The Peer Review was hosted by the Dutch PES (UWV WERKbedrijf) and focused on public employment services (PES) employer services design and delivery regarding employment of disabled jobseekers.

In the Netherlands, recently there has been an increase in the number of jobs created and the labour market situation is nearly at full employment. However, in 2018:

• over 265 000 vacancies were available and
• approximately 1.5 million people were dependent on public benefit due to sickness, unemployment or occupational disability.

As a result, employer organisations and unions agreed to achieve a target of 125 000 new jobs for individuals with occupational disabilities in the public and private sector by 2026.

In 2015 Participation Act 35 was introduced. Implementation of this legal framework established that municipalities and UWV have a shared responsibility to deliver PES services to employers. It has led to different outcomes in terms of:

• degrees of collaboration,
• common range of services and
• different levels of employer satisfaction.

Policy measures have been introduced to improve collaboration between municipalities and UWV, such as a shared service concept. However different institutional interests remain a challenge.

The Dutch PES and municipalities are faced with an increasing demand by employers for skilled workers and, at the same time, they have a large cohort of jobseekers who do not have the right skills, knowledge or competences.

The Dutch PES are exploring ways to gather further insights into the ways of encouraging employers to create jobs for disabled jobseekers.

During the peer review, the following topics were discussed:

• What are the critical factors to develop successful policy approaches that engage and encourage employers to hire disabled workers?
• What role can PES play in the development of an inclusive labour market? What instruments and interventions for employer-service delivery are most effective and why?
• How can PES identify employers who are interested in hiring disabled jobseekers? Where can PES work with other organisations to wider insights? How can information be used to enhance service design and delivery?
• To what extent do awareness-raising campaigns influence attitudes and behaviours of employers? How can PES use communication and promotion activities to inform and influence employers to become responsible corporate organisations?