Disability, Work and Inclusion in Slovenia
Towards Early Intervention for Sick Workers
One in seven working‑age adults identifies as having a disability in OECD countries. Many of them are excluded from meaningful work and have low levels of income and social engagement. Becoming sick or disabled often leads people to leave the labour market even if they still can and want to work. Governments can help create an environment that supports a return‑to‑work for such people. This report reviews the Slovenian sickness and disability system and proposes recommendations to promote the employment of people with disability. Frequent long-term sickness absences are a growing issue in Slovenia, in part due to the design of the sickness insurance programme: workers falling ill get relatively high payments, for an unlimited time, with no activation or return-to-work offers. This report shows that intervening early is key to preventing sickness claimants from exiting the labour force. For this to occur, employers and occupational experts have to be involved sooner than at present, in a structured vocational rehabilitation process. Sickness insurance reform should provide the right work incentives, align sickness and disability assessment for long-term sickness claimants, and cap the maximum sickness benefit payment period. Cooperation between all key stakeholders in different phases of the process is critical. Such cooperation will allow the much-needed creation of a joint body responsible for the assessment of sickness, disability and vocational rehabilitation needs.
The role of unemployment benefits, employment services and social assistance for jobseekers with health limitations in Slovenia
Slovenia’s unemployment insurance and the public employment service play an important role for people with health problems or disabilities, in various ways. First, people who are unemployed do not qualify for sickness insurance and remain in the unemployment insurance. Second, people with partial disability benefits must register with the employment service. Third, people with insufficient employment records do not qualify for insurance benefits and have to rely on social assistance and the employment service. This setup implies that many of those with most severe health issues and labour market barriers are under the responsibility of the unemployment system. Accordingly, the public employment service has strong services in place, including employment rehabilitation and systematic assessment of health barriers to employment. However, systematic support is provided only after many years although new analysis presented in this report shows that an early provision of active labour market programmes is essential for a successful transition to employment. Problems can only be solved by co‑ordinated sickness, disability and unemployment insurance reform.
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