Employees of the UWV benefits agency regularly feel prevented from applying tailor-made solutions in distressing situations. For example, because they don't have enough time for it. Or they fear that they will violate internal instructions or not achieve performance indicators by applying customized solutions.
This was evident from a report by the Court of Audit on Thursday about the 'human dimension' and the implementation of the WIA disability scheme. The Court of Audit, an important government advisor and auditor, bases its findings, among other things, on conversations with UWV employees.
UWV says it believes it is important to be able to apply tailor-made solutions if laws and regulations unintentionally have a negative impact on citizens. For this purpose, for example, the authority set up a 'custom workshop'. UWV employees who feel “professional stomachaches” can send their case there. In the custom workshop, UWV specialists look for a suitable solution.
But whether a case is sent to this tailor-made workshop depends greatly on the effort that the individual UWV employee is willing to make. For example, an anonymous employee says that he must first prepare files that go to the custom workshop himself. This requires help from colleagues from other departments. “They are often busy and therefore do not always respond to questions and requests.”
Risk of arbitrariness
Applying customization is therefore not always easy. UWV employees have to cross all kinds of “emotional hurdles”, the Court of Audit concludes. And because employees deal with this differently, the “risk of arbitrariness” lurks.
The Court of Audit had difficulty getting a complete picture of customization at UWV. Many facts and figures were missing. If an individual solution is found in the custom workshop, it is often impossible to find out afterwards why it was solved that way.
An overview of all custom decisions is missing. It remains unclear to the Court of Audit how often UWV has applied tailor-made solutions, for example by not reclaiming an amount paid out, while this should have been done according to the rules. It is also unknown how often UWV did not apply customization when it did in comparable cases.
All this type of information is important, according to the Court of Audit. Not only to prevent arbitrariness, but also to check whether customized decisions are legally in order. And to be able to learn from all the customization and quickly identify when structural adjustments are necessary.
Sometimes UWV is not allowed to apply the human touch. If a benefit recipient has received too much money for years, the organization is often legally obliged to reclaim every euro wrongly paid. Even if that mistake is entirely her fault.
UWV may only deviate from this for 'urgent reasons'. The bar is high. Citizens are almost never successful in appealing to this, not even before the administrative court.
See you this Thursday. In a sensational ruling, the Central Appeals Tribunal, the highest court in benefit cases, concluded that “social views and insights” have changed. From now on, UWV must take into account the extent to which the citizen can be blamed for the error, and the consequences of a chargeback must be examined more closely.
Way too complicated
When a lot of customization is required somewhere, that is a sign that better laws and regulations are needed. Customization is not a solution, writes the Court of Audit, “for structural problems that are the unintended consequence of legislation and regulations.”
The Court of Audit also sees such structural problems in the implementation of the WIA. The most fundamental cause is that the rules surrounding benefits are far too complicated. What doesn't help: many WIA recipients have to deal with multiple income schemes at the same time. As a result, they lose overview of their finances even faster.
The sometimes high recoveries that WIA recipients may have to deal with also increase the uncertainty. These refunds are often extra high because people have received their benefit net, but have to repay the refund gross, including taxes and premiums.
The long waiting lists for examination of disabled people can also be traced back to the complexity of the rules, the Court writes. These make the medical assessment complicated and time-consuming.
Simpler and more human
This is consistent with what a committee established by Rutte IV concluded last month. Disabled people in the Netherlands encounter distrust, complex rules and a lack of personal guidance, wrote this Independent Commission for the Future of the Disability System (OCTAS). She urged a simpler and more humane settlement.
The human dimension starts with good laws, according to the Court of Audit, and then good implementation. That is why she presents a “guideline” in her report with tips that can be used by all ministries, parliamentarians and implementing agencies.
For example, ministries that make new laws or regulations must be aware that citizens have to deal with more regulations at the same time. That combination should not clash or become too complex. Implementing authorities must check whether citizens can easily know what is expected of them, and whether those requirements are realistic. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate must also check whether citizens can handle the new rules.
UWV takes the recommendations on better registration of customized decisions to heart, the report states. Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA) takes into account the more structural recommendations about the WIA in following up on the recent advice from OCTAS on the disability rules.
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