[From limitations to possibilities; the advice from the Donner Committee about disability benefits legislation]

In the Netherlands, the number of people declared unfit to work continues to rise: every working day sees more than 100 new benefit claimants. The average age of these claimants is decreasing and the number of women declared unfit for work is showing a disproportionate increase. Against this background, the Dutch government appointed a committee in June 2000 whose task was to examine the functioning of the legislation. The Donner Committee concluded that the claims made under the disability benefits legislation could not be clarified by a worsening of either the public health or the working conditions. The legislation is based on obsolete ideas in which illness effectively excludes employment. This idea fosters a range of social problems in the employment process, which present themselves as medical problems and therefore remain elusive and unsolved. The result is that people are unnecessarily eliminated from society at a time when paid employment is an increasingly important means of social interaction. The Committee proposes a drastic simplification of the legislation so that a disability benefit can only be claimed in the case of complete unfitness for work. Such a claim can only be made in the case of a serious illness which results in permanent and considerable limitations in everyday functioning. For all other cases involving health problems, the employer and employee need to work together to organise appropriate work. The emphasis is on what the employee can do as opposed to what he/she cannot do. If the employer fails to take the necessary measures then he/she will be obliged to continue paying the salary and if the employee fails to cooperate then he/she can be dismissed. If needs be the employee must be prepared to except a salary reduction of 30%. After two years of absence, dismissal is in every case possible. It is anticipated that as a result of the Committee's proposals, more people will remain in employment but that the number of unemployed as well as the number of legal disputes concerning dismissal will increase.