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By Ronald de Leij, director of DECP and advisor to AWVN

November 29, 2011, The Hague, The Netherlands

An employers’ contribution to the

WHO Global Conference ‘Connecting health and labor’

Reappointing responsibilities

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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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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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Companies and Employers

I

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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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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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Have they become bad employers

?

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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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That is one thing about companies and

employers

There is more …

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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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495.215 companies occupied just one, single person

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

EMPLOYERS

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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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… and briefly at workers

II

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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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Though ‘employer’ and ‘worker’ are still valid

concepts, their content has changed

dramatically

and their relationship even more !

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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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Let’s have a 2nd look at the two questions

…

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How (can) company provided health services be

integrated with primary health care ?

1st Question:

What is the role of employers for increasing health

service coverage of workers and families ?

2nd Question:

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Do we want to provide answers to these questions …

Looking BACK ?

Or looking FORWARD ?

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(Re-)appointing responsibilities

III

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Employers – however small their companies – have to ensure

that any work under their command is without physical,

mental or social hazard to the worker

Companies and employers

The knowledge and skills this requires are bought or

contracted as a professional service

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Are taught in primary, secundary and vocational training to

take care of their health and to understand and to apply any

safety regulation*

‘Workers’

*) Not just for themselves, but also for their co-workers

The expert knowledge and advice this requires throughout their

working life is available to them as part of obligatory health

insurance

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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 …

Society by the voice of goverment

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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Let us face the marked distinction between the

two following quotes and get rid of what

underlies the first

Finally

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‘About half of the world population spend at least one third of their time at the workplace (…)’

‘The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it’

Opening of the conference document

Genesis 2.15