Presentation by Ronald de Leij, director of DECP and advisor to AWVN at the WHO/TNO/Dutchgovernment Congres 'Connecting Health and Labour' 29 - 1 December 2012

1. Reappointing responsibilities
An employers’ contribution to the
WHO Global Conference ‘Connecting health and labor’
By Ronald de Leij, director of DECP and advisor to AWVN
November 29, 2011, The Hague, The Netherlands
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2. Two questions asked:
• How company provided health services can be
integrated with primary health care ?
• What is the role of employers for increasing
health service coverage of workers and families ?
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3. Composing a ‘2011’- answer
• Let’s look at ‘companies and employers’,
• and briefly at ‘workers’
• and conclude by (re)appointing responsibilities
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4. I
Companies and Employers
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5. They say ‘Old soldiers never die’ …
… but old employers do !
and so did there ‘once upon a time’ companies
(even if their names still sound familiar to the old folk)
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6. Every major company has engaged in outsourcing, in
off-shoring, in flexible contracts, temporary work, pay-
rolling and continuous reorganizing …
Many used to provide ‘lifetime employment’ and ‘total
care’ for workers and their families …
They don’t do that anymore …
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7. Have they become bad employers
?
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8. No, they have not !
On our command have they engaged in relentless, often
global, competition and changed their policies accordingly
They still provide lots of opportunity …
… to adult workers !
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9. That is one thing about companies and
employers
There is more …
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10. In 2010
the Netherlands counted 863.840 companies
(Population 16.6 million)
(Occupied Population > 12 hrs p.wk: 7,4 million)
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11. 495.215 companies occupied just one, single person
EMPLOYERS
296.415 companies counted more than 1 and less than 10,
57.340 counted 10 to 50,
14.870 counted 50 or more occupied persons
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12. Let us conclude that the vast majority of employers run a
very small company
What can we – fairly speaking – expect of
them in terms of social policy ?
And if it is just so much, should we blaime them for being
an employer ?
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13. II
… and briefly at workers
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14. They have changed too …
… whether we (or they) like(d) it or not !
When we say ‘workers’, do we e.g. include
the ‘self-employed’ ?
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15. Though ‘employer’ and ‘worker’ are still valid
concepts, their content has changed
dramatically
and their relationship even more !
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16. So, …
The scenery has changed … dramatically
Think for a moment what is being demanded from Greece, Spain,
Portugal, Italy and soon will be from France …
It is not just austerity
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17. Let’s have a 2nd look at the two questions
…
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18. 1st Question:
How (can) company provided health services be
integrated with primary health care ?
2nd Question:
What is the role of employers for increasing health
service coverage of workers and families ?
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19. Do we want to provide answers to these questions …
Looking BACK ?
Or looking FORWARD ?
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20. III
(Re-)appointing responsibilities
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21. Companies and employers
Employers – however small their companies – have to ensure
that any work under their command is without physical,
mental or social hazard to the worker
The knowledge and skills this requires are bought or
contracted as a professional service
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22. ‘Workers’
Are taught in primary, secundary and vocational training to
take care of their health and to understand and to apply any
safety regulation*
The expert knowledge and advice this requires throughout their
working life is available to them as part of obligatory health
insurance
*) Not just for themselves, but also for their co-workers
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23. Society
by the voice of goverment
Takes full responsibility for the proper administration of
responsibilities to and by employers, its occupational
population, its education system, its health and health
insurance system and more …
to ensure that everything in society is geared towards the
highest possible and sustainable productivity to which all
citizens (can) contribute – no matter gender, age or ability
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24. Finally
Let us face the marked distinction between the
two following quotes and get rid of what
underlies the first
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25. ‘About half of the world population spend at least
one third of their time at the workplace (…)’
Opening of the conference document
‘The LORD God took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it’
Genesis 2.15
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