Mental health and work: the Netherlands

Tackling mental ill-health of the working-age population is becoming a key issue for labour market and social policies in OECD countries. OECD governments increasingly recognise that policy has a major role to play in keeping people with mental ill-health in employment or bringing those outside of the labour market back to it, and in preventing mental illness. This report on the Netherlands is one in a series of reports looking at how the broader education, health, social and labour market policy challenges identified in ‘Sick on the job?: myths and realities about mental health and work’ (OECD, 2012) are being tackled in a number of OECD countries. Over the past two decades, the Dutch Government has strengthened obligations and incentives for individuals and employers to cooperate in return-to-work management. These investments have successfully improved labour market outcomes for people with health problems. Sickness absences and disability benefit claims have fallen overall but absences remain high for people with mental ill-health and the share of mental disorders in disability claims is increasing. Important challenges persist in the area of mental health and work, including the lack of attention for people with mild-to-moderate mental disorders (such as psychological distress, depression or anxiety) in all sectors; little attention on the prevention of mental ill-health at work; limited public support to help sick people return to work; and the lack of coordinated and integrated (mental) health and employment support. The report makes recommendations aimed at improving sustainable labour market inclusion of people with mental illness in the Netherlands.

Edited excerpts from publication.

The contents are as follows: Executive summary; Assessment and recommendations; Mental health and work challenges in the Netherlands; Mental health of Dutch youth and the transition into the labour market; Working conditions and sickness management in the Netherlands; Employment support in the Netherlands for people out of work; The role of the Dutch health care sector in improving mental health and work outcomes. Show less