The coalition agreement “Getting to Work” sets out a long-term vision that, if the Dutch workforce fully commits to prevention and sustainable reintegration, the number of people entering the WIA and Sickness Benefits Act programs, among other things, will decrease. The new cabinet views work as a fundamental pillar of livelihood security. According to the new government’s plans, the human dimension must be restored, and overly complex laws and regulations must be made workable again. With regard to the WIA system, the cabinet intends to stabilize it first before more far-reaching reforms can take place.
What do these proposed measures from the coalition agreement mean for business owners? And for managers and employees?
The coalition agreement’s aim is to ensure that more people “can continue to participate” in the labor market. However, many employers are already finding that reintegrating employees on sick leave back into the workforce is a challenging task. This is especially true because sick leave cases are lasting longer due to the increase in mental health issues as the cause of absenteeism. Absenteeism due to this cause lasts an average of 190 to 270 days, and even longer in cases of medical complexity. Nationwide, 1 in 4 days of absenteeism is linked to mental health issues. For the time being, we are seeing an upward trend in this area that, unfortunately, has not yet leveled off.
Focusing on prevention to avoid long-term absenteeism is therefore essential and is only becoming more important. The golden rule of prevention is to act on anything that deviates from the norm. It has been calculated that signs of impending sick leave were visible to the immediate supervisor in 1 out of 2 cases. There is therefore significant potential for improvement here, and absenteeism may be prevented—but this requires the supervisor to be able to recognize those signs as “different from normal” for the employee in question. This requires regular contact and a genuine interest in the employee. Simply saying “my door is always open” is not enough, because for the employee, there is often still a huge barrier to crossing that threshold.
Regardless of how the coalition agreement is ultimately drafted, it is clear to all parties that the current social security system is no longer sustainable. It therefore makes sense to focus on prevention and labor force participation.
A significant part of the solution lies with managers, but they are often the ones who feel ill-prepared. People are still often promoted to management based on seniority or subject matter expertise, but not every manager is automatically a good absence manager. The result is that absences last longer than necessary, prevention receives too little attention, and HR has too little room for strategic issues and is constantly preoccupied with day-to-day operations.
Managers play a key role because they are closest to the employees and have the best understanding of the nature of the work. As a result, they often have practical responsibilities when it comes to preventing and managing absenteeism. These range from picking up on signs of impending absenteeism and processing sick leave reports to managing long-term and complex cases of absenteeism.
Employers therefore need to ensure that managers are sufficiently skilled, confident, and resilient. And this isn’t just about knowledge of laws and regulations, but also—and especially—about soft skills. If leadership knowledge and skills are maintained at a high level, the organization will regain control over absenteeism. This results in better staffing levels, lower workloads, reduced staff turnover, and significant savings in time and money.
Schouten Zekerheid managers in ensuring the long-term employability of employees and providing appropriate support for absenteeism due to illness with InRegie: an online learning environment.
InRegie is not just a theoretical program, but an accessible and practical learning environment. Managers work with relatable real-life scenarios and receive tools that address the challenges they actually face. In this way, InRegie helps you act with greater confidence and control when dealing with absenteeism and workforce availability. And you can look forward to the implementation of the coalition agreement with confidence—whatever that may entail.
Marleen Souverein, Absenteeism Prevention Consultant at Schouten Zekerheid