Summary - Limited Functioning

Original title: Beperkt in functie

Sickness absenteeism, incapacity for work and labour participation of people with health impairments have received a great deal of attention from Dutch policymakers in recent years, with several measures being implemented in a bid to reduce sickness absenteeism and the number of people with an incapacity for work and raise the labour participation rate of this group. This fourth edition of the Trend Report looks at key trends in sickness absenteeism, incapacity for work and labour participation of persons with health impairments. As well as describing these trends, this report focuses on two themes: the role of employers and how people with a work-limiting disability or illness fare in the workplace. What considerations do employers apply when recruiting or dismissing employees, and what role does health play in that process? What actions do they take to promote the health of their employees? The report also focuses on employees with illnesses or disabilities. How do they fare on the labour market? Do they have the same opportunities at work as healthy colleagues? How satisfied are they with their work?

This study was carried out in collaboration with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), with support from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Final editing was carried out by SCP.

Maroesjka Versantvoort and Patricia van Echtelt work in the Labour and Public Services research sector at SCP, where they carry out research in the field of labour and social security.