. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on what this change can and does entail for the individual job seeker on benefit. Job seekers are no longer expected to passive undergo treatment but expected to contribute actively to ones own return into the labour market. The main rationale behind this shift is the idea that working with contracts increases the level of involvement and, therefore improves results over time: results in terms of better motivated clients, more focused policymakers, providers and frontline workers delivering client‐orientated services.Design/methodology/approach – Using qualitative research the article maps the different types of contracts using empirical materi...

Public-private partnerships for the unemployed

Under new dimensions of individualisation, decentralisation and particularly marketisation, new forms of public-private partnerships between the actors involved in the employment services for the unemployed have emerged. This is because for-profit providers have now entered the arena of welfare to work. The assumption behind these public-private arrangements is that the marketisation of public service delivery will lead to more flexible, responsive and innovative outcomes. Focusing on the implementation of back-to-work services for the unemployed for the UK, the Netherlands and Australia as forerunners of this development, this article sketches several theoretical backgrounds and conditions for effective and efficient back-to-work services and gives an insight to the struggles countries face in controlling recalcitrant practice, their policy lessons and the outcomes of these struggles so far.

Vouchers, NPM and the provision of public employment services

In activating social security policies, the unemployed are no longer expected to undergo interventions or treatment but are expected to contribute actively to their return to the labour market. The main efficiency rationale behind this shift is the idea, based on New Public Management (NPM), that increased levels of involvement improve placement results over time. With this shift, the instruments for the delivery of services have also undergone a conspicuous change. The voucher is one of the most distinct instruments that came with New Public Management. NPM is not regarded by some as flexible enough to incorporate voucher-like arrangements in employment service delivery when introduced from the bottom-up and against the will of policy makers. This article argues that this is a misconception. It explores the relationship between NPM and vouchers, and discusses the successful bottom-up introduction and incorporation of a voucher-like arrangement (Individual Re-Employment Contract) under New Public Management in the Netherlands, in spite of strong opposition from the top.

De integrale aanpak van werk en schulden in Europa

SamenvattingDe bestrijding van armoede en schulden krijgt ook in Europees verband aandacht. Het is een van de speerpunten van de EU 2020 strategie. UWV verkende in hoeverre andere landen de aanpak van schulden verweven in de re-integratie. Als er al sprake is van een integrale aanpak, dan is vaak amper bekend wat het effect is.

Governance of EU labour law: Implementation of the EU Working Time Directive in the Netherlands

This chapter deals with the challenges that European law poses for national legislation and practices regarding working time. The regulation of working time is situated at the crossroads of health and safety regulations and employment protection. The European Union has acknowledged the need to regulate and limit working time in the Working Time Directive (WTD); Directive 2003/88/EC. This chapter examines the major topics of discussion concerning issues related to the implementation of the WTD in the Netherlands, notably annualised hours, flexible hours, the individual opt-out, on-call work and shift work. In the Netherlands trade unions consider that the Directive has been transposed into national law in a way which has reduced the level of protection previously available. However, our research has led to the conclusion that the implementation in the Netherlands is flexible because collective agreements are playing an important role in implementing the Working Time Directive in this country. Despite some problems, the implementation of the WTD in the Netherlands has not been controversial. However, some discrepancies between EU law and domestic definitions of the crucial concept of working time do persist which can lead to further litigation, especially in the case of on-call work. In general terms, the implementation of the WTD has left the main problem relating to working time in the Netherlands, its ‘successful’ part-time model, untouched.

Services of general interest, state aid and social housing in the Netherlands

This chapter deals with the long and enduring negotiations between the Dutch government and the European Commission on the regulation of services of social housing. At stake is the autonomy of a Member State regarding social housing. Historically the Netherlands has a major social housing market, much larger than in other countries. By means of European rules on state aid and social housing, the casus of the Netherlands versus the European Union and the consequences for social housing are clarified in the chapter. Central to the discussions were the financing arrangements/aid measures the housing associations claimed, which mayor may not under the EU ruling be considered state aid as defined by European law. The discussion on state aid between the Netherlands and Europe started in 2002, when the Dutch government of its free will submitted to the Commission the draft of a new Housing Act for notification. The draft included the existing aid measure for housing corporations. According to Minister Dekker of Housing, Communities and Integration, the government’s intention was to receive a legal decision of ‘no state aid’ from the Commission. When it became clear that no new Housing Act was forthcoming and official contacts confirmed that it anyway probably concerned existing aid, which does not need notification, the Dutch government withdrew the notification related to the Housing Act. However, at that same moment, the Commission started an investigation to see if the aid was indeed state aid in the sense of Article 107 TFEU. In July 2005 the Commission announced its preliminary position as a result of its investigation. The Commission did not accept the existing financing of housing corporations. Despite the provisional standpoint in this letter, the message hit the Dutch social housing world like a bomb. The final exemption decision announced on 15 July 2009, however, made it clear that the Commission places strict requirements on this financing. The letter of July is one of the peaks in a dispute on what social housing in a Member State of the EU can today entail, which started in 2002 and is still going on.

From policy to practice: editorial introduction

Two issues are at stake in current changes in Social Security. The first is the switch in policy towards active inclusion strategies for the unemployed, the second is the new form of delivery for welfare-to-work services. In terms of research, the second issue is clearly still a black spot. Governments across the world are held accountable for the number of people who are excluded from the labour market. western countries have increasingly looked for ways of moving people on benefit into work. Over the last 10 years, the active labour market agenda has evolved rapidly and changed from welfare support to welfare to work. Policies that were developed in the front-runner countries, the ‘activating states’, are being copied around the world. In the course of this process, implementation has also changed. Implementation follows policy to make legislation effective. However, in labour market policy, implementation has for years been the weakest link. Great policy expectations are dashed in implementation. It is clearly difficult to make these policies work. How should governance be linked to (legitimate and effective) outcomes? How can administration make a partly or wholly privatised welfare service work? How can managers successfully steer case-managers? Can more personalised approaches to people on benefit work? This thematic issue of EJSS focuses on the three core elements in current implementation design: tendering, benchmarking and the use of vouchers. Legislators and governments believe they are the key to achieving successful outcomes under the new regime. This issue is the first comparative study of these implementation tools, using empirical research and experiments with tender design and the ‘work first’ benchmark. The papers show how these can be used and what to expect. For this multi disciplinary research, data are used from front-runner countries in using New Public Management techniques in public employment services i.e. the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Benchmarking as NPM instrument in activating social security policies

Social benchmarks have become a popular instrument amongst public policymakers. The first part of the article reviews the application of benchmarks as an evaluation tool and their significance in the evaluation of activating social security policies under New Public Management. It offers a typology in terms of aims and types of benchmarks and several examples of applications of different types of benchmarks using examples from Dutch activating social security policies. The second part of the article analyses bench-learning by showing how to get the most out of benchmarks.